I've always had a soft spot for the Cooper S - maybe a touch girly, but with a few subtle mods I think they look great. Nearly bought one when I had my Clio 182, but they were too expensive compared to the Clio back then.

Really have nothing to knock my blob wagon over, great car all around, only things that let it down a bit are the obvious fuel thirst (which isn't too bad tbh ~25mpg) and the slightly low rent interior, but the engine & drivetrain are great.

Doesn't stop me looking at the Mini's though, lol!

I've never driven one though, I know they would be a fair bit slower (my WRX has stage 1 mods) and less practical, but supposedly a lot of fun, and can be brought up to around 220bhp quite cheaply.

Any owners on here who have had both? Would be great to hear two sides of the coin!!

 

My girlfriend had a R53 Cooper S and it was great fun to drive and handled brilliantly, think the interior looked just as good as my current blobeye but build quality on the mini falls short, alot of rattles and squeaks and boot leaked which seems to be very common, and performance wise the mini does fall short compaired to blob.
Depends what you are looking for, fun wise mini is on a par or maybe even slightly better, reliability/build quality and straight line speed/launching scooby wins hands down.

 

My wife has had a R53 Cooper S JCW, for about 6 years!
Great handling & with 210 bhp from the 1.6 supercharged engine, it goes very well & handling is excellent!
During this time it has been faultless. Never spent anything on it, except service & service items.
The best thing I did for her though, was to get rid of the Dunlop DSST run flats! They ain't that good & are very hard!

 

Interesting, from having a look inside one (not actually sitting or using) the interior on the Mini looked nicer quality than a Blobeye. I suppose my interior is pretty rattle free, but no denying the plastics are very cheap and fairly dated looking. Hasn't really moved on from the S13 and Celica ST205 we've had over the years. Not that that's the be all and end all, just that when comparing to say our E46, it's the little things you notice.

No doubt the Scoob will be a clear winner in the straight line stakes. Even in the bends I find the standard WRX setup pretty good, a little body roll maybe but plenty of grip, and a composed over the rough stuff. I'd guess the Mini is more like my old Cup packed 182, excellent when you're going for it, but maybe a bit harsh over rough roads.

Still fancy a look around one though!

 

I had heard that the runflats are a big contributer to the poor ride quality. A friend of mine has a 123D M-Sport, and the ride is very harsh, I wouldn't mind betting most of that is down to the run flats.

 

Oh, forgot to ask, what kind of real world mpg were you both getting?

 

Ive had a 53 Cooper S and a blobeye PPP, build quality on the mini was far superior (i was involved in making the tooling for the inside door grab handles) it was a hard ride in the mini due to the run flats. Oh and it was a thirsty one, i sold it after about 18 months when we were expecting our 2nd child as the boot is only good for a case of beer. I swapped it for the Blobeye.

 

30mpg in the JCW!

 

Dad recently sold his - engine sounds great, handling it excellent, interior was good (Chilli pack and loads of options) BUT for 165bhp, it was TERRIBLE on fuel!

 

I had a Cooper S Works GP for a month (looked after it for a mate when he was away). It was running 240bhp and was an animal. A-B on the twisty's there is not much out there faster or more fun to be honest.
I averaged 26mpg when i was driving it, so better than the scooby.

 

Try on here http://www.hairdressingworld.com/hairdressersforum/

 

We've got an R53 Cooper S convertible - great little car - loads of fun & like a go cart on roundabouts.

The Harman Kardon stereo is great and definitely worth trying to get. The other toy that I like is the heated windscreen. Ours also has sat nav & integrated phone kit, which are nice, but I'd be just as happy with a TomTom.

The engine is sweet and the supercharger makes a lovely whine at higher revs.

I bought it second hand 2 years ago and it's cost me nothing in maintenance - not a thing has gone wrong with it.

I had planned to upgrade the pulley, but since we got it, it seems just fine the way it is and it keeps the insurance simpler without mods.

Not great on fuel - I've not measured it, but would expect we only get low 20's

 

My ten pence worth..

Well after 9/10 ten years of Impreza Ownerships
I too went for a Mini after I add a M3/Ep3 and Dc2

It is great fun
Looks good with the right mods
Go for a Late supercharged one.
Get 1320 to look after it if your modding it
And put some decent tyres on it

Away you go..

Im off to the Ring this weekend to see what it goes like..

Cheers
Craig