Hi all -

Very happy owner of a 2013 Eclipse Grey MCS checking in for the first time!

I'm a long-time BMW guy, having had everything form a 1969 1600-2, through 4 e30s (including a 91 M3 I never should have sold!) a couple E36s, a fun Z3 M Coupe, and a Boat of an E39 540i-6. I have tracked, raced, and autocrossed BMWs for 15 years, and I thought for sure that I'd never be happy with a front-wheel drive, forced induction, short wheelbase hatch.

...Boy, was I wrong!

So far, I have 850 miles of mountain roads under my mini belt (in 3 days of driving - my dumb job gets in the way of my hooning around!), and I don't think I've smiled this much in years. I've had better handling cars, I've had faster cars, but I don't know if I've had more FUN cars. This thing is just silly easy to push around, and the limits are surprisingly high.

Can't wait to see the north side of 4,500 RPM!

 

Welcome!

 

They are incredibly fun, for sure. I'm still in the mode of thinking I'm pushing it a bit on some corner, then notice I can give it the spurs on the corner exit with no drama...the cornering limit was still much higher than I'd tried. Can't wait to try a HPDE or autocross!

 

Thanks! I've been lurking for a while now and already have found tons of great information.

There's a good amount of grip and chassis control to be had, for sure!

I think I get the best results when I late brake hard into the corner entry. Then I can feed in throttle from the apex to the exit without worrying about too much understeer. When I was trying to be more gentle, and get my breaking done early, I was back in the gas sooner, but started pushing and missing apexes because my throttle foot was an little over eager.

I want to get the car out to an autocross as well, just to find if I can get any lift-throttle over steer safely and predictably without upgrading the rear bar. We'll see!

 

Welcome! Remember to post up some pics!

 

congrats. I was choosing between a miata and the mini. I went with the mini b/c of the front wheel drive. i can get a little bit "dumber" in curves than in a rwd. sounds like you'll be wearing out those factory run flats quick Im at 12k miles and my front tires are on the wear bars(yes i know i should rotate more but hey they are run flats)

 

I can't wait to burn through these tires! 12K miles would be a new record for me... but not in the way you might think...

I'm very lucky to live along some of the best mountain roads ever (IMO), 20 miles of which I have to drive on a daily basis to get to work.

The upside: Driving bliss. The downside - I go through tires in about 5K miles - brake pads in 10K, and rotors in 20K. Shocks and suspension bushings are the next to go...

In any case, miata vs cooper is a tough choice! Practicality ruled the day for me, and I love this car, but you know the old driving saw, "The difference between oversteer and understeer is: Oversteer scares the passenger, and understeer scares the driver."

Can't wait to increase the rear bar to get some rotation...

Oh - and apparently my wife REALLY loved the MCS. 2 weeks into having it, and we just got back from the dealer with a new R60 Countryman S for her! 6-speed manual for her as well. I'm a lucky guy!