Do you participate in Mini Clubs?

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GvilleGuy

GvilleGuy

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I joined my local Mini club on Facebook a few weeks back, even though I cannot participate yet. It has a lot of members, and it looks like actual events might be picking up with more vaccinations happening.

There have been a few posts regarding the Mini SE, and from some of the comments I get the (not surprising) impression that SEs are generally frowned upon among the ICE crowd. A lot of the same comments you see on YouTube videos regarding its “poor range”, and, well, you know, no ICE!

I hope to go to a few events and see how much of a “Cousin Oliver” vibe I receive.
 
I joined the local Mini club after taking delivery. Most interactions have been online, and I participated in one club drive (masked & outdoors before/after) and they have been pretty inviting so far. This club includes both classic and modern cars so that likely helps.

As with nearly every car club, there will be members who consider one generation or model to be "the best", so I just accept that as inevitable.
 
I want to, but my local club is hidden behind Facebook membership and I don't do Facebook. I've also wondered about an EV club, but all I can find seems to be mostly Tesla-centric.

I've pondered the idea of an SE-specific club, but not sure how that would work since there all of about five SEs in my area so far.
 
GvilleGuy said:
I joined my local Mini club on Facebook a few weeks back, even though I cannot participate yet. It has a lot of members, and it looks like actual events might be picking up with more vaccinations happening.

There have been a few posts regarding the Mini SE, and from some of the comments I get the (not surprising) impression that SEs are generally frowned upon among the ICE crowd. A lot of the same comments you see on YouTube videos regarding its “poor range”, and, well, you know, no ICE!

I hope to go to a few events and see how much of a “Cousin Oliver” vibe I receive.
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You need to come to the meet wearing a T-shirt like this (but you'd have to be willing to let those ICE-age drivers try out your brand new car):

upload_2021-4-9_0-21-20.webp
 
I joined a Facebook group for the local Mini Club. I haven’t seen anyone post about an SE. I’ll wait and see before joining properly, because if I get hated for buying an electric, I won’t bother with the club.
 
bldxyz said:
I joined a Facebook group for the local Mini Club. I haven’t seen anyone post about an SE. I’ll wait and see before joining properly, because if I get hated for buying an electric, I won’t bother with the club.
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Considering MINI is committed to being all-electric by 2030, I see a major schism on the horizon. As electric MINIs go mainstream, I think there will be a strong contingent of ICE enthusiasts that will probably want their own clubs. Kind of like how there's a strong classic MINI community.

Now would be the time for a national (international?) Electric MINI group to get started, with eventual local clubs. Sort of like how rock band fan clubs work, maybe? Unfortunately I don't think I'm the type to launch such an effort.
 
There is an "Electric MINI Enthusiasts - Global" group on Facebook, of which I am "a member". And there are likely others, too.

I'd rather stop using Facebook altogether, but my local Mini club--which has a web site and forums--does 99% of their communication in a FB group, too. <sigh>
 
MichaelC said:
There is an "Electric MINI Enthusiasts - Global" group on Facebook, of which I am "a member".
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I actually read that group, lots of useful info there. I'm glad it's open to everyone for reading (unlike my local club), but I can't post since I will never have a Facebook account.

One person there created a nice SE owner's club emblem, which would make for a great window cling or grille badge.


85055336_935059446889499_2930112953749340160_n.jpg
 
To be honest, I wouldn't consider myself a Mini fan (yet), this car is just so damn great to drive. :)
Curious to hear what the longtime fans think of the SE.
 
I looked into it back in 2016 with my old car. Never joined because I felt like I wasn'tdie hard Mini enough. Likely all on me. I did watch the FB group for the SE for a while though admittedly didn't stick long as it kind of got to me how negative people were getting with winter driving.
 
My dealer used to have an annual holiday party and sometimes summer events, kind of fun way to meet some of the MINI community. Put on hold for now obviously. And there's MINI Takes The States that I've always wanted to participate in (on hold now too), but I wonder if they'll alter for the shorter SE range, or add some electric MINI special runs.

Both of those are ways to try some MINI community events without committing to a club.
 
