Mini Cooper S ... Test Drive :).

[Ian442]

Since we are not going to buy a trailer anytime soon, I am trying to get rid of the Escalade. I took a test drive of two different vehicles, a New Beetle with the Turbo 4, and a Mini Cooper S.

The Beetle was nice had lots of pep and was smooth even for a 6 speed. but boring, and overly polite.

The Cooper S - like a go kart on crack. it helped the sales guy put me on an awesome driving route which let me feel out a bunch of different surfaces and road types, but I have never grinned so hard test driving in all my life.

I had paddle shifters at my disposal and that thing was just so responsive...

I am still getting an Elio but the Cooper would be for the missus, who likes it an awful lot.

 

[Rob Croson]

My manager bought a mini cooper a year or two ago. He described it as "Nothin' but fun!"

 

[Marshall]

Since we are not going to buy a trailer anytime soon, I am trying to get rid of the Escalade. I took a test drive of two different vehicles, a New Beetle with the Turbo 4, and a Mini Cooper S.

The Beetle was nice had lots of pep and was smooth even for a 6 speed. but boring, and overly polite.

The Cooper S - like a go kart on crack. it helped the sales guy put me on an awesome driving route which let me feel out a bunch of different surfaces and road types, but I have never grinned so hard test driving in all my life.

I had paddle shifters at my disposal and that thing was just so responsive...

I am still getting an Elio but the Cooper would be for the missus, who likes it an awful lot.

There is a tension with small cars. You can approach a "hybrid" between economy and sportiness from two different directions. A sporty economy car or an economical sports car. While both directions approach the center, it is seldom reached and therefore your basic desire for either the sport or the economy will control your perception of which is the best approach.

Mine is definitely from the economy side. It appears your (or at least your wife's) experience indicates a preference for the sporty side.

 

[bunchathrees]

The McLaren P1 in my avatar should get 34MPG. I suspect that none of them do however.

 

[Maurtis]

I LOVED my 2008 MINI Cooper S. Love, love, loved it. It had the 6 speed manual with sport suspension. I bought it used with 1 year left on the warranty, and in that year it was in the shop four times for pretty costly repairs. Too much for my taste, so at the end of the year when the warranty expired I traded it in for a 2012 Hyundai Veloster. Not nearly as sporty but a lot more reliable.

I think they have worked out the issues with the timing chain tensioner which was a big issue with those earlier turbo Prince motors, but still have issues with valve coking being direct injected? Worth looking into first, check out the North American Motoring forums: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/

And here she was, all dressed up for the Buda Weiner Dog races: