Anyone driven a MINI?

Drove an ordinary cooper and loved every minute of it. Just ask Dan405, i didn't shut up the whole night about it!

A mates mum has a Cooper S and she loves (and knows how to drive it hard). When she got a courtesy car (normal Cooper) my mate had it for a few days and was really impressed with it. Not quite as chuckable as the old mini (obviously), but the same sort of feel was there, which inspired a lot of confidence. BMW clearly put a lot of work into it. Just look at the modified Cooper S's - putting out almost 300 bhp and the FWD chassis can still cope with it (just). I know a lot of people slate them for ripping off the name, but i reckon its a worthy successor.

Have driven the standard Cooper, which surprised me how good it was. Big car ride- soaked up the bumps well and was very smooth and quiet. Controls have an upmarket feel about them, and although the engine tries, doesnt really feel like its performing. You do have to rev it hard.

Was only a 15mile run, so I cant comment upon long time comfort. It is quite close to the ground with a low seating position so if "being ontop" of the road is important, go with a Focus or similar with a much higher driving position.

Tim..

The original Mini was a small car that made good use of the limited space it occupies. It was cleverly packaged and started the transverse engined front wheel drive car revolution. It also had a fairly novel suspenion system too.

As well engineered as the new Mini is, it is overstyled (the centrally mounted instruments are not practical or safe in my opinion), and makes extremely bad use of space. There is nothing novel about it at all, it's just another car trying to use the heritage of another car to sell itself, as a marketing exercise it is a success, as a stylish car it is quite succesful but a worthy successor to Mr Issigonis's creation it is not.

-- James

He's not kiddin.....

Drive a Mini One - very nice - smooth, lovely 'box...

Like i said, a lot of people slate them and there will always be arguements about them!

Well, I like them. 1.6 is not too quick but the chassis is responsive.

Briefly driven a One, seemed like a good piece of fun to me but underpowered - obviously the S puts paid to that. 8 hrs in that would be purgatory to me but then my last cars have been a 75, a S40 and a S60...

Noooooooooooo

If it's a TF or a trophy then yes, if it's an older softer F then maybe, it's a good cruiser but understeers a bit much for a midmotormobile.

Did 80k miles in 2 years in mine and never a complaint

Heh - yuck.

I agree it's a very nice car - I had one on loan recently - but a Mini it's not. It goes against the whole basic idea of the Mini - a small cheap car with maximum utilisation of the available space. The good handling of the original came about *because* of these constraints - it didn't have to be designed in.

Two separate questions:

Is the Mini Cooper S a good car? Yes, and especially so when you turn off some of the traction control etc, toys.

Is the Mini Cooper S a "Mini" ? No, not the same thing in the slightest, just uses the name.

I would certain test drive a M C S and see how I got on with it.

I didnt say it was the same, as it obviously isnt and never will be. I said it was a worthy successor.

Like i said in the other post, i didnt say it was a mini, just a worthy successor. Its a modern car that retains some of the charm and prowess of the out-dated original.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@timkemp.karoo.co.uk spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

Don't get me started.

I'd call it a pastiche.

in some ways yes, but i'm sure many successful successors could be called that.

Ok, let me get started. If I want a Golf, I'll buy a Golf. If I want a sporty Golf, I'll buy a Leon. If I want a luxo-golf, I'll buy an A4, if I want a pooftah's Golf, I'll buy a TT. For a practical Golf, there's the estate and the Bora. If I want a crap Golf, there's always the Beetle - so why does anyone need the skoda?

because it has a nice interior, and looks different.

yeah, nothing at all like a mini-passat....

Indeed. I find it like an X1/9 - very similar power and handling, actually, but a stodgier car generally. Sides are too high for my gf, she can't see out. Or at least, claims not to be able to.

S40 - I've had a Carisma already :) I think you must be a different build, since I had /very/ high hopes for the 75 but found it strangely uncomfortable. The S60 is out of my budget for anything decent.

It's like a coal-hole inside.

I've driven a regular 1.8 F. Nothing wrong with it, IMO - I preferred the ride to the harsh TF. However, the build is a little worse, and the one I found with a hardtop has a beige/tan interior.

I think I have odd-shaped legs. I don't fit in some cars which other people seem to love, yet I'm entirely happy in cars that I've seen described as 'awkward driving position'.

Nothing wrong with an Octavia. If I want a Golf, I'll look past the badge and get something with more kit for less money ;) In the spirit of making sure I've checked everything, I'm even going to look at a V6 Kia Magentis, on the basis that it's the closest thing to a Scorpio I can think of ;)

Richard

"soaked up the bumps" You didn't have the Sports suspension plus option on that car, it's still quite comfortable with it but I wouldn't say it was quite that refined (but defiantly more fun with it). You do have to rev the Cooper engine quite a bit but it comes on to power smoothly so you can very quickly find yourself at speeds (erm approaching) the limit. Both the One and the Cooper S have better low down torque and I think the One "feels" faster than the Cooper because of it. As the question was about the Cooper S it's a fantastic car if you boot above 2500 revs it will show a good turn of speed but it's quite happy to roam around at tickover in a high gear. Unless you are under about 5'9 then it's at best a 3 seater but I did a 5 hour trip in a Cooper at the weekend with no ill effects (did stop a couple of times). I would say the new MINI is the second most fun FWD car I have driven (after the old one) it lacks a little of the rawness that I would like but makes up for it by being a comfortable drive.