JoeyDeacon

As some of you may have read I have recently been seriously thinking of getting rid of my Impreza due to running costs. To be honest with you the only cheaper car (Buying a Civic Type R wouldn't really be cheaper in the long run) I could see myself owning is the new MINI Cooper.

After viewing the car for first time last week I was pretty certain I wanted one but after the test drive on Saturday I am not convinced. Here is my review of a Mini Cooper with the Pepper pack, I know a few of you have bought one/test driven one so I would be very interested to hear what you think.

OK here is my opinion of the MINI as I remember it from the test drive. First of all Girlfriend gets in the back, the salesman gets in the drivers seat and I get in the passenger seat. Girlfriend has hardly any legroom so I move my seat forward until my knees are about an inch away from the dash. Salesman is quite short and moves the seat about trying to convince me that there is
plenty of room.

He starts the engine and the first thing I notice is it sounds a little harsh, maybe I was expecting BMW levels of refinement but it's a bit of a disapointment. Anyway he turns the car around in the car park and heads towards the exit and we hit a bump. Hold on was that a bit of the interior trim I hear creaking??

He takes us out of town to a quiet road and we swap over so I can drive. I try to get in the drivers side but the Salesman is shorter that me and I can't even get my knees under the steering wheel (I am 6ft tall so not all that tall). I then move the seat straight back so I can fit in and unsurprisingly there is now no room behind me. I then move the steering wheel down and it shows how plasticky the dash is as the rev counter is fixed to the steering column and seems to wobble as I move the steering column.

Clutch seems pretty light and gearchange is possitive so as I get to the end of the road to turn around I start to brake. I am almost thrown through the windscreen as I touch the brakes as they are so sensitive. Now I am not 100% convinced this is because they are brilliant brakes I would be more inclined to believe it is because they are massively over servo assisted. I find it hard to get used to the brakes as they are so sensitive, ever time I
try to apply them we all get thrown through the window. Because it is a new car and I am not used to it I drive like I am on my driving test. I don't take it about 4500 rpm but it certainly doesn't feel massively quick. Next it's the girlfriends turn to drive and she puts it through it's paces a little more (Hence why she doesn't drive the Impreza).

Now she is giving it a bit of a thrash I have to say it sounds quite sporty when driven hard. She swerves around a parked car to see how it handles and it feels nowhere near as composed as the Impreza. Over bumps I am noticing more and more rattles in the car. Over a few speed bumps it feels OK but as she goes faster over them it starts to feel a little rough, it feels as if the suspension and ride is not all that sophisticated.

All in all I am not convinced. Girlfriend loved it but then compared to her Punto it is pretty good. Compared to the Impreza it feels in a different (lower) league. It shows how good the Impreza is and just how capable it is, just guess after the Impreza my expectations are a little higher? I wasn't expecting anywhere near the performance but I thought that being a BMW the engine would be refined and quiet and the interior would be rattle free.

Anyway I think I would need to borrow one for at least a day before I made up my mind either way. I am currently too worried that I would get rid of the Impreza and after driving the MINI for a while think "what the hell have I done?"





[Edited by JoeyDeacon - 11/19/2001 11:13:08 AM]

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

As a second car? Yes

As a main car after owning an Impreza? NO (IMHO )

I could list loads of reasons but my main ones being: lack of space (no legroom at all in the rear) and lack of speed.

Sal

father_jack

It's up to you if you want to replace the Impreza with the Mini,
Anyway, I would disagree with almost everything you said.
You can't blame it for being small, it is small! My 6'4 mate had no room problems driving it..... its a 2+2....

Mrs. Jack has had one for a few weeks now, I've done a few hundred miles, but Satuday was my first proper shot down some real twisties. It's bloody excellent, superb grip and handling, an it's fun ... It's so short you can overtake almost anywhere and nip back in. Ours has only done 300 mls so not taking it much about 4,000 atm. The gearbox is the best I've got me hands on, so easy to drop gears and set it up for the corner.

The demo one (full revs :-))I drove seemed ok but underpowered, but there were 3 of us in it. Plus you can chip it to 135bhp or get a Cooper S. (supposed to generate over 1g cornering).
The brakes are really good and progressive tho the inital bite can catch you out if you jump from one car into the mini, you get used to it. It is so well made it makes everything else look like poo.
I really want a Cooper S, but two mini's in the family would be, well, a bit his n hers.. matching anoraks etc....
btw the Civic is great, does 40mpg and uses standard unleaded to do 200bhp - so it will be much cheaper to run than the Scoob.
I'm getting one when I shift the Accord..

Cheers.....

DMB

Please don't be too harsh on the little fella by falling for the its made by bmw so it will be a bmw line. Thats bollocks, the thing costs peanuts for what you get but it is NOT a seven series like the majoritory of people seem to think. Engine was developed with/by Chrysler (think neon) so it will never be up there with the likes of the new bm derived motors. You will never have the levels of spec AND fantastic trim for that money i matters not who you are and remember its built by the rover boys not the bavarians.

The mini is a great, fun car to drive and be seen in don't get me wrong on that one, but please try to lower your expectations of a 12 grand car, an alfa 156 costs loads more and still falls apart, there has to be a compromise somewhere.

GaryC

Mrs C picked her MINI cooper up on Saturday, and we spent the weekend fighting for the keys.

It is nothing short of superb. The looks, the fun handling, the pure chuckability of the car AND the build quality. Don't forget, majority of demonstrators were the pre-production models and did suffer from a variety of faults (interior and engine refinement being the two I noticed) but this one is (so far) faultless.

The build quality and overall quality/solid feel is nothing short of phenominal for its class. The only flimsy thing on the car is the interior door handle.

Interior space wise is fine for what it is. Granted, those who know me will know I am not the tallest person around and Mrs C is smaller still (5'3) but with her driving, I have 2/3 inches between my knees and the back of her seat when sat behind her. Front passenger and driver space is on a par with my 330d. Even when the 6'2 salesman drove us on the test drive, Mrs C could fit behind with no problems.

Handling wise, it is about the most chuckable car I have driven. Very solid, very sure footed but grips like no other FWD I have driven, great turn-in, very responsive steering (if with a wheel that is a bit on the big side for my taste), true mini 'wheel on each corner' ability to change direction on a dime. Granted ours has the Sports suspension 'plus' which is bound to help.

Cost wise - Mrs C has gone to town (although the delay in the body kit has saved it going REALLY silly )

She specified just about everything possible. 'Chilli' pack, Full leather, air con, sports seats, stereo updrade, CD player, front fogs, front (grill mounted) spot lights, tinted windows, ASC, Trip computer, alarm, white indicator/light pack etc etc and it still came in under £14500!!

With the base CooperS coming it at around £14/15k it is going to be a serious class act and cause a lot of established hot hatch names to sweat profusely. Just think what the planned sub-£18k 200bhp Alpina version will be like!!


Don't be put off by the Demonstrators, they are sub standard, when you get the real thing the quality IS BMW standard, and the car offers build quality, interior refinement and design the japanese can only dream about

fast bloke

Joey - It might be an idea to compare it to cars in a similar price and running cost bracket. I remember when I cut the Bently in for a Scoob