Coopers are fun cars, and that's about it. They're not faster than an S2000 in any way, and suck for daily drivability.

 

the 8.1:1 compression erks me.

in this case they werent trying to sell a car, they had thier "I'm the shit, dont **** with me" face on.

 

All dealers have that look...

 

The Russian guy at Valley Honda didn't

 

The Civic can never lose.

 

MNI coopers are very fun car to drive, yes, you'll be surprise!! But not faster than the S2K, even with JCW option or any aftermarket parts available that i know of.

 

uh, Johnny theres a bunch of aftermarket stuff that can make this thing sick fast. Its got 8.1:1 compression. you can boost the piss out of it.

but JCW is still a joke. $6k for a port matched head and a smaller SC wheel. (15% smaller)

 

Last time i've checked out MCO, not all the Reallyfast aftermarket parts they have come up with is reliable. The fastest MINI i know of isn't even the S but instead the regular MINI that is TC, even then i don't think it's faster that the S2K. The port matched head (JCW) doesn't do much if any for that car. For $2k you can get a comparable performance to JCW or even better, depending on what SC wheel you go with, 17% is what seems to be what everybody agrees on being safe and fast. Warranty and resale value is the only advantage of getting a JCW option.

Back to your Q.... There's definitely more snub yuppie type MINI owners, "but" less car enthusiast w/c is the opposite of S2K owners. As a past MINI (in caps always as owners will point out) cooper S owner, i speak from experience.

 

Minis (not all in caps, cause I'm a rebel and that's just how I roll) can be SICK fast on a road course though.

 

That ole dOOd was blazin'. I should have asked him to ride with me and give me some pointers.