Beautiful car. But MINI's are just the best. Plus, they're so much fun to drive.

 

Yeah i remember reading that issue of eurotuner and was really impressed with the car. Nice build.

I just picked up my MCS last night and almost called off of work today just to drive the thing, its a blast. Alot more fun than my slightly modded S4 was. God luck with your purchase

 

Sbutler, well definitely no baby seat in this 996 lol. There are quite a few Mini owners on the Porsche forums, but I'll probably be completely trading the vehicles to act as my primary daily. My friends think I'm crazy, but the Mini seems to have more comfort, fun, and of course the bells and whistles...the Porsche no doubt has more power, but I seldom use it here in LA...

 

Another guy with GT3, plus a few Ferraris, Aston Martins, etc... that prefers his MINI (and motorcycles), my two weapons of choice, and motoring on the same backroads.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/228/4...8c391a6f_o.jpg

 

I have never read ANYONE "seriously" bash a MINI on a P-car forum and I have read a lot of praise ... value for the money. They are well-respected

 

That Audi is hawtness, by far. We need to see more tastefully done cars like that in my area. I wanted to reach through the screen and touch it.

 

I suppose it depends on what you are comparing it to and the roads you drive on, but honestly the very short wheelbase on the MCS does not result in a comfortable ride on non smooth roads. The suspension and tires are part of that equation of course (and non runflats helped a bit, but the biggest benefit from them was improved grip and responsiveness/braking), but even with thick donut tires and soft suspension there is nothing that changes how having such a short wheelbase effects ride quality over bumps and potholes, so it really depends on your definition - in our case I don't think either one of use would deem it a very comfy ride around here though, it is often quite jarring.

I'd think that a newer Porsche (997, Boxster/Cayman) with PASM and the longer wheelbase would have to have a better ride under the same conditions, no? And the lovely seats, glove-like fit, and options galore look plenty comfortable to me

PS: Also, another aspect of comfort to me, esp on longer trips, is road noise, are the Porsches as loud the the Mini?

 

eVal, interesting observations. I think I was sort of talking generally overall about comfort...from the amenities to physical ride comfort to noise level. I have an early 996 which is pretty raw I think in comparison to the newer and probably smoother 997s. My 996 clutch I'm sure is a lot lot heavier than a Mini's and I'm right in the center of LA/Hollywood where traffic is very stop and go. The build of the Minis look better and are obviously more modern than my aged Porsche. My 996 is very LOUD...but I also have an exhaust and headers.

 

That depends upon what you mean by "louder"

OEM to OEM? Aftermarket to aftermarket?

For road noise, RFs are louder. Cant speak to non-RFs.

Suspension? R53 w/JCW suspension, although softer than OEM, my back still hurt if riding in the passenger seat. I dont have PASM but the ride is much softer. 996 might be different, dunno.

 

Interesting. 98? 99? I think the clutches are much different than in the past. I have a mid-80s Carrera and the clutch was very stiff ... VERY stiff. Today, I think they are a lot softer.

What catback do you have?

 

Well, I was referring to road noise, so by loud I mean letting in a lot of tire noise, wind noise and everything that makes up that sound - I don't mean engine sounds or such. The tire choice will make a difference in road noise but with that as a given what I mean is that the car is more or less prone to road noise by design or less insulation.

And yeah, suspension options makes a difference for sure, but for comparison the M Coupe with its sports suspension, which was even lower then the Mini and had a similar tire/wheel sidewall ratio as the non RFs I have for the Mini, handled the road surfaces better. Even the E46 with the stage II Dinan suspension that was pretty darn hard (made it handle on rails but bumps with the bigger wheels and low profile tires were filling rattling) kept composure better, whereas the Mini is not only jarring but can be upset by the same conditions, which seems to be largely due to the short wheelbase.

Anyway, I suppose the term comfort caught my eye because, although I enjoy the Mini for many reasons, I can't say it is for true 'comfort' for the above reasons.

 

I gotta agree with you. I was a bit puzzled about a MINI being more comfortable than a 996 but I've never driven in a 996 so I can't answer that. My MINI w/JCW suspension was jarring. It felt everything on the road and did not absorb bumps well at all. Can't speak about a 996 so I guess the OP needs to drive one and compare. I have owned a 85 Carrera and the clutch was very hard, hard enough to push in that it became real work in traffic. MINI was soft.

