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> consider the original Mini, or more modern "super minis" -
> which are actualy still larger than the original Mini.
> I'd hate to see one of them get into a fight with an SUV..

Comparision photos of mini cooper vs F150:
(yeah yeah the F150 is a pickup, not a SUV, but
you get the point)

http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150/

Bring back the VW pickup. German quality crash
safety. Plenty fast with the 16V engine, and
gets 30 mpg. (40-50mpg with Diesel)

Take a look at this page showing crash test comparisons between a mini and a truck. I know which I'd rather be in.

The problem is America picks heavy and cheap without bothering with the safe.

Take a look at this picture. Same speed. Same impact.

The Mini crumpled its whole engine bay. A total write-off. But the passenger compartment is barely touched.

The F-150 has a beautifully intact engine. It's unfortunately inside the cab where the people-puree would be oozing out.

Add on pickups having a consistently 20% higher fatality rate per million miles driven and you suddenly realize that stupid engineering combined with being in a hulking great target that can't get out of the way really doesn't compete with a small, light, quick to accelerate car that's simply not where the accident happens in the first place.

Case in point: About two weeks ago, my wife was in her Mini Cooper S in a parking lot, looking for a space. A Dodge (oxymoron if ever there was one) Ram (ah, far more accurate) reversed out without looking, straight at her. Had she been in an SUV, the back end of the Dodge would have gone through the side of it before the idiot had time to react and hit the brakes. The Dodge would have been trashed, she'd be dead or in a coma from the injuries. In the Mini, he put her foot down and was somewhere else while her SUV driving friend in the passenger seat asked, "How the hell did you do that?"

So, given the choice, I'd rather be in a well built car that folds the parts I'm not in when it gets hit, light enough to avoid more of the accidents anyway, than the hunk of American steel that deforms that steel in to right where I'm sitting.

"Lets face it, the reason why a lot of people are driving big SUV's and suffering with 20 MPG highway 15 MPG city is because of the marvelous 5 STAR safety rating these vehicles provide."

As if.

http://money.cnn.com/2001/06/04/home_auto/pickups_ crash/

"WASHINGTON (CNN) - The nation's top-selling vehicle, the Ford F-150 pickup truck, fared poorly in high-speed crash tests, according to a new study of large pickup trucks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found the results ranged from good to poor for other makes and models.

In 40 mph tests, the institute characterized the safety performance of the Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram as poor. In the case of the F-150, the institute said it's about as "bad as it gets."

A mini cooper is safer in an accident.

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINIC ooperVsFordF150

I do have to raise the obvious objection to your second point, and that is that crash tests and general highway experience show that engineering counts for more than size. I'd rather be in a Mini Cooper than a Ford F150 in a crash anyday. And if you have that money to spend, get a BMW. I've heard anecdotes of BMW's cutting right through SUVs in collisions, and besides, a lower center of gravity, better control, and good construction will keep you a lot safer than sheer hulking size.

Ah, after looking it up I see that they hit a wall separately. (Here it is, by the way.) Of course, the damage to the F-150 looks so bad compared to the Mini that I disagree with you and the guy who wrote that page: I think the Mini might still win (in terms of damage to the crash test dummy) even if they'd hit each other despite the large difference in momentum.

Boy, have you got it backwards! When a bigger, heavier vehicle crashes into an immovable object, the occupants are likely to suffer as much or more damage, because despite the extra space, there's more momentum involved.

I did make one mistake; the crash I cited wasn't a Mini and a F-150 hitting each other, it was comparing each of them hitting a barrier. Another responder was kind enough to link to it. So what do those pictures tell you about your "big immovable trees?"

Finally, I'd like to posit that perhaps you hear about the demise of small car occupants more because they picked poorly-designed cars, not because the cars were small.

They were OFFSET tests at the same speeds.
See this:
http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINIC ooperVsFordF150

"But I'll agree with the statement Size=safety. I think I could withstand most basic impacts with my vic."

The most survivable accident is the one you don't get into.

It's a whole lot easier to avoid an accident in a small car.

Also, the size of your car doesn't make much difference if you say, hit a tree or a light post. That's a situation where you'd be better off in a Mini than a truck. (You also would be less likely to roll.)

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINIC ooperVsFordF150

Can't say much bad about your car, in particular, though. Might not be as nimble as a Miata, but it's low to the ground, isn't going to override other people, isn't going to roll...it's just BIG.

That just isn't true!! I'd rather crash in a new mini than a new f150

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINIC ooperVsFordF150

I'm too lazy to find other examples but it has been shown that as the Ford Explorer changed over the years it got heavier, but nothing was done to increase roof crush strength. Ford has been sued over this saying improper roof strength caused a death, a death that could have been prevented had the roof been stronger.

Ford stood their ground stating roof strength had nothing to do with it. That the people were falling into the roof when the vehicle rolled over. Meanwhile, Volvo, a Ford owned company who has always *proactively* built safer cars, proved Ford wrong by testing the difference AND using belt pretensioners to help keep the occupant pinned to the seat, keeping them away from hitting the roof.

Fords attitude is a good example of what is wrong with the American way of doing things. They aren't doing a damn thing to actually improve cars, they just do what gets them by. Meanwhile they're getting their asses handed to them by companies like Toyota.

Wrong yourself.

Aparently MINIUSA was quite annoyed that VW and the New Beetle beat them to the punch with the iPod promotion. Especially since as others have said, '03 and newer MINIs can take a $40 acessory from the dealer and get an aux input, or you can use the cd changer wiring with a Denison Ice Link which allows control of the ipod through the head unit + steering wheel audio controls.