samkwon,

Just test drove Mini Cooper S this weekend. Great car, I really like the handling/performance of the vehicle. I enjoyed it so much that I put down the $1,000.00 to order one. Delivery should be about 6 months. I only had to wait 3 months for my S2000.

Rick

 

wow, can't believe i missed this thread!

you can circumvent the really long waits (like 6-10 months) by going to less popular dealers, like rochester ny or milwaukee. the west coast is the *worse* place to find one. even in the DC area where S waits are almost a year, they still sell at MSRP (not above). i paid a small premium for car ($500) and it was worth it.

most of what everyone said is true, the car is not fast in a straight line--but it carries a lot of speed through corners. this is my first "performance" car but it just seems amazing, i took an off-ramp today at 70, lost some speed making the turn and powered out well above 60.

there is a little bit of understeer under hard cornering, but you can dial that out by playing with the rear tire pressures or a larger rear sway bar. i've been mssing with the tire pressures and today the rear end stepped out a little a few times, great fun.

another odd thing for a front wheel drive car, if you give it trailing throttle into a hard turn or get on the gas a little early you can get it into a 4 wheel drift. i've got the dsc and it will let you have a little fun before catching it.

i think the S trim is worth the money, in addition to the super charger, S trim upgrades some of the basic things and changes some of the packages (the sport pack on the S is a much better value then on the cooper). that said the cooper is still a fast car in the turns, it still handles extremely well. if you're driving in tight turns a cooper can easily keep up until the road opens up then the S will run away.

uhm maintenance is covered 3/36K, i'm only at about 7K miles, so I haven't had a scheduled one. just so you know the "official" oil change interval is 10-12K miles depending on how you drive. the dealer won't service the car before the service light inside the car. for example mine goes from 12K miles to 11K depending on how hard i last drove the car. personally even with the synthetic oil, i can't imagine running the car for 12K w/o an oil change, so I paid for an in between change at around 5500 miles ($70, ouch...if you DIY it would be about half, but changing the oil filter is a bitch!)

a complaint? i'm not a huge fan of the run-flat tires, i think they make the car ride really harsh, i've been in cars with tight suspensions and low profile tires before and I don't remember it being this harsh. my next set of tires will be regular ones (either yokohama or bridgestone s03s)

there are a lot of message boards out there the biggest one is mini2.com (like 5000 registered members), some of the smaller ones are more intimate like minicooperonline.com and roadfly.com

there are also a lot of companies working on tuning the car if it matters. already there are 4-5 companies that are easily getting 200+HP with bolt ons and a new ECU, if you do the SC pulley people are talking about 240HP. I personally don't need that much power, i find it a lot more fun to carve up the turns but it's good to know the tuners are backing the car. SuperSprint already has a full header -> exhaust system.

as you can see i really like this car, this coming from a cyclist that hadn't owned a car in three years so I'm not really a car fan. it's fantastic fun, i've had some minor quallity issues, but nothing major--just small pieces needing replacement. my only gripe is that the MINI owners are treated much worse then the BMW owners (not really a surprise) but my Honda dealer treated me better then my current BMW/MINI dealer. but that's really city specific, the BMW/MINI dealer near my parents house is actually very good.

feel free to PM, next to driving the car a favorite thing is to talk about it!

 

I'm glad you found it, great write up.

I don't have a MCS but probably will buy one within the next year. I've driven several MC's and a couple of MCS's and the cars are just a freaking blast to play with. I can't call any FWD car a sportscar but the Coopers certainly out handle many true sportscars. I love them!

 

Hey everybody!

Here are some very useful MINI sites:

http://www.mini2.com/
http://www.roadfly.org/
http://www.miniusa.com/

I purchased my Cooper in April 2002 and now have 12,500 miles on it! It was a pre-spec'd car delivered to me only 3 weeks after the launch.

Daily driver - Yes this car is my daily driver and I put almost 300 miles a week on it.

Reliability - Standard 4 year/50,000 mile warranty. I have not had any problems with it to date (1 transmission cable recall performed at no charge to me) and the build quality is first rate in my opinion. The only thing I don't like are the big, frameless door windows which "look flimsy" at first when you open and close the door but the auto-sealing system is awesome (the windows automatically lower 1/4 inch when you open the door and then roll up after you shut the door). No squeaks, rattles, clanks, or any other noises.

Maintenance - Standard 3 Year Schedule Maintenance FREE (but I paid for 1st oil change). So far I have not had to do any maintenance other than 1 oil change, with the 2nd one due pretty soon. It comes with synthetic oil from the factory which is nice. The tires feel like new despite some aggressive cornering. Might have them rotated soon though to even out any wear. Brakes feel like new.

Mileage - Averaging 32 to 33 MPG, mostly highway driving with my best tank close to 37 MPG on a long trip

Engine - Adequate for most (but not all) situations, passing power is good, but it could use more torque. Relatively smooth until 5000 RPM when it gets kinda rough, although I have never taken it to redline (6800 RPM or something close to that). Bottom line, need more power

Clutch and Shifter - No complaints. Throws are relatively short (but not S2000 short). Shift linkage is smooth, more so than Cooper S. Clutch takeup is smooth.

Handling - Love the handling of this car , similar to the S2000 - very quick steering, great brakes, no body roll in corners. The overall dimensions help too and the Germans do wonders with the suspension. The Dunlop run-flat tires are grippy but are ultimately not as grippy as the S-02s in the S2000. The chassis is SOLID and the car is very stable in any weather conditions as well as speeds over 100mph .

Ride - The ride is very firm but compliant enough to soak up the bumps and good enough for me as a daily driver. The ride is noticeably stiffer in the Cooper S w/17" wheels I test drove and borders on harsh. The Cooper is also quieter than the Cooper S mostly because of the exhaust.

Interior - WOW! Love the interior - beautiful and functional. It's beautifully finished, perfectly arranged controls, and love the big speedometer. It takes a day or two to get used to it's location, but once familiar it's becomes the norm. The switchgear (window switches, etc), even though they aren't located on the door, are simple and just as easy to use. Cool red lighting at night. My car does not have the optional sport seats unfortunately, which I would have preferred as they have bigger side bolsters. The standard seats are comfortable enough for me, with the leather and butt heaters but they need more lateral support. I like leather but it's expensive at $1250 - I would have opted for the cloth instead (a no-cost option). The standard (no-cost) leatherette is actually very comfortable but I imagine it would be sticky in the summer.

Options - The MINI is wonderful in that you can pick and choose from several options and colors to make your car standout from the rest. There are 3 good packages available, or you can order anything by itself.

My car is a 115hp Cooper with the following options (MSRP around $21,000):

- Pure Silver Metallic paint
- Black roof and mirror caps
- Premium Package (Dual-pane sunroof, multi-function wheel w/cruise, automatic climate control, on board computer)
- 16" wheels
- Leather seats and steering wheel
- Heated seats
- Front fog lights
- Chrome bumper inserts
- Factory aero rear spoiler

I highly recommend the MFSW, 16" wheels, foglights (Xenons are a $500 option) and cloth sport seats (wish I had 'em).

Both cars are a GREAT value. All said and done, I love the car and it's been everything I hoped it would be but I wish for a little more torque on a day-to-day basis and so I am thinking about trading up for the Cooper S. If you keep the options to a minimum, I think it's a great performance bargain.

 

Great stuff...thanks for the awesome responses.

mgiang7 - I will take you up on the PM offer as I come up with more questions. Thanks!