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Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

jalopnik.com

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Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#91

Post by sbarre »

pc86 wrote: post #48
lmilcin wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do check my car every couple of weeks. I have a routine that takes about 3 minutes total. About twice a month so about 24 times 3 minutes ~ 1 hour per year. Although I could argue it actually takes zero time because I usually do this while waiting for somebody else to get into the car. As a side note, if you are too busy to brush your teeth you should consider talking to a health professional about consequences of…

Okay. You're so in the minority that we can safely say "nobody does this" and still have it be an accurate statement at a statistical level.

I also inspect my car pretty regularly in a quick "walk-around", and check things like tire pressure at least monthly, if we're out here collecting anecdotes.

And I don't drive anything fancy..

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#92

Post by jowsie »

sbarre wrote: post #85
kalleboo wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What had been a common signal for “you’re a little too close” I've never seen or heard of this. But seeing cars that flash their brake light under heavy/emergency braking is common (typically high-end European brands)

I've commonly seen people just throw on their hazard blinkers in case of drastic braking on the highway... especially in bad weather. I've done it myself when going from regular speed to unexpected traffic, in the hope that the person behind me is paying attention...

This is pretty standard in the UK, most higher end cars even do it automatically.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#93

Post by jowsie »

pfortuny wrote: post #4

But you know, they look so “British”! That is a true mental clusterfuck.

The really stupid thing is we have these exact same design of lights on the UK delivered Mini's, however it's just the center horizontal bar that flashes orange.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#94

Post by beardyw »

> Mini has chosen the Union Jack lights to highlight Mini’s British heritage

Mmm .. designed by an American, built by BMW, much much bigger, I don't think there is any of the original Mini left. I see an original on the road now and again, and they are really tiny. A new Mini could eat one for breakfast.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#96

Post by sbarre »

chrisseaton wrote: post #17
malyk wrote: post #11

So the left turn signal is an arrow pointing to the right? And the right turn signal is an arrow pointing to the left? How does that pass, well, anything at all without someone saying “that might not be the best idea”!

How could anyone be confused? They’re on the side the car is turning - like every other turn signal you’ve seen in your entire life.

What if you're in foggy weather or bad rain and can't properly see the car in front of you, and you see a "arrow pointing left" flashing ahead... Not only is the arrow pointing in the wrong direction but you may incorrectly assume that the vehicle itself is to the right of that light when it is in fact to the left of it.

Signals are most important in reduced vision conditions, and this reduces the reliability of those signals.

Surely you understand this.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#97

Post by kmonsen »

flyingfences wrote: post #38
Bud wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The MINI is actually not a BMW, although it is true that it is made by BMW. Nor are MINI drivers really very much like BMW drivers, in fact I'd say that overall as a population, they are quite different. (I had a MINI from 2002-2020. Put about 300k miles on it.)

MY2013+ Minis are built on the BMW ULK1 platform.

That’s the BMW X1 and x2 right? I feel the “correct” answer is that the X1/2 is actually minis not a proper BMW since they are built on the “mini” platform and are front wheel driven.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#98

Post by cortesoft »

chrisseaton wrote: post #77
roamerz wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to just laugh at your comment. It’s either brilliant sarcasm or you just might be the guy that designed this.

No not joking. They seem to follow the same predictable pattern as every other turn signal I've ever seen. Not sure what the fuss is.

They do not follow the pattern if every other turn signal you have seen, because no other turn signal has an arrow pointing in the opposite direction of what it is indicating.

Can you really not understand how that might cause a moment of confusion? You see a turn signal like normal, but then you notice it is pointing in a different direction… you don’t think that might make some people pause for an instant and think?

We are used to both turn signals and arrows being used to indicate direction… when they contradict each other, it is going to get past our automatic brain and make us think, which is bad when driving.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#99

Post by sbarre »

jowsie wrote: post #92
sbarre wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've commonly seen people just throw on their hazard blinkers in case of drastic braking on the highway... especially in bad weather. I've done it myself when going from regular speed to unexpected traffic, in the hope that the person behind me is paying attention...

This is pretty standard in the UK, most higher end cars even do it automatically.

I wish it was more standard where I live (Canada)..

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#100

Post by toast0 »

snthd wrote: post #79

Is there a design advantage to flashing a single brake light as a turn signal? Conforming to the international norm of amber turn signals would seem to be an obvious win?

Flashing the brake light saves a wire or two, reduces the bulb count by two, and avoids another bulb housing.

Plus it's allowed in the spec and makes your car look older and more dignified. (Remember when we had to blink our brakelights because times were tough? We're still tough!)

Some pickup trucks are wired for either, and you can swap out the lenses and add a bulb to get separate signals.

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