Has anyone driven a Mini?
 

I'm curious about your experience. Handling, accelaration, Power and so on.
What do they cost? Are they made by BMW?

I love the Minis. I have only logged time in a regular Mini but should soon get some wheel time in a Cooper S cab. (One of my sisters and her hubbie had a base Mini and now a Cooper S cabrio. It's a 3rd car for them.) They handle so well and feel very nimble. It's like a little street go-kart. The quality is very good and the car feels solid. There is a certain BMWness about it for sure.

I'd get the S model for sure and I'd get it in a tintop.

What's an S type?

S= supercharged.

i almost bought one to turn into a race car... yes they are that fun and that capable...

klaus kindor from crevier is the local scca showroom stock champ with a regular mini. judy ray (used to be with crevier races them in the 25hr of thunderhill enduro). klaus bump drafted a porsche gt2 at buttonwillow... that is he was drafting so tight he bumped it a few times... thats how capable these cars can be in the right hands.. and it was pretty much stock per the rules for showroom stock class...

go watch the italian job and you'll be so psyched about it you'll want one Baaaadddd!!!

i also got a club race vid that a friend of mine was in... he dusted it with a race prepped e46m3, but the vid was from an older porsche 911 sc battling it out with a cooper s and the cooper beat it in the end.. very tight racing and very exciting to watch!

Had a Mini Cooper. Although it was seriously lacking in power, it was great fun and was like driving a go-cart. It you want performance the S is the one to get and if you want real performance go for the 'Works' version.

The finish to the interior is as good as any car I've owned and in the UK they also really hold their value. Over a year we only lost just over £1000 on the price we paid from new (about 7% to be exact!)

I'd like to see the video :thumbup: .

found it :)

this is the guy that drove and owns the mini
http://www.spiderspeed.com/html/personal_media.html

the following is a link to where the vids are:
http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/09/...vs_porsche_911

the guy in the 911 is an instructor. the course is texas motorsports ranch.

pretty exciting vid.. the two cars are pretty much neck to neck fighting for the apex of every corner.. if you look carefully you will see in the mini in the edge of the video lots!

No video :( . Each one refers to the other one due to bandwidth problems.

i have it but don't have a place to host it...

Second link, 1/3 of the way through the comments, the video is reposted. Worked fine for me. Thanks hayaku.

I am now on my 6th Mini and love them here a pic of our latest two.

MY one the silver one is a Cooper S JCW it's all the fun you will ever find driving a car especially on the twistie roads here in the Highlands of Scotland.

you should visit mini2

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96...p/DSC_0084.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96.../200505345.jpg

Drove an MCS and I think it's the only way to go if you want enough power... Feels like driving a Go-Kart!!! Great handling.

Wow that's a very nice silver mini Scottie!

Go and test drive an MCS, great handling, Go-Kart like, fun to drive, made by BMWGroup in England, I have an MCS and love it. :thumbup:

MCS is nice. I am also considering replacing our 3rd car with MCS. But don't want to spend a lot so may get a CPO.

Never have :mad: .I don't even know where to buy one :mad: .

I went out in a cooper works yesterday! very fast 210bhp. my mate is a sales manager for mini was very nice inside, but they are very expensive ! the one we went out in was £26000

If I ever need a small car, this is it..MCS.

....or the 1er if BMW ever decides to bring it over here.

What you mean like this. My other car 120D M Sport superchipped to 199bhp.

Loads of folks don't like the 1'ers but I've got to tell you I love the car.


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96...DSC_0076-1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96...p/DSC_0080.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96...ecoop/4568.jpg

Well...theres always a slight advantage to having small cars...

That looks like an enclosed skateboard.:chair:

I saw those in Italy. I laughed at first but then thought, WOW thats very cool.

My friend bought one here in the UK for 18,999 in 2002. He brought it back to Cali with him in 2005 and sold it for 23,200...:dunno: Is there like a waiting list for these things in the US?

Yes, there is big waiting list in US. There is a company out of CA which imports smart cars to US and converts to US emission standards and sells them here.
ZapWorld
Americanization of first Smart Cars underway by ZAP

http://www.zapworld.com/cars/images/smartcarb.jpg