Out with the old, In with the new
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Out with the old, In with the new
I wanted to write a comparison of the two totally different cars that I happen to be quite familliar with. For the last 4 years I have been the mostly proud owner of a 2004 Pontiac Vibe GT. I just traded it in on a 2008 MINI Cooper S and am comparing and contrasting the two in my head and wanted to put it into writing. To make it easy on myself I will break it into areas and compare them in that area.
Practicality - The Vibe has been a very practical car even though it is somewhat sporty. I have been camping with it, hauling my dogs and my bikes with it, I even hauled lumber with it. My teenage kids, wife and I fit into it without a whole lot of trouble as well. The MINI on the other hand is realistically a 2 + 2. Yes I got three smallish teenagers in it, but I felt a bit squished. This one easily goes to the Vibe.
Features - When I got the Vibe I was currently the owner of a 1984 Rabbit Cabriolet. The Vibe had a remote entry, motorized sunroof and a pretty nice stereo. I really liked the automatic lights as well. My only real complaint was the lack of auxilliary input or iPod interface. I could forgive the lack of iPod interface, but it should have been easier to plug in an auxilliary device in such a modern car. The MINI is a rolling gadget on the other hand. The fact that you can program the turn signals floors me. The comparison between the Vibe and the MIINI when you look at raw features isn’t even close. The MINI does cost a bit more, but it makes the Vibe feel bare. What makes it close is the MINI’s iPod integration costs around $600.00. That is crazy. The MINI wins here, but it could be a larger margin.
Performance - When I was test driving the Vibe it took me a while before I found that it had what is known as “lift”. Lift is when the car utilizes a more agressive cam profile and it really accelerates hard. Lift is what sold me on this car. Lift is the only performance feature of the Vibe GT. It has no torque, it doesn’t handle well and the clutch sucks. It sounded great while accelerating to it’s 8200 rpm redline, but it left a lot to be desired otherwise. I am still getting to know the MINI, but it drives great and has loads of torque. The clutch is just a clutch as expected, not something that has to be adjusted to. I love the way it handles and will be autocrossing it regularly. The winner here is the MINI by a mile.
Looks - Ironically this one is a tie. I love the way the MINI looks, but I thought the Pontiac was a looker. Yeah, it doesn’t get the “That’s a cool car” like the MINI does, but I really thought it looked great for a station wagon.
Reliablity - The Vibe was dead reliable. I had the car for 156,000 miles and never had any issues at all. The clutch went on me at 110,000 miles, which disappointed me, but other than that and brakes, I just changed fluids and filters. I hear the clutches are weak, so I guess I did pretty well. The Vibe wins just because the MINI has 1000 miles on it for now.
I bought the Vibe because I needed reliable transportation and it came through like a champ. It has been all over the northwest with me and never let me down. My only regret of getting the MINI is I have to get a MINIVAN to haul my kids and my dogs around. I can live with that as I miss autocrossing. Thanks for listening.
Practicality - The Vibe has been a very practical car even though it is somewhat sporty. I have been camping with it, hauling my dogs and my bikes with it, I even hauled lumber with it. My teenage kids, wife and I fit into it without a whole lot of trouble as well. The MINI on the other hand is realistically a 2 + 2. Yes I got three smallish teenagers in it, but I felt a bit squished. This one easily goes to the Vibe.
Features - When I got the Vibe I was currently the owner of a 1984 Rabbit Cabriolet. The Vibe had a remote entry, motorized sunroof and a pretty nice stereo. I really liked the automatic lights as well. My only real complaint was the lack of auxilliary input or iPod interface. I could forgive the lack of iPod interface, but it should have been easier to plug in an auxilliary device in such a modern car. The MINI is a rolling gadget on the other hand. The fact that you can program the turn signals floors me. The comparison between the Vibe and the MIINI when you look at raw features isn’t even close. The MINI does cost a bit more, but it makes the Vibe feel bare. What makes it close is the MINI’s iPod integration costs around $600.00. That is crazy. The MINI wins here, but it could be a larger margin.
Performance - When I was test driving the Vibe it took me a while before I found that it had what is known as “lift”. Lift is when the car utilizes a more agressive cam profile and it really accelerates hard. Lift is what sold me on this car. Lift is the only performance feature of the Vibe GT. It has no torque, it doesn’t handle well and the clutch sucks. It sounded great while accelerating to it’s 8200 rpm redline, but it left a lot to be desired otherwise. I am still getting to know the MINI, but it drives great and has loads of torque. The clutch is just a clutch as expected, not something that has to be adjusted to. I love the way it handles and will be autocrossing it regularly. The winner here is the MINI by a mile.
Looks - Ironically this one is a tie. I love the way the MINI looks, but I thought the Pontiac was a looker. Yeah, it doesn’t get the “That’s a cool car” like the MINI does, but I really thought it looked great for a station wagon.
Reliablity - The Vibe was dead reliable. I had the car for 156,000 miles and never had any issues at all. The clutch went on me at 110,000 miles, which disappointed me, but other than that and brakes, I just changed fluids and filters. I hear the clutches are weak, so I guess I did pretty well. The Vibe wins just because the MINI has 1000 miles on it for now.
I bought the Vibe because I needed reliable transportation and it came through like a champ. It has been all over the northwest with me and never let me down. My only regret of getting the MINI is I have to get a MINIVAN to haul my kids and my dogs around. I can live with that as I miss autocrossing. Thanks for listening.