SilverStreak
09-22-2003, 09:51 AM
A good friend of mine just got a Mini Cooper S, fully loaded up a few weeks ago and he stopped by this weekend to show me the car.
I was extremely impressed. The fit and finish was excellent. The seats, very comfortable. The seating position for a smaller car that is low to the ground was suprisingly comfy.
All the features, on board computer, heated seats, cd changer, steering wheel controls, etc, worked well, the ergonomics were great. I didn't mind having the speedo in the center of the car, I use the tach more any way. And I can see where if they wanted to make use of a large tach and a large speedo, there would be not enough room. So the decision to use a large tach in front of the driver, and a HUGE speedo dead center is fine by me.
The stereo, the premium HK sound, was excellent, better than the one in my Z3 (not sure how hard that is to accomplish, though).
The fat, thick steering wheel was great. And the clutch felt awesome, real easy effort, but not flimsy, and the distance to the floor felt like 1.5-2" as compared to my Z3. Real easy to master smooth take off's in no time.
I got to take it for a spin, it had a little over 1000 miles on it, so I drove it like I normally drive, but didn't beat on it or anything. We had it out with me behind the wheel for about an hour.
The steering was awesome, very direct, you flick the wheel, you change lanes. I got to run it thru some twisties, and it inspired lots of confidence. These were back roads out in Atco, too, lumpy, bumpy, real roads, switching back and forth on slight inclines and declines, not smooth highway banked curves. It handled beautifully and never got out of sorts.
I never got the impression I was driving a FWD car. For instance, in my wife's 03 Acura CL-S 6 spd, Acura has done a great job of nuetralizing torque steer. The only evidence that it's FWD under acceleration comes when you floor it, it doesn't pull so much as it simply makes the steering feel more taut, higher effort to turn the wheel while floored.
The Mini Cooper S showed no such similar flaw. The steering felt equally tight the whole time I was driving it, be it in a straight line, or flooring it in the middle of a turn.
Acceleration was smooth, and when revved up even only slightly at launch, it pulled immediately. The only time I was reminded I was driving a 1.6 liter was when I found myself at 2000 rpm in 4th gear and pushed the pedal to the floor- which was quickly corrected by a downshift.
(I'm used to my car, that is producing about 90% of it's torque peak at 2000 rpms.)
I've read a lot of the magazine testers whine about ride quality, saying it was too harsh and punishing with the sport package and 17" wheels. Maybe it's my perspective, coming from the short wheelbase on the Z3, and Mustangs and Camaros previous to that, but I found the ride to be just fine, perfect in fact. It's sporty, but never harsh or unnerving, and we hit some major crappy roads, too.
The car felt extremely tight, in it's structure. Everything felt solid and substantial. The gear shift was a delight, and the fat knob grew on me by the time I was done with my test drive.
Size wise, it looks like a small car on the outside, but on the inside it's bigger than one might think. Plenty of head room, even with the sunroof (which was very cool with the shade and split to the rear), which I'm sure cuts into headroom a bit, but also gives the cabin a sense of openess and light coming thru, etc.
The cabin size was not unlike that of an older Golf or Jetta. My wife used to have a 99 Cougar, and the Mini's cabin felt bigger than that, and better laid out in terms of head room, etc.
According to the computer with me romping on it for 60 mins or more, it still managed 25 mpg.
Damn nice car, fun to drive, cool looking, easily live-with-able as a daily driver, more utility than a Z3 (duh!), and with FWD, something you can drive 12 mos a year, and even at MSRP for around $25K, a bargain if you ask me.
Color me impressed. :buttrock
I was extremely impressed. The fit and finish was excellent. The seats, very comfortable. The seating position for a smaller car that is low to the ground was suprisingly comfy.
All the features, on board computer, heated seats, cd changer, steering wheel controls, etc, worked well, the ergonomics were great. I didn't mind having the speedo in the center of the car, I use the tach more any way. And I can see where if they wanted to make use of a large tach and a large speedo, there would be not enough room. So the decision to use a large tach in front of the driver, and a HUGE speedo dead center is fine by me.
The stereo, the premium HK sound, was excellent, better than the one in my Z3 (not sure how hard that is to accomplish, though).
The fat, thick steering wheel was great. And the clutch felt awesome, real easy effort, but not flimsy, and the distance to the floor felt like 1.5-2" as compared to my Z3. Real easy to master smooth take off's in no time.
I got to take it for a spin, it had a little over 1000 miles on it, so I drove it like I normally drive, but didn't beat on it or anything. We had it out with me behind the wheel for about an hour.
The steering was awesome, very direct, you flick the wheel, you change lanes. I got to run it thru some twisties, and it inspired lots of confidence. These were back roads out in Atco, too, lumpy, bumpy, real roads, switching back and forth on slight inclines and declines, not smooth highway banked curves. It handled beautifully and never got out of sorts.
I never got the impression I was driving a FWD car. For instance, in my wife's 03 Acura CL-S 6 spd, Acura has done a great job of nuetralizing torque steer. The only evidence that it's FWD under acceleration comes when you floor it, it doesn't pull so much as it simply makes the steering feel more taut, higher effort to turn the wheel while floored.
The Mini Cooper S showed no such similar flaw. The steering felt equally tight the whole time I was driving it, be it in a straight line, or flooring it in the middle of a turn.
Acceleration was smooth, and when revved up even only slightly at launch, it pulled immediately. The only time I was reminded I was driving a 1.6 liter was when I found myself at 2000 rpm in 4th gear and pushed the pedal to the floor- which was quickly corrected by a downshift.
(I'm used to my car, that is producing about 90% of it's torque peak at 2000 rpms.)
I've read a lot of the magazine testers whine about ride quality, saying it was too harsh and punishing with the sport package and 17" wheels. Maybe it's my perspective, coming from the short wheelbase on the Z3, and Mustangs and Camaros previous to that, but I found the ride to be just fine, perfect in fact. It's sporty, but never harsh or unnerving, and we hit some major crappy roads, too.
The car felt extremely tight, in it's structure. Everything felt solid and substantial. The gear shift was a delight, and the fat knob grew on me by the time I was done with my test drive.
Size wise, it looks like a small car on the outside, but on the inside it's bigger than one might think. Plenty of head room, even with the sunroof (which was very cool with the shade and split to the rear), which I'm sure cuts into headroom a bit, but also gives the cabin a sense of openess and light coming thru, etc.
The cabin size was not unlike that of an older Golf or Jetta. My wife used to have a 99 Cougar, and the Mini's cabin felt bigger than that, and better laid out in terms of head room, etc.
According to the computer with me romping on it for 60 mins or more, it still managed 25 mpg.
Damn nice car, fun to drive, cool looking, easily live-with-able as a daily driver, more utility than a Z3 (duh!), and with FWD, something you can drive 12 mos a year, and even at MSRP for around $25K, a bargain if you ask me.
Color me impressed. :buttrock