Mini Cooper S..... Wow!! What a blast to drive!!

[Tim Hancock]

My 23 yo daughter just rolled and totaled her 2000 New Beetle with 200k on the clock.... good riddance as I hated working on that POS. While I am mad that she totaled her car, I decided to help her search for a replacement. She only wanted to spend 10k and we started looking for Hondas with 100k mileage.... no luck except for older model years.

My uncle has had this '05 Mini S since new and it has a custom sweet sounding exhaust system and lightweight 17" wheels with new Michelin rubber. It came with the original 16" wheels and the original exhaust both of which were only used the first year by him and then removed and stored.

He was nice enough to sell it to her at trade-in value. I ended up driving it the 2 hour trip home and once I got to the last 20 miles of country roads, I had an absolute blast beating the snot out of this angry little car!!! It is by far the most fun car I have ever driven on public roads. (including the following cars: my 911, 944 turbo, E46 330, Audi twin turbo A6, '72 240Z and my old boss's 2005 Vette).

I think I may just have to sell off my 951 and my 924S daily drivers and pick myself up one of these over grown racing go carts.

The totaled Beetle


My wife getting ready to try out the go-cart

[Don Plumley]

Glad your daughter is okay. And yes, they are fun little go-karts. We have an 05 MCS and my wife has commandeered it. :-D

[Zeke]

Race car!

You didn't say, but glad the daughter isn't hurt if that's the case.

[Burnin' oil]

Wow, Tim. That's a significant roll-over. How did it happen?

[Tim Hancock]

She was lucky and only had a cut up ear that required a bunch of stitches. She rolled 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 times and ended up on her roof 75' out in a bean field. This is her first accident in ever.... she fell asleep at the wheel and over corrected when she dropped a wheel off of the pavement. She got cited for failure to control. She has been a good kid and got through college on scholarships and now is working full time while getting her master's degree in accounting.

While I am not happy that she wrecked her car for no good reason, I am thankful that she came out without any severe injuries. She paid for both cars in cash and now we will make her pay for her own insurance 100%.

[billybek]

Looks like the structure on that beetle held up pretty well.

The new ride looks more fun though!

[widgeon13]

Lucky lady, good news all around. Glad to hear she is safe, probably learned a lot through this experience.

[onlycafe]

glad she's ok.

[fastfredracing]

Glad your daughter is O.k. . I just recently drove my first s as well. Real cool older customer who is on his deathbed, and liquidating most of his toys. I fixed a big boost leak that was making it run terrible. Quick cheap easy fix, , and he was so happy that he insisted that I took it out on an extended test drive with him, and flog the snot out of it.
Seriously, the most fun car I have driven in a long time. I was grinning from ear to ear the whole ride. Quick enough to get your attention, and goes around corners as well as anything . It has made the list for our next commuter car.

[Rednine11]

I have an 03 S with the eaton blower and 6 speed I'd let go under book if you hear of someone looking for one.

[herman maire]

car held up well and yes, glad she is ok.

How is the mini on the highway. Is it a fairly calm/quite ride?

[Don Plumley]

The ride/quiet was much better after ditching the run flats. It's not quiet like a luxo cruiser, but reasonable. I drove two from Chicago to SF in 2005 - good drives. Well mannered (after I got rid of the run flats - with them it was awful on siping).

[Chocaholic]

Had a 2011S (turbo). A blast to drive but road noise made biz calls impossible. Perhaps because of run-flats. Sold it last year.

[wdfifteen]

Glad your daughter is OK. There must have been a few scary moments for you.

I had a similar experience with a rented Golf. It was such a hoot to use the gas as an on-off pedal and flog the he11 out of it. I haven't had a car like that in a long time, and I'm thinking of a Mini or a GTI now.

[Tim Hancock]

This one has new Michelin Pilot something or others on 17" rims and tire noise was not an issue at all on the highway. That said, the aftermarket exhaust was a little buzzy inside at highway cruise speeds but the noise and off throttle burble/popping made it well worth it IMO once on the back roads. I have the original Dunlop run flats on the original 16" wheels, but my uncle claimed they got very noisy and became awful in the rain after 15k or so miles. I will need to see if there are donut spares available as my uncle just figured he would use AAA if he ever had a flat in his 17" non run flat tires.

The car rides pretty stiff and poor highway surfaces/cracks are noticeable, but I am sure the stock 16" wheels would make for a smoother highway experience.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Glad she's ok Tim. I had a 2004 non-S that was a blast, on twisty backroads I was able to keep up with far quicker cars.

[EarlyPorsche]

I once drove a supercharged one. Fun car but it felt like the supercharger had a clutch on it? Lots of cars have that but this thing was really touchy it seemed.

[Christien]

I just sold our 2005 cooper S convertible. I think they're the most fun car out there under 20k, for sure. The only reason I sold ours is the back seat isn't really big enough for the kids, especially in the winter. I took it to the track last summer and had a great time with it there. I'll definitely miss it!

edit: I do really dislike the throttle response, though. Even with a sprint booster, it was still really slow to respond, especially compared to my carbureted 911.

[70SATMan]

We have a 2010 MCS that's currently my DD. The run flats are horrendous even on 16s. Can't imagine what 17 run flats would be like. I'm thinking of going to regular 17s and getting one of those flat filler kits or a donut.

My only issue is that I'm starting to get the dreaded direct injection carbon build up which is causing some stuttering under varying acceleration.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I am so glad to hear that your daughter is OK Tim!