drove a mini tonight

[masraum]

Wow, what a great driving fun little car!

We are looking at getting my wife a different car and giving her Cherokee to the kid. We are thinking a cheap nice miata, or maybe a cheap Liberty. We are at Carmax testdriving (prices usually too high to buy there) just so she can get some experience in them. They had a mini, so I thought, what the hell.

It wasn't even an S, but man, what a blast. Our local Carmax has castrated the test drive. Basically just around the block. The ride and handling were firm, not much sway, and not uncomfortably stiff. It was decently zippy. No scorcher, but I think the S would manage that. I'm 6'2" and 200#s and had plenty of headroom and elbow room. My wife sat in the back seat and said she had plenty of room back there. The controls for everything are in then center of the dash and would take a bit of getting used to but would be ok.

All in all, for a stock street/daily driver I think it'd be the car to have if you didn't drive a 911. Probably even moreso than a miata. If you are going to track the car and are willing to modify it then the miata is the way to go. The miata is a great car, but the stock springs are way too soft. Great camber curves were built into the miata, so it handles well despite lots of sway on stock springs and sways.

[HardDrive]

Thanks for the post.

I have been slowly starting to look for a new daily driver.

[dd74]

I've looked at BMW Minis, and continue to be as impressed with those cars as I am with Miatas. Getting it correct out of the chute, like with the Miata, is quite a feat.

The caveats of these cars, however, are time and $$$. Engineering-wise, now is the time to buy a Mini. Soon, the next generation Mini will come out, and from a couple of the BMW Minis boards I've seen, the new ones will be heavier, longer and lack the rear suspension the current Mini has, which, in part, enable the car to handle as well as it does. This decision, in part, came as a cost issue for BMW.

$$$-wise, I don't know what sort of deal you expect with a used Mini, as Kelly Blue Book rates the standard, S and JWC versions as having very little depreciation. Some used models are selling close to their retail off-the-lot price three years after being purchased.

Given that, wouldn't it be funny that in, say, five years' time, you're able to purchase a used Lotus Elise for around the same price as you'd pay for a used BMW Mini?

Or how about this: for the same money spent on a used standard BMW Mini, you could almost buy a vintage Mini Cooper S with a 1275 engine. Sure, they're smaller, lack at least one additional forward gear, and if you're hit by anything larger than a Moped, you're in for a visit to the hospital, but I bet the old Mini will run circles around its 2600-pound descendent in a canyon or on a track.

[david.avery]

I owned a 2002 for 2 years, and replaced it with the wrx sti. Previous to the cooper S I owned a Audi s4 (2000). The mini felt down on power from the audi (and of course the 300hp subie) but wow what a handler. The audi would lean and grumble about tight corners, the mini (especially when new, within the first 10K miles) would handle on rails.

The thing I noticed is that the mini handling got sloppy compared to when new after 25K miles. I wonder if it was tires, bushings or shocks, but it was much less chrisp in my opinion.

Mini Cooper S with about 50 more HP == the bomb IMO. I was leasing, so I never considered any mods, but for less than 2500 you can get a sizable HP bump (200 crank hp over 163 fact).

I would definitely own one again, I do miss it over my subaru, though nothing beats 300hp/300ftlb tq and adjustable split AWD, especially with the NE winters.

[Paul K]

My Wife has one. 2004 Mini Cooper S. She loves it. You can't just fit a 6 footer in the front, we had a friend who's 6'2 ride in the back!
Mini forums:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/
http://northamericanmotoring.com/forums/
Pic of Kathryn with hers...



We bought an S because it is more sporty for not a lot more $$ than the standard Cooper. Plus the dang thing is probably still worth the 24.5k we paid for it!

Cheers,

Paul.

[1967 R50/2]

Other MINI sites:

http://www.motoringfile.com

and a bit more entertaining:

http://www.mini.ca

[Don Plumley]

I have an '05 CooperS and as I've posted before, I think it is a wonderful daily driver.

I would specifically stay away from 02 and 03 models, and given how well they are holding value, just buy a new one - warranty, free service, etc. I have a great dealer recommendation if you need.

Don

[Don Plumley]

Here's the pic:

[scottmandue]

I wanted a Mini but they were a little out of my price range for a daily driver. That and you had to get on a waiting list to get one, is that still the case?

Funny that just this morning I saw a Asian import driving on the freeway that looked very similar... got me thinking what makes the Mini so much better... they are both boxy little front wheel drive cars. I know the devil is in the details, working out the suspension and all that but I do wonder if part of the Mini worship is just hype with the perceived mystique of BMW and historical Mini handling.

Just musing on a Saturday morning.

[PorscheGuy79]

I was lucky enough to test drive a WORKS and an S back to back. Man that was a fun little car, mean pull and a wicked noise on the WORKS. I thought on both cars that handling was pin-point and the fun to drive factor very high. I would recommend the car to anyone but I could not say I justify the 6-7k premium for the WORKS. Warranty or not, you will be better off just to go out and do the upgrades on your own. Like David said, you can put 2.5k in and have a better care than the WORKS. Why do I keep putting WORKS in all caps? WTF?