MichaelC said:
As with nearly every car club, there will be members who consider one generation or model to be "the best", so I just accept that as inevitable.
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The only car club I've ever joined has been a local EV enthusiast group. It eventually got overrun by "holier than thou" Tesla drivers. It's Tesla or Nothing with them, so I stopped going. But there were still lots of good people there and I've made a couple of lasting friendships.

As for Mini, my city (Syracuse NY) doesn't have a Mini dealer and I had to drive 90 miles to Rochester to buy my car. There is a group out of Rochester, but that's a long drive to hang out with what would initially be strangers.
 
neorobo said:
Surprised to hear you say that as a tesla owner myself, ordering the MINI has been almost as exciting as my model 3 performance delivery :D
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Not all Tesla owners are as open as yourself. And most owners are not as pretentious as the handful I mentioned above. But it's the obnoxious people who make the strongest impression.
 
Likewise @neorobo ! I was thrilled to get the MINI as a former Tesla owner. Of course, Tesla was so new and different at the time that it felt like stepping into the future.

I have seen that type of owner though. The kind that upgraded their 2002 Civic to a Model 3 or X and thinks (out loud) that people would be utterly stupid to buy anything else.
 
polyphonic said:
Likewise @neorobo ! I was thrilled to get the MINI as a former Tesla owner. Of course, Tesla was so new and different at the time that it felt like stepping into the future.

I have seen that type of owner though. The kind that upgraded their 2002 Civic to a Model 3 or X and thinks (out loud) that people would be utterly stupid to buy anything else.
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Although I admit I've never been in a Tesla, I believe there are only 3 things a Tesla does better than the SE (none of which I covet): accelerate quicker, go further on a charge, and carry more people/stuff. Superb handling, good looks, and everything else is better with the SE.

When BMW brought out their 1st-gen MINI, the speedometer was in the center of the dash rather than in front of the driver. That made me not like the interior design, but MINI eventually saw the light and fixed that problem. Later, when Elon designed the Tesla Model 3 he decided (and remains brashly adamant) that people who want driving information in front of them are wrong (ignoring that his Model S and X have instrument panels in front of the driver). I don't like the interior design of the Model 3 primarily for that reason.
 
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The off-center speedometer was a concern initially, but it never bothered me or my wife when driving the car. Actually, the speedometer in a friend's 2007 2-door cooper DID bother me, a lot. Hard to read at a glance, and way out of sight. It might be because the Tesla readout is digital, and placed in the corner of the screen towards the driver that it works surprisingly well.
I test drove Teslas recently about 6 months after selling mine, and again - no problems. The view out the front of a Model 3 is actually quite nice, possibly one of the nicest parts of the car. Our e-tron is very distracting in that regard, certainly one of the more distracting cockpits around. I didn't like the Tesla's wind noise, hence the change.

To be fair, you're not going to find a better handling EV than the MINI.
 
polyphonic said:
The off-center speedometer was a concern initially, but it never bothered me or my wife when driving the car. Actually, the speedometer in a friend's 2007 2-door cooper DID bother me, a lot. Hard to read at a glance, and way out of sight. It might be because the Tesla readout is digital, and placed in the corner of the screen towards the driver that it works surprisingly well.
I test drove Teslas recently about 6 months after selling mine, and again - no problems. The view out the front of a Model 3 is actually quite nice, possibly one of the nicest parts of the car. Our e-tron is very distracting in that regard, certainly one of the more distracting cockpits around. I didn't like the Tesla's wind noise, hence the change.

To be fair, you're not going to find a better handling EV than the MINI.
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I actually nixed a countryman back in 2016 because of the speedo in the center. Not just for me, but because my kid likes to point out my speed and I didn't need it easier to see. :D My preferred line of site is ahead and not to the side though.
 
I went to a Mini 5280 rally once in Winter Park, CO. Got to do auto cross (what a blast), ride the alpine slide, and see a bunch of cool Minis. Everyone was really nice, though my wife and I mostly did our own thing.

I did a ride in town here (ABQ) once up to the top of Sandia Peak. It's a really fun drive normally, and it was even more fun with 20+ Minis in a row. It was right after I got my Countryman and I let a friend drive my old R53 which I hadn't sold yet.

I'd like to do Mini Takes the States one of these days, or at least some portion of it. One of the stops was Albuquerque a few years ago, but I was out of town for work so I missed it.
 
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