In all, it takes some 10 to 15 minutes of fastidious arranging, quite a fair bit of perspiring and squinting almost directly into the sun thereafter, and in between, also a few moments of panic - as a flock of birds starts encircling the drone above us with some hostility.
But when it comes through on WhatsApp a few hours later, the pay-off for the set of glorious pictures is well worth it: 25 multi-coloured roofs spelling out the word 'MINI'. There's us - at the bottom right hand corner, white top over our Electric Blue Cooper S 5-Door.
A not-so-mini feat: 25 out of the 30 cars on the Getaway came together for this beautiful shot The cold spell cast by the pandemic is over. Welcome back to the first MINI Getaway in almost four years.
Back to basics: No-frills go-karting
Much has transpired between 2018 and now, so don't blame yourself for the amnesia.
To get the newcomers up to speed very quickly, the last MINI Getaway organised by Eurokars Habitat and MINI Asia saw owners coming together to zip all the way to Redang Island (off Northeast Malaysia) for some snorkelling fun.
When we set off for our cross-border adventure, the sun has yet to rise and the weather is still wet The itinerary for our Getaway (note - the event took place on 4 November) today is less ambitious in terms of scale, but by no means any less fun. If MINIs are a celebration of the invigorating and involving driving experience of go-karts… Why not put us behind actual ones?
And so, off to western Johor Bahru we go. The heart of the action today is an 840-metre track nestled within RUD Karting Medini, a relatively new karting centre located in Iskandar Puteri.
Mutual respect, admiration, and awe for each other's cars: Standard fare for any MINI Getaway Included here are 16 turns - among them, two relatively tight consecutive hairpins and then another one further along - but crucially, also a single long straight near the end of the lap. The B Stage Karts we will soon clamber into produce just over 9bhp from their 270cc engines, but also weigh just 115kg. At full throttle, they will hit 70km/h.
It's worth noting that as a stroke of (good) luck, the weather has decided to up the stakes just before we begin our adventure. A slight drizzle greets us when we meet at Eurokars Habitat's Leng Kee office around 6:00am. It persists still, when the 30 cars for today's trip set off half an hour later, then smoothly cross the Second Link.
The track is still wet when we reach - cue some sliding around in the 115kg, 270cc-engined karts It is only when en-route to a Petronas station along Gelang Patah that our wipers are fully taken off-duty. Just 10 minutes away, daylight has set in nicely when we reach the karting centre just before 8:00am - but the lingering cold air doesn't hide the fact that it will take a good amount of time for significant drying to occur.
What thus ensues in the first practice session for the first group is a lot of sliding around and spinning out (reaching the speed limit is naturally out of the question). Wrestling with the karts is at once painful - not just because they lack power steering - but also hilarious. As those still on course struggle with their machines, race marshalls dash around to pull stranded drivers back onto the track.
The 10 fastest participants of the qualifying rounds eventually progress on to the final race Portions of the track start drying out as the sun rises further and the other groups clock their laps.
Thankfully, by the time the qualifying sessions - and then the actual race for the 10 fastest drivers - come around, conditions have ripened for pushing the karts to their limits.
Amidst the ebbing and flowing roars of letting multiple 270cc engines rip concurrently, everyone accelerates harder, and brakes later. A winner is crowned not too long after, taking an exclusive scooter home in the trunk of his 3-Door MINI Cooper.
Roadgoing go-kart - passenger comfort included
As the speed limit is raised, so too are our spirits in our Electric Blue Cooper S 5-Door Settling back into MINI Cooper S 5-Door not too long after driving the B Stage Kart brings the commonalities between both machines to the fore.
Fine - there's the '5-Door' portion of our car's name - but that means that life for our rear passenger is doubly improved via a longer wheelbase and proper rear doors. Still, the 'MINI Cooper S' portion resolutely points to the same, go-kart-esque qualities one expects from behind the wheel.
For starters, the driving position is almost instantly spot-on - it doesn't take much adjustment to get comfortable - and one sits rather low down.
Toggle the Cooper S's drive mode switch upwards for an even more engaging driving experience Depress the red 'Start/Stop' aeroplane-style switch, and its 2.0-litre inline-four rumbles to life (although this is admittedly augmented synthetically). Get going, and the steering feel is, in hot-hatch fashion, significantly heavier than the average modern car's, too - then made even heavier when set into Sport mode (this also increases throttle response).
The more stiffly-tuned suspension set-ups of MINIs in general are also more communicative of the sorts of road surfaces you're driving on. And above all, while the Cooper S often feels a bit caged up in Singapore, the raised speed limits here are perfect to unlock a bit more of the 176bhp and 280Nm of torque its engine can muster.
As we take on some stretches of intra-JB highways on the way to lunch (about 30 to 40 minutes away), a fellow journalist who's at the wheel is clearly having fun pushing into speeds that would not be legal in Singapore, while throwing the hatch around the occasional bend. Even today, few front-wheel driven cars provide the sharpness and engagement so intimately woven into these machines.
Taking stock: Growing diversity
The MINI range was refreshed in June 2021, introducing both exterior and interior updates Coming back together in November 2022 is special not just because it marks the first time MINI owners are getting a chance to celebrate the love for their quirky, characterful hatches since COVID hit. It's also special because of how the family has widened.
The MINI range was refreshed back in June last year and many of the cars here today clearly belong to this fresh batch. Among the most immediate tell-tale signs are those body-coloured front bumpers and, of course, taillights with Jack Union motifs.