[svandamme]

i've driven the coopers , the stock is underpowered
the S is to expensive

both have a weak pedal feel
and are very noise at speed, and are uncomfortable seat wise for anything more then 100 miles. the dash is annoyingly badly arranged and so is the window angle.. can't see feckall , like traffic lights for one thing...

it's cute, and fun in a multi storage parking space, but in real life it's dissapointing.. and i wouldn't pay for it.

[1967 R50/2]

You should check the option list...it is literally a mile long. It's also a lot cheaper in the US than it is in Europe.

It out handles anything (in America) short of an Elise. That's no hype.

Check the SCCA results from last year. It dominates in Solo G and H stock and took 1st place nationally road race SSC class.

Yeah...I'm a fan of hot hatches.

While you're at it check out the new Honda Civic Si. Much more basic, but nice numbers.

[svandamme]

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
You should check the option list...it is literally a mile long. It's also a lot cheaper in the US than it is in Europe.

It out handles anything (in America) short of an Elise. That's no hype.

a lot of cosmetic options

yes more expensive here

outhandles , it won't outhandle a 911 on a high speed track
sure , parking lot's , autox and stuff

but not hte nurnbergring , not even if it did have the same power to weight ratio as a 911

and either way , it has poor ergonomics, and sloppy feel to the gas pedal...

[1967 R50/2]

Originally posted by svandamme

but not hte nurnbergring , not even if it did have the same power to weight ratio as a 911

Sound like fun. Maybe I should live in Rotterdam! I don't have the luxury of getting to the 'Ring...ummm...ever!

[Paul K]

Paul posted my picture earlier, and we just read the posts. I have had my MCS since August of 04. It is a fun car and is different than 99% of the other cars I see on the road so shows more individuality. Also is nice to know that I didnt lose thousands of dollars when I drove off the lot. My uncle has a JCW and is 6 foot 5 and he loves it. I chose the MCS because it was only a couple of thousand dollars more than the Cooper. You cant see traffic lights but you get used to it!

Nice to meet you guys

Kathryn

[epbrown]

I thought about one when I was shopping last year, but ended up going with the 325i. The Mini makes great sense in a city like Chicago, where being able to squeeze into any niche for parking is a blessing, but after the test drive I couldn't see making long highway trips in one. Have you guys made any extended road trips in one?

[Jims5543]

I went down to the local MINI dealership in 2003 to test drive a CooperS to see what the hype was about. I ended up plunking down $5K for a deposit on a new one. I was blown away how well it handled right out of the box even with slippery run flats on it.

While I was waiting for it to be built I started reading about the JCW kit and decided to purchase it.

Then I ended up buying lightweight rims and sticky tires. Then I was tinkering with the suspension putting in the same one that is in the JCW racing series cars over in the UK.

When I tracked it I could not believe how fast it was. I also weighed it and was suprised to see it tipped the scales at 2650 lbs. My Works package gave me 205HP and that made for a really fun street car and an awesome track car.

The best part? I could put 4 tires, a floor jack, tools, cooler and some chairs in the back with the seats folded down. It really was an awesome track car.

.... why did I sell it?????

Oh yeah! To buy a Porsche 911. Never looked back until just now.

[Paul K]

EpBrown,
Extended trips- we've taken ours to Kathryn's parents' a couple of times- 5 1/2 hours- not exactly extended, but enough to let us know that it's not ideally suited to road trips. Of course, I am comparing it to my Range Rover, which is like travelling along in your favorite recliner while riding on air! I think the standard Cooper might be a little softer riding but the S does make you a bit saddle sore!

Cheers,

Paul.

[dd74]

Originally posted by svandamme

outhandles...

but not hte nurnbergring , not even if it did have the same power to weight ratio as a 911...

Not quite Nurburing (sp?), but I saw a video - maybe linked from somewhere on this forum - of a standard Mini Cooper S handing a Porsche GT-3 its ass. Something tells me this occurred at Portland Int'l Speedway, but I could be wrong. Nonetheless, the results still stand.

My guess is the Mini driver was a very good driver, and the GT-3 driver drove more like me.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by dd74
Not quite Nurburing (sp?), but I saw a video - maybe linked from somewhere on this forum - of a standard Mini Cooper S handing a Porsche GT-3 its ass. Something tells me this occurred at Portland Int'l Speedway, but I could be wrong. Nonetheless, the results still stand.

My guess is the Mini driver was a very good driver, and the GT-3 driver drove more like me.

The learning curve on the MINI is a lot lower than a GT-3. In other words you can get your MINI tclose to 100% of its potential a lot easier than the GT3.

But, once the GT3 owner gets a hang of it he will walk away from the MINI.

When I was at the track this past weekend on Saturday I was barely able to keep up with a Miata by Sunday afternoon I was flying by them and pacing the big boys. Its all about how comfortable you are pushing your cars limits. In the MINI it is a lot easier to get to the limits and very forgiving if you pass them.