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Just a moment ago I posted on why the Volvo C30 refreshing to drive. If you haven’t driven a car from a few years back you might have forgotten how connected we once felt to the road because of where the hip point – that is the driver’s seat height – was located.

Everything from old Hondas to Mercedes Benzes once skimmed along the surface – now we sit higher, closer to where the SUV drivers around us perch precariously. Don’t believe me? Try a Saturn S series then an Ion, a Mazda Protege then a 3. It’s been decided that higher seats sell cars. All else being equal (not that it ever is) the older cars were harder to get into but gave the driver a better sense of what the car was about to do.

As 4Car points out, the MINI has managed to buck this trend.

As before, you sit low and feel very much in command. This is the complete opposite of the MPV driving experience.

I’d argue it accounts for a lot of the car’s appeal. Despite its boxiness, the Cooper’s not the most space efficient thing on the road, but with its low driving position it is a better place to start if you’re looking for something that’s good to drive; when did that become so secondary?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 at 11:39 am and is filed under MINI.