Getting into the rear seat ...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Qisl
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 16
  • Views Views 2K
Q

Qisl

Active Member
How difficult is it for someone who is wearing, let's say, a long dress to get into the rear seat?

Impossible without showing some bare legs?

Is the MINI Cooper a 2 adults and 2 children car?
 
Qisl said:
Is the MINI Cooper a 2 adults and 2 children car?
Click to expand...

Depends on the height of the driver. My husband is 6’4” and he has the seat pretty far back so not comfortable to sit behind him. I’m 5’6” so an adult can sit behind me comfortably. Once you’re in the back seat it’s roomy, it’s getting in and out that can be difficulty
 
As a general rule, I think the 2-door Cooper is better suited as a 2-adult & 2-kid family runabout, and the Paceman will be better as a 4-adult people mover.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
Jim In Tucson said:
As a general rule, I think the 2-door Cooper is better suited as a 2-adult & 2-kid family runabout, and the Paceman will be better as a 4-adult people mover.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Click to expand...
By the time the Aceman comes to market, we'll know if the larger interior of the 2024 SE makes back-seat ingress/egress more manageable. However, you will surely be correct that the Aceman will be better for 4 adults when it becomes a real vehicle.
 
Jim In Tucson said:
As a general rule, I think the 2-door Cooper is better suited as a 2-adult & 2-kid family runabout, and the Paceman will be better as a 4-adult people mover.
Click to expand...
Low-mileage Pacemans are well overpriced up here. I’m keeping an eye open for a decent, sub-120k km R60 or 61 S, but 2012 Countrymans are ten grand, and any Paceman is $14k and more.
 
I'm not sure about fitting any adults into the back of the Paceman due to the sloping roof. Maybe short adults.
 
I'm 6'4" and not a beanpole, and have sat in the back of a Hardtop will little discomfort. The back seats are surprisingly comfortable and as long as the front seat is moved forward for leg room it's not bad. Getting in isn't too difficult because the front seats move forward enough that it's easy to get into the back seat.

I'd say four adults can ride in a Hardtop pretty decently even for a couple of hours.
 
Since I've had five Mini's since 2003, each one getting larger than the one before, and being 6'4", I can safely say that four adults will fit, but I wouldn't want to take a six-hour drive that way.
 
I'm in the "F56 is strictly a 2 seater" camp, but you should go to a dealer and try for yourself. Under 6ft, average build, decades from retirement, and yet I find the opening and angle tough to get in/out of. Once back there, space is extremely limited. Most people probably could wiggle their way in there, but I just can't imagine wanting to regularly. I can't safely load my dog in through the side doors either.

As far as I am concerned the back seat is 100% for sound deadening purposes only. If I'm transporting anything the seats usually have to go down. If in the future I need to have usable back seats it's got to be a 4 door (or the i3 style jump door would be fine too.)
 
Yes it is a struggle to enter or exit the rear seats especially if parked on a slope. The seats don't really lock into an open position and they don't slide far enough. It would not take much to increase the seat track a bit. Perhaps this may be addressed in the next model.
 
Puppethead said:
Four adults is easy. Based on the date this would be the smaller R56 (second generation).

Click to expand...


Those are girls, not women!
I was once one of nine late teens in an 80s fiesta. I also worked the handbrake whenever the girl driving had trouble slowing down. Yes, we drove about 10 miles. That was ok, the girl on my lap was cute.

Back to the OT. I'm 6'6". You're not getting any legs behind me when I'm in comfort position, which isn't quite all the way back. The seats move a fair way forward to access the back. I suggest a trip to a Mini dealer to try it out, or find one locally. There is a bit of an art to folding yourself into small cars. Many times I've been asked:
"How do you get in that?"
"Through the door, of course"
I don't consider an F56 to be a small car.
A few times, I had 4 adults in a classic Mini for 100 mile drives. Fairly well packed.
 
Last edited:
My 70 year old mom sat in the backseat and got in and out with very little trouble. She was in fact wearing a long dress and to my knowledge no one was flashed. That being said it would be unhandy for daily driving with her in the back. In my opinion it's a 2 adult plus 1-2 kid car.
We hauled my husband and I and our small daughter plus 9 folding chairs today somewhat comfortably
 
I picked up an 09 base manual for the kid last week. Testing it out at the store three tall males fit in the car for the test drive. Salesman was over 6'. It truly was a clown car! And wicked slow too. The three of us probably topped the scales at about 600#

I wouldn't put a kid in the back. Too close to the rear hatch. I was afraid someone in a SUV on the phone wouldn't see the car and decapitate the kid at a red light. That's why I had cars with trunks or another foot of length in the hatch area while the kid was regularly in the back seat.
 
Tommm said:
I wouldn't put a kid in the back. Too close to the rear hatch. I was afraid someone in a SUV on the phone wouldn't see the car and decapitate the kid at a red light. That's why I had cars with trunks or another foot of length in the hatch area while the kid was regularly in the back seat.
Click to expand...

Isn’t that a tragedy? Driving in the US has gotten progressively more dangerous while in Europe fatalities have gone down steadily over the past decade. As Louie CK said, “pretty much 100% of people driving are texting.”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top