Hello everyone,

I will be in the market to order a new car hopefully around November. I am currently driving my Wife's old car, which is a 1998 Toyota Camry with approx 190,000 miles. While my experience with Toyota vehicles (we've owned 3) has been very positive from a reliability standpoint, they are extremely boring cars to drive.

As I really only drive a car back and forth to work and various other errands, I don't need a big vehicle. I did however, have some requirements for my next vehicle. It needed to get great gas mileage and be fun to drive. The Mini seemed to fit the bill, but I needed to find out for myself.

This past Saturday we made a road trip to the other side of the state (there's only 1 Mini dealer in Michigan), and test drove both the standard Mini and the S model, both with the 6 speed manual. I drove the standard model first, and really liked the suspension, steering,etc. Next came the S model. WOW, that's a completely different animal altogether! We pulled out of the parking lot, and I gave it a half to two thirds throttle. I upshifted and was doing 50 before I knew it. I noticed a bit of torque steer, but nothing too severe. In short, I liked it a lot!

Now, time to bank some money for the down payment.:impatient

 

it sounded like you enjoyed you MINI experience haha

 

Welcome to MINI land Looks like the MINI bug has bitten again.. I'm sure we'll see you posting soon about your specs...

Donna

 

Camry to a Mini, will your heart be able to handle it?

Welcome aboard!

 

I hope so! Thanks everyone.

 

The test drives are really the bait, I drove one and the rest was history.
The list of cars I had shrunk to a single one....

Stepping up to the Mini from the carmy will feel awesome !!
Good luck with the purchase..

 

I just "quit" my '98 Camry for an '07 MCS. Talk about contrast! I'm a bit of a neophyte when it comes to performance cars, but the MINI really drives unlike anything I've driven before.

gl

 

I was thinking about picking up an Accord to replace my Solara. I happened to be in a BMW dealership with my brother while he was checking out a car, and I stopped by the Mini dealership next door. Took a test drive and I had to stop myself from immediately putting in an order. From a pure 'fun' perspective, I thought the 'S' was more enjoyable than my brother's 330xi. Suffice it to say, my 'S' is on order (waited a week). Driving the Solara every day is just not the same any more.

 

My situation was pretty similar, time to trade in my beloved car but it had to be for something fun!!! The rest is history!

 

Good to hear the change can be accomplished without harm.

Agreed. What I really want is a fun car to drive. As much as I swore off driving a stick after I bought my Tundra in 2001, now I find myself needing to drive a stick.

 

We told you.