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It is a totally different feel, instead of being pushed through a turn, you are pulled through the turn. In rear wheel drive you push the limit trying to avoid the rear end breaking loose, in the MINI it is extemely hard to break the rear end loose providing almost limitless handing capabilities.
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2006 Solar Red/Silver
Cooper w/ Silver Stripes
2012 Light Coffee/Black Countryman
on order....patiently waiting
Test drive it, it's unbelievable..
This car is all about the handling, mine is an 02 stock with 17 inch S lites rims (the factory ones) and it's like on freakin rails man...A few other mad men here with suspension mods will chime in and tell you how incredilble this little ride handles....
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“Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don’t let them take you ALIVE.”.......DSOC #34
It also depends on what car you were driving before. For example, I had a Mazda 929 and it was real wheel drive. Car drove like an *******. You could not control that car worth life in rain or snow. Then my previous car, BMW 318, drove like a dream in rain and snow and delt itself so fine. So it does depend what you compare too.
Having said that, if your looking for tight turns and Go-Cart handling, MINI should be on top of your list
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Current: 2003 MINI Cooper
"PeAcE is but a shadow of death desperate to forget its painful past"
id consider the minis handling to be pretty nuetral, of course its FWD so as mentioned it pulls you through turns as opposed to pushes, but it pretty much stays flat, doesnt oversteer (its fwd afterall) and barely understeers (very tough to, though i got it to the other night, but it still was a very controllable and pretty nuetral understeer, and it was really not a fault of the car but the allseason tires i have on it, i hope to switch to summer tires)
overall you wont be dissatisfied at all with the handling, although im pretty young and havent driven as many cars here as others, id say youd be pretty hard pressed to find a better handling front wheel drive car, and in general should be considered with some of the better handlers to come off the assembly line
FUN!!!! The car sticks to the road in corners like nothing else I have ever driven. I agree you can feel the car pull you through the corners and twisties like no other. Having had the opportunity to drive the Dragon (Rt 129 thru the western Smokey Mts) was an incredible rush in experiencing the car's handling capabilities. The one down side I found (here in PA we aren't known for having the best road surfaces) is that the car can tend to pull you a bit on a rougher surface. You need to hang on a bit more but as long as you are mindful of the road conditions there should be no problems.
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Living my dream....to own a MINI! MMC#402
I took a turn the other day (a very tight turn, btw) at 54mph on the stock 17" rims and 205/40/R17 Pirelli run-flats with complete control, no squealing, no "shaking" of the steering wheel....NOTHING. This car truly drives like it's on rails...I cannot imagine aftermarket tires/rims and suspension.....absolutly insane....
Test drive an S and find out for yourself!
-Cody
Oh, and when people say "Go-kart" they arn't kidding....even BMW/MINI uses that as a slogan...."It's a street-legal go-kart" It's in my brochure!
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"Gizmo" - 03' IB/B MCS! 77' Kawasaki KZ650
Aftermarket: ALTA CAI, ALTA Catless Header, Magnaflow Exhaust, M7 16% Pulley, M7 OCC, VGS, LOTF Engine Damper
2010 Harley 883 Iron
Also should be mentioned there is no torque steer in the MINI because of equal length drive axles...no other front wheel drive has this, and it adds to the control of the vehicle
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2006 Solar Red/Silver
Cooper w/ Silver Stripes
2012 Light Coffee/Black Countryman
on order....patiently waiting
The MINI handles amazingly well. I NEVER envisioned myself driving (let alone paying money for a FWD car)
Here are some cars I'm very familiar with and some comments:
94 Impala SS- The MINI has superior driving dynamics in every way. Better handling, better braking, and better acceleration with the JCW at least. The big Impala is better for interstate cruising. Much quieter
Camaro Z28-- I have a B4C, but it's almost the same. The MINI has better turn-in and much better transient response. The Camaro wins in a drag race or on sweeping curves, but not in the tight twisties.
BMW 540i Sport 6 Speed-- The big BMW feels like a lumbering sloth against the MINI. Of course the BMW is better for interstate cruising or for hauling more than 2 people.
BMW 3 Series-- Same as the 540 except the 3 has a feeling of less mass. If you want a 3 that drives like a MINI, you have to go to the M3.
Corvette w/Z51 (C4)-- Rides harsher than the MINI, hard to get in and out of, hard to know where the corners of the car are (for parking). The vette has more grip, but the turn in isn't as crisp as the MINI. The MINI is far more tossable and easier to drive. Early TPI C4 vettes aren't very fast in stock configuration.
Corvette w/Z51 (C4)-- The vette has more grip, but the turn in isn't as crisp as the MINI. The MINI is far more tossable and easier to drive. Early TPI C4 vettes aren't very fast in stock configuration.
Rawhyde
And that can be fixed with getting the MINI some nice rubber and lightweight rims! And maybe some springs or coilover's if you can afford them. (And a swaybar)
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"Gizmo" - 03' IB/B MCS! 77' Kawasaki KZ650
Aftermarket: ALTA CAI, ALTA Catless Header, Magnaflow Exhaust, M7 16% Pulley, M7 OCC, VGS, LOTF Engine Damper
2010 Harley 883 Iron
Also should be mentioned there is no torque steer in the MINI because of equal length drive axles...no other front wheel drive has this, and it adds to the control of the vehicle
Well, I'll kick in here and be just a bit of a contrarian.
This car DOES indeed handle very, very well. I take issue with the lack of torque steer. In fact, I find the torque steer under spirited acceleration to be quite pronounced. By way of context I have a MCS, 4 weeks old, 1200 miles with the stock run flats.
I also have had different experience with my car vis a vis understeer. I find that the car does have the typical front wheel drive understeer, that it is easily induced, and thank goodness it is also easy to control. Again, this can be influenced by tires and some suspension tweaking, but out of the box I find that it does have the usual FWD peculiarities of pronounced understeer and torque steer.
Makes for great fun.
The rear is difficult to break free. I also have a Lotus Elise, which handles much better than the Mini, BUT it's prone to drop throttle (also called snap) oversteer that is part of the turf with mid engine cars. THAT can be scarey when it happens.
In all the Mini is a safe car to drive quickly on the twisties, I'm looking forward to autocrossing it, but I'm sure the torque steer will require some getting used to on the autox course.
The bottom line is...what everybody else says: go test drive it, you'll be sold!
You certainly CAN get the tail end to come around ...with the DSC off and letting off the throttle through a turn, or just after (Off-throttle oversteer)
I have come from driving my 95 Integra (FWD) , to a 95 Maxima gle (FWD), to Jeep grand cherokee (4wd), to a 01 M3.
Test drove an 02 and 06 MCS this past weekend at Prestige Mini in Mahwah NJ.
The handling is balanced and predictable as you would expect. There is ample power to accellerate on the highway. I wouldnt say a tremendous amount but enough to get you moving. The MINI drives heavy so the power isnt as nimble as a boosted Japanese coupe would be however, the firm ride and road dampening would suit the general public. Its not so much the power of the MCS as it was the handling of the short wheelbase, large/wide (heavy) wheels and the firm suspension that really makes this car shine.
I originally wanted to purchase an 02-03 but after test driving a few mini's, and studying the pricing model of the car on the market, I believe my best bet would be to buy new. The experience of a new mini is unparallelled no matter how "fully loaded" or dealer maintained the former owner claims. These cars are not so quick and are driven hard as if they were supposed to be that fast. If I wanted to go fast, i'd take my bmw. Just for fun, my wife and I could share the MCS.
just my two cents. Best of luck whichever you decide.
