Tall guy in a Mini

[adamred]

Hi all:
Over the next year or so I'm going to be looking to replace my daily driver a 1995 Volvo 850 with 122,000+ miles. I'm nuts about the looks of the new Mini, wondering before I waste my time with a dealer, test drives, etc if you know about driver size limits, I'm about 6'4"....is this just a crazy car to consider or have they set up the interior to accommodate the vertically enhanced?

Thanks.

Adam

[Wayne 962]

I heard that they had set up the inside to handle tall drivers, kindof like the Porsches are setup that way, but I'll let people who actually own the car respond...

-Wayne

[adamred]

Thanks Wayne:
I was hoping, my p-car is great for my legs and arms, I constantly get the, "you must be too tall for that car" question and its sort of a pain to constantly explain the p-car set up....

[VincentVega]

I'm about 6'3-4 myslef and fit just fine in the Mini. The seats are height adjustable to help for a comfortable fit. I did skip the sunroof, which subtracts a half inch to and inch so I fit with a helmet a little better.

[Eron Flory]

I've had a 6'2" passenger and he had room to spare and was really surprised how comfortable it is. You won't have anyone sitting in the rear seat behind you though. If you put the driver's seat all the way back it contacts the rear seat. If you lower the seat all the way there is a lot of head room.

It is definately worth a test drive if you don't expect it to be a 4 seater with you in it.

Eron

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

I had an opportunity to drive a rented Mini in England, and they have a LOT of headroom. The engineers really stayed true to the original design of maximize as much interior space as possible.

It's a shame that we never got the original Mini officially imported to the US. The design and features would have been a perfect match for the early and late 70's gas crunches. Over in the UK, they were still making the original Mini up until the early 90's, albeit with fuel injection, and other minor improvements.

It's amazing when you think that all you have is essentially a 1275cc motor. But there's TONS of cars over there that are quick with tiny engines. Like the Lotus Elise or the Vauxhall VX220 (it's an Opel in the rest of Europe) Of course none of these cars would meet our safety requirements.

[ssimms]

Adam,
I am sure you have read or discovered for yourself by now that the MINI is setup to handle someone 6' 8" tall without any trouble (other that his back seat floor space will be completely gone.) I am 6'4" and love my MINI Cooper. It arrived just before Christmas and I can't get out of it. Great handling, wonderful driving position and very comfortable.
The added bonus is that it nearly doubles my 535i's gas mileage.
If you have any more specific questions feel free to email me privately and I am sure I can answer them.

Scott

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

The Mini really is an amazing little package for the money. Does anyone know off hand how much boost the supercharged versions are running?

[MarkBytes]

5 pounds stock boost.