I will soon be placing an order for the US version of a new Mini Cooper S. The car will be my daily transportation. I test drove one the other day and had a couple of concerns that I would appreciate some comments on.
1) The salesperson told us to be sure give it some revs when taking off. During the drive I felt like I was trying to start in second gear, and my wife killed it several times even though she is experienced at driving a manual transmission. Once moving in 1st gear, and all of the others, the acceleration was great, but starting out from a stop in first was certainly dissappointing.2) We drove for about 30 minutes on a hot day (mid 90s F). It had the automatic AC. The car got cool but during the entire drive we had to leave AC on high and the car got confortable but not cool. Is this typical?
3) My dealer is getting in a unit that they will fit with the John Cooper Works package. Is it worth the $4500? I've seen some aftermarket packages that supposedly offer more horsepower for a lot less. Any experience with either the JCW or aftermarket packages?4) I'm considering the $1250 sport package that adds DSC, stripes, 17" wheels, fog lamps and Xenon headlights. I've heard several negative comments about the 17" wheels. Xenon headlamps are a $500 option by themselves. Are they expensive to replace if they burn out?
5)Do any aftermarket stereo manufacturers make AM/FM/CD units that work with the steering wheel controls.Whew, that was quite a mouth full.
Thanks for your comments.