{"id":4598,"date":"2014-09-30T11:45:19","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T15:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/?p=4598"},"modified":"2014-09-23T11:04:19","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T15:04:19","slug":"behind-wheel-2013-mini-cooper-convertible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2014\/09\/30\/behind-wheel-2013-mini-cooper-convertible\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Wheel: 2013 Mini Cooper Convertible"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mini<\/a>Last year while on my way to visit family in Australia I found myself with a 1-day layover in Los Angeles (due to some flight delays). Rather than spend the day cooped up in an airport hotel, my wife and I decided to do a little exploring – so we rented a car for the day, and the car we ended up with (that my wife picked out, actually) was a Mini Cooper convertible.<\/p>\n

We didn’t have a lot of time to really play with this car, but I did end up driving it both in city traffic and up into the hills around the city, and I have to say – I understand why people like this car.<\/p>\n

One thing that I did notice was the harsh suspension – every bump made the car seem to rattle and was felt right up your spine. I suppose this isn’t that surprising, given how low the car is and how tight the suspension has to be, but it was still rather distracting at times.<\/p>\n

But, the cornering, oh my goodness, the cornering! I’ve heard the expression “corners like it’s on rails,” but this car really drove home what that means.<\/p>\n

Steering, however, although easy, was not particularly great, though I’m hard pressed to explain why. It might have been just a little bit too lose, requiring just a little bit too much steering input to make a turn than I personally felt was necessary. Or maybe it was that the steering wheel felt slightly too large for such a small car.<\/p>\n

Like most rentals, this was an automatic – which is a shame – but overall the performance was spirited and fun, though not quite knock-your-socks-off amazing.<\/p>\n

Though the Mini is certainly a small car, it’s not quite as small as you might think. I wouldn’t want to try and cram 4 people into one, but it’s not at all tight for just 2 people.<\/p>\n

All in all, the Mini is a fun little car, good for having a bit of fun in the corners while still nimble enough to navigate tight city streets like a pro, and has a fair amount of space for stuff (considering its size). I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at it if I had the chance to drive one again!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year while on my way to visit family in Australia I found myself with a 1-day layover in Los Angeles (due to some flight delays). Rather than spend the day cooped up in an airport hotel, my wife and I decided to do a little exploring – so we rented a car for the… Continue reading Behind the Wheel: 2013 Mini Cooper Convertible<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,199],"tags":[134,364,362,363,124],"class_list":["post-4598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cars-and-trucks","category-my-opinion","tag-behind-the-wheel","tag-convertible","tag-mini","tag-mini-cooper","tag-review","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2014\/09\/Mini_Cooper_Cabrio_R57_Facelift_\u2013_Frontansicht_5._Juni_2011_W\u00fclfrath.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pimUj-1ca","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4654,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2015\/06\/10\/behind-wheel-2011-kia-soul\/","url_meta":{"origin":4598,"position":0},"title":"Behind the Wheel: 2011 Kia Soul","author":"Keith Survell","date":"June 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Long-time readers will remember that I've reviewed the Kia Soul before - but that was the 2010 model. 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