Used to drive a Fiat 128 - very similar to a Mini, but more controllable, especially when you took your foot off the gas at high speeds in a corner... :-) You could steer your way through a tight corner that way, switching between understeer and oversteer - a bit hard on the front tyres though... :-)

I also found driving by minis could be very distracting - especially if the legs are nice.... You may not have that problem Laura... :-)