 

By the way, Cadence, its funny that you say you don't use the power of the 996 in LA - we lived in SoCal for a few months and found all around that in between the slow traffic-y bits most everyone drove insanely fast so I would have thought you could use it over there.

Now I have been known to drive fast (hard habit to break I tells ya), but the scary thing was that everyone was flying, even in the crappiest beat up ol van or pickup with missing parts or whatever, all whipping in/out of those solid line commute lanes without seeming to look - it was not for the faint hearted. With that on top of the frequent car accidents we passed, and the highways and exits I found confusing I pretty much gave up on driving while I was there

 

Driving in LA definitely takes some adjustment, but unless I hit interminable slow and go, it never was a problem for me. You do have to look up and plan ahead a bit, and actually knowing where you're going is a big plus.

I have an 03 Cooper S with all the "Works" and while the ride can be a bit stiff over the right kind of bump, overall I don't find the car to be loud or harsh. It's no Lexus, but it's not bothersome to me, and I have an Audi allroad twin turbo, a Lexus ES, an 05 Tundra and an E-Type Jag. Once you drive the MINI for a while, all the others feel like luxo boats, even the really good handling ones........

Buy the Cooper, you'll love it!

 

I always get jeolous hearing about E Types. It has to be one of the most sexiest cars ever build Nice

 

bean, what color is that?. i don't think that it is offered for the r56. looks great.

 

it is royal grey. it was only available in 06. i love it and you don't see too many of them.

 

The wheelbase of the 997 is 92.5", Boxster/Cayman 95.1", and MINI 97.1".

 

Hmm, just did a very quick search and the M Coupe's was supposedly 96.8...so if it ain't the wheelbase then something else is the reason the Mini loses composure easier then these cars - perhaps the higher center of gravity, front wheel drive with less rubber to the road, width, suspension type and/or general chassis design..

 

That car is awesome it look familiar from eurotuner, always have adored your car i think ive seen you on another board somewhere maybe dtmpower? but ne ways welcome

 

Well, your pretty much talking apples and oranges now. The poorer aerodynamics alone have to have something to do with what your talking about.

 

I'm talking about city streets though, where the Mini bumps and loses footing over the the uneven surfaces and potholes, do you think aerodynamics is all that important at those speeds? I think this is what people mean when I hear about reviewers mentioning that that car feels 'twitchy'; it is part of the fun in its bumpy kart way under the right conditions, but on the other hand it does not feel planted which is one aspect I associate with comfort (which is where this started).

In any case, the M Coupe was also known as the bread van, not exactly streamlined

Edit: the 'flying brick' aspect as you put it probably accounts for some of that inherent road noise when going a bit faster though, wind noise.

 

I think most of the reason is because you sit way up high in the MINI compared to all of the others, so any pitching motion that is present will toss you side to side and front to back much farther in distance. As you can imagine this effect is most pronounced in jacked-up trucks where only a few degrees of pitch can toss you a foot or more! In comparison a few inches' difference in wheelbase will only slightly alter degrees of pitching--which won't displace you nearly as far.

High frequency vertical motion from too-stiff springs are known to be uncomfortable as are slow ones that cause motion sickness. But curiously the range that is most comfortable for vertical motion is the least for longitudinal motion.

 

OK, now I understand what your saying. No, its not just aerodynamics although sitting too high may have something to do with the feel of the motion on your head/ears. I think its far more complex than that and ties into your thought about suspension, tires, chassis, etc. the overall engineering of the car.

 

My non-PASM equipped Cayman S rides considerably smoother on 18" wheels than than my 06' MINI on 17" web-spokes. PASM equipped 987 P-cars in non-sport mode ride smoother still. I still feel every pebble on the road in the Cayman, but the ride feels taught and is never jarring. There are road imperfections on my daily commute where I litterally grit my teeth in the MINI anticipating the suspension jolt. The Cayman covers the same roads with a firm and controlled thump - and without any rattles or squeeks. Both are great cars, but very different cars.