It has been just over 2 months since I purchased my 2009 MCS. I have put 3,200 miles on the car so far and thought I would share my impressions of it and what it is like to live with on a daily basis (for me). When I purchased the car it had 24K miles and I consider it to be in very good (used) condition.

I use this car for 3 very different types of driving, so I will break each of them down as each is very different experience.

Purpose #1 - commuting to work and driving around town. This is my main use for this car. I expected it to be fun to drive on a daily basis and it has not let me down. My daily commute is about 20 minutes - a combination of interstate, city, and rural driving. There isn't anything here with the Mini that isn't fun. It is plenty quick around town and on the interstate. Getting up to speed and merging with traffic is no problem. Parking is obviously easier than with most cars and it gets great gas mileage for daily use; about 27 mpg with this type of driving. The only drawback here is lack of space if you want to go shopping for larger items but I would hope that nobody would buy a Mini for this purpose.

Purpose #2 - pleasure driving in rural areas. I live in Lexington KY. There are many, many twisty 2 lane roads here. I can be on one in about 3 minutes from my driveway and stay on them all day if I want to. This is where the Mini really shines. I can't say enough about how fun it is to drive on a twisty 2 lane in the mountains. I used to ride sport bikes and I can honestly say that I have more fun in the Mini on these roads since I'm much less worried about meeting god due to an unfortunate patch of gravel in the middle of a curve. This car is the most fun I have had on 4 wheels on these roads, bar none and actually compares to the (fun) experiences I have had on them on motorcycles. This is what the car is really made to do, so I guess I would be hugely disappointed if it didