b12grf

Advice please on the Mini Cooper s with all the kit on, I would like a Clio V6 but as of yet the money issue is still to be confirmed, however walking around a BMW garage in Northampton today and the Mini Cooper S (fully Loaded) caught my eye, bruv is saying their a girls car etc etc but are they rated by you lot? Opinions pse

mynickers

Great car, but expensive, depends on your needs, people call it a girls car for a reason, same reason everyone first loved the Audi TT then slated it, which is that it's a design icon, which means it's appeal goes beyond just the driver enthusiast to anyone with some cash and needs a car. Popularity always leads to enthusiast turning up their noses or giving them the label of girls car or hair dressers cars. Geez alot of people slate Scoobies for being max power car - pleeeease!

I say F88k em' all, the main thing is do you like it? You have to drive cars, I have driven the cooper, it's very quick, it handles well, got a good gear box, but it's 163bhp, and its' fairly pricey.

If you put 'style' and 'status' aside and look at the competition in terms of performace per pound, the Civic Type R (especially the re-vamped one) is just as good a car with out any shadow of doubt, I have driven both, and they both have their strengths. The clio 182 and the cup are both fantastic performing cars, and a real bargain, but there are some worries of build quality between renualt and the other two. Although again if you're not keeping it for that long (2-3 years) that shouldn't be an issue for you, more the person that buys it after you.

The other car that I personally think rocks, is the Seat Leon Cupra (particularly the R), which now has the same build quality as a VW, and has the same engine unit as the Audi TT, which is very potent, I have driven this too, and I enjoyed myself a lot, although it was prown to wheel spin, which depending on yoru point of view is a bit embarassing. Also likely to go through tyres too.

If you're looking for a brand new hatch those are the ones I would be looking at. Best thing to do is take em' out for a testy, it's a very personal thing, and you might just really love driving one over the other.

b12grf

Cheers for your advice mate currently got a 172 but was in the process of changing it to the 182 but would like something diffrent all together, would love a V6. you reckon re-sale would be easy on the Mini? Insurance reasonable on em.....and is the build quality good i.e solid like a BMW

WRX_Rich

iTrader: (5)

forget all the options apart from the works cooper s kit

I ve had a cooper and a cooper s great cars both screem for extra power, they are quite heavy so keep the air con, sat nav etc etc to the girls

... it will be hard to call it a girls car when you are keeping up with scoobs

Steve Perriam

mini imho more viewed as girls car.

my fiancee's brother has an s. looks sweet.

i drove one a while go on a test drive. standard car. went very well. gr8 go cart type handling circling a roundabout several times

however imho, they are overpriced.

unless i was loaded and had money to spare i would not have one.

saying that atm and i guess for the short term the residuals are still very very good.

will it really keep up with a scoob or equivalent ?


also drove the 172, which an ex of mine bought. it felt quite a bit quicker than the s ? never got around to trying a type r.

me, i still want another scoob or an evo. but thats me - i am not and have never been a fan of hot hatches.

NotoriousREV

actually it's a style icon, i.e. appeals to style ******* which is why they get slagged off, a design icon would be like the original Mini i.e. changes the way things are designed, a small but important difference.

For what it's worth, I've had a short drive in a modded S and loved it and really like the interior touches but the boot is useless. If you like it, buy it

Steve Perriam

indeed style is wots its about certainly not design.

its overhyped and overpriced with cr$p standard kit as per all german stuff

wall

Overpriced? possibly. Overhyped? Not IMO. I have currently a cooper S (after WRX, STI5, Elise, 330ci, ...) and love it! Great cart handling, and overall a great quality motoring experience with a HUGE dose of fun on the "twisties".

Options to go for IMO are just SatNav (hardly weights anything) and Works Kit (200hp). Everything else best left standard, cloth seats less slippery then leather, A/C is standard, panoramic sunroofs are massively heavy, handles better on the standard 16" wheels than the optional 17s, etc...

Tractor

Style icon? Design icon?

I think neither car really fits either definition, but there is a FUNDAMENTAL difference between the two - the Cooper S is a serious driver's car, the TT is not. Hence with the mini you will always have that to fall back on to rebutt any hairdresser accusations!!

mn_angrybeats

I wouldnt call it a serious drivers car,understeer and FWD puts pay to that....it's a great handling car that inspires confidence and can be hussled down b roads at a reasonable lick....

IMO The Cooper handles better IMO, shame it's painfully slow.

Tractor

Mr Angrybeats, we can argue forever as to whether a fwd car can be a 'serious' driver's car....... but assuming it can, the Cooper S is among the best.

And understeer? Impreza anyone? All cars can understeer if driven in that manner, and likewise, when driven properly, understeer may be avoided. The Cooper and S are adjustable, fluid handling little cars. The chassis is excellent imho.

Abdabz

It is certainly not a style icon!!??? The original mini was and still remains a style icon. The new one may be a 'drivers car' but it is still a hairdressers car by its very appearance and its german, overpriced and not particularly quick.
Its a car for the ladies but fella's stay away - do men in the mini cooper s owners club do camp waves to each other "hello sailor" style? No? Well they should

mn_angrybeats

It really needs an LSD but ruins the excellent steering feel....I just get annoyed when powering out of a bend you get considerable understeer even when feeding in the power gently. In the wet it's even worse, ruins what is otherwise a great car.

So how do you suggest the situation can be avoided ??

NotoriousREV

I have to disagree: the original Mini is not a style icon, it was designed by Issigonis to have no style, it was stripped out and basic (he wouldn't even allow a radio as standard fit while he worked for BLMC), however, its design became the basis for every small car that came afterwards i.e. transverse fwd drivetrain, wheel in each corner and good use of space. Therefore it's a design icon.

The TT on the other hand had style ******* hammering on about the use of dimples in milled aluminium trim complimenting the something or other of their frameless ***** spectacles and Frank Lloyd-Wright shoes, ergo a style icon a bit like the equally pathetic iMac.

Just helping with the definitions a little

Tractor

As opposed to the slow-in fast-out driving style that works well on rear drivers, in powerful front drivers I prefer fast in (possibly on the brakes, depending on conditions), switching to balance on the throttle mid-bend (aiming to use all four tyres' grip as equally as possible), and then feeding in the throttle smoothly AFTER the apex, and perhaps not until very near the corner exit, again depending on conditions. This minimises any tendency to understeer while maintaining a maximum cornering speed.

The only powerful cars which allow bootfulls of throttle mid bend are well set up four wheel drivers, depending on your definition of 'well' of course .

Maddy

Can't comment about the clio, but my wife owns a cooper S and of course I have to take it for a spin whilst she's ironing my shirts (she thinks i'm taking it to the car wash, which tbh I do but not before a quick dabble). Very impressed on the build quality top notch, had it to 70mph in second gear which stunned me. Handling is superb (very quick) but brakes could do with some serious upgrading. Grip is not fantastic the orange T/C light is constantly flashing even in the dry.

It's a fun car which should holds it's value and of course plenty of options out there for more power if need be. The only downside is with BMW their options and extras go too far as you could end up spending up 30K and I know some people who have been suckered into this, 30K can buy a different league of car. For the basic price which I beleive is 14.5K I totally rate it.

Maddy

mynickers

Think that is waht I as saying

At the same time as not wanting to join in with the nobbers that buy cars too look cool, I don't think you should cross a car off because of it too, so glad to see you didn't let that stop your appreciation of it. Mini's do get silly though, you can acutally spend over £20k on extra's (without performance mods), just leather, 'cool packs' and all this nonsense, you'd have to have some serious screw loose to spend £20k on a freaking tarted up mini!?

I'd agree it could do with more power, although some have said the works kit along with some of the others can actually push the chassis to the limit of it's capabilities.

I like them, but I wouldn't part with my cash for one, I'd rather have a Seat Cupra R, although as someone already mentioned, as far as residuals are concerned I'd imagine the Honda and the Mini will be the most sensible options, Seats loose loads of cash, depends how long you want ot keep it.

PaulMc

Yep the intial cost is more than 'the others'. However residuals are far stronger. I bought one then had the BBR 220 conversion Great fun for now.

Might have to try out a MkII Clio V6 next though