Among the extra special cars gracing the event is a MINI JCW GP (pictured on the front right) Other exciting developments have occurred in the interim. A rare specimen - one out of only 3000 - graces today's event: A MINI John Cooper Works GP, launched back in 2020, and arguably still the hottest, most bonkers hatch of the range. (We spy the number 0046 on the hatch's aero fenders.)
On the other end of the spectrum, the first-ever all-electric model from the brand that landed later that year, the MINI Electric, has also tagged along.
Still, no MINI here is truly one and the same anyway; each carries the special imprint of its owner(s). Heads are turned everywhere these MINIs convoy and stop. At our lunch venue - a scenic seafood restaurant overlooking our border waters - I am even approached by a local, excited and curious about what the occasion is.
A pack of MINIs parked together - each unique to its owner - is truly a sight to behold no matter where Between the three-doored, five-doored and, yes, six-doored; the lower-slung and the higher-riding; the thirstier and the more eco-conscious, the truth is crystal clear:
It is, at once, the uniformity across and diversity within the MINI brand that continues to define it so strongly today.
Likewise, it is this uniformity and diversity that keeps on drawing so many (back).
Here are some other articles that may interest you!
MINI One against Fiat 500: Titanic supermini showdown
Here are some sizzling hot FWD cars that are highly entertaining on the road
A MINI is the perfect getaway car
The MINI Electric's cool approach to electromobility
But when it comes through on WhatsApp a few hours later, the pay-off for the set of glorious pictures is well worth it: 25 multi-coloured roofs spelling out the word 'MINI'. There's us - at the bottom right hand corner, white top over our Electric Blue Cooper S 5-Door.
Back to basics: No-frills go-karting
Much has transpired between 2018 and now, so don't blame yourself for the amnesia.
To get the newcomers up to speed very quickly, the last MINI Getaway organised by Eurokars Habitat and MINI Asia saw owners coming together to zip all the way to Redang Island (off Northeast Malaysia) for some snorkelling fun.
And so, off to western Johor Bahru we go. The heart of the action today is an 840-metre track nestled within RUD Karting Medini, a relatively new karting centre located in Iskandar Puteri.
It's worth noting that as a stroke of (good) luck, the weather has decided to up the stakes just before we begin our adventure. A slight drizzle greets us when we meet at Eurokars Habitat's Leng Kee office around 6:00am. It persists still, when the 30 cars for today's trip set off half an hour later, then smoothly cross the Second Link.
What thus ensues in the first practice session for the first group is a lot of sliding around and spinning out (reaching the speed limit is naturally out of the question). Wrestling with the karts is at once painful - not just because they lack power steering - but also hilarious. As those still on course struggle with their machines, race marshalls dash around to pull stranded drivers back onto the track.
Thankfully, by the time the qualifying sessions - and then the actual race for the 10 fastest drivers - come around, conditions have ripened for pushing the karts to their limits.
Amidst the ebbing and flowing roars of letting multiple 270cc engines rip concurrently, everyone accelerates harder, and brakes later. A winner is crowned not too long after, taking an exclusive scooter home in the trunk of his 3-Door MINI Cooper.
Roadgoing go-kart - passenger comfort included
As the speed limit is raised, so too are our spirits in our Electric Blue Cooper S 5-Door
Fine - there's the '5-Door' portion of our car's name - but that means that life for our rear passenger is doubly improved via a longer wheelbase and proper rear doors. Still, the 'MINI Cooper S' portion resolutely points to the same, go-kart-esque qualities one expects from behind the wheel.
For starters, the driving position is almost instantly spot-on - it doesn't take much adjustment to get comfortable - and one sits rather low down.
Toggle the Cooper S's drive mode switch upwards for an even more engaging driving experience
The more stiffly-tuned suspension set-ups of MINIs in general are also more communicative of the sorts of road surfaces you're driving on. And above all, while the Cooper S often feels a bit caged up in Singapore, the raised speed limits here are perfect to unlock a bit more of the 176bhp and 280Nm of torque its engine can muster.
As we take on some stretches of intra-JB highways on the way to lunch (about 30 to 40 minutes away), a fellow journalist who's at the wheel is clearly having fun pushing into speeds that would not be legal in Singapore, while throwing the hatch around the occasional bend. Even today, few front-wheel driven cars provide the sharpness and engagement so intimately woven into these machines.
Taking stock: Growing diversity
The MINI range was refreshed in June 2021, introducing both exterior and interior updates
The MINI range was refreshed back in June last year and many of the cars here today clearly belong to this fresh batch. Among the most immediate tell-tale signs are those body-coloured front bumpers and, of course, taillights with Jack Union motifs.
Among the extra special cars gracing the event is a MINI JCW GP (pictured on the front right)
On the other end of the spectrum, the first-ever all-electric model from the brand that landed later that year, the MINI Electric, has also tagged along.
Still, no MINI here is truly one and the same anyway; each carries the special imprint of its owner(s). Heads are turned everywhere these MINIs convoy and stop. At our lunch venue - a scenic seafood restaurant overlooking our border waters - I am even approached by a local, excited and curious about what the occasion is.
It is, at once, the uniformity across and diversity within the MINI brand that continues to define it so strongly today.
Likewise, it is this uniformity and diversity that keeps on drawing so many (back).
Here are some other articles that may interest you!
MINI One against Fiat 500: Titanic supermini showdown
Here are some sizzling hot FWD cars that are highly entertaining on the road
A MINI is the perfect getaway car
The MINI Electric's cool approach to electromobility
