[deanp]

I just bought a non-S Mini for commuting with and have put on 1700 miles in 3 weeks. I am 6'2" and fit just fine with the seat not all the way back or all the way down, with room for a helmet. When we went for the test drive, I drove, my wife was in the passenger seat with the seat a comfortable distance from the dash and the 'motoring advisor' sat in the back passengers seat, and he was also 6'2".

The space behind the rear seats is about 32"W x 12" x maybe 18" before you get to the shelf that sits at the bottom of the window. Last week I brought home a new tank (40gal breeder size) for our tortoise, measurment was 36"L x 18"W x 18"D, fit on top of the folded down rear seats with another 12" to spare behind, but the 36" length was pretty much max between the wheel wells.

On Saturday we watched my niece and nephew, 9 and 12 yrs old. Both sat in the back seat and my wife and I were both comfortable up front.

I opted for the non-S because we also have my 911 and a 986 for fun. I'm getting 33mpg on 50/50 mix of highway /city driving, and have a solid range of 400 miles per tank.

90% of the cars on the dealer lot (32 cars) were sold and if I didn;t buy the car I did, I would have had to place my order spec'd the way I wanted fit into the production schedule the following week and wait a month.

The car is definitely a momentum car, doesn't accelerate very quickly, but is very lively between 4 and 6K. I have started to push it on the backroads where I live and it takes everything that is thrown at it without complaint and just sticks to the road. I can only imagine what performance tires instead of run-flats would be like. Scooting through traffic is also a breeze. The brakes are on par with the Boxster and 911. Jim's comment about zipping around and not attracting attention is spot on. "No way that cute little car could be going that fast..." Best way to describe the feel is fully enclosed go kart. Great fun without looking like the stereotypical boy racer flavor of the day.

If you need specific measurements, let me know and I can get them for you in the AM.

Can you tell I am completely satisfied with Milo the MINI so far? (yeah, all the cars have names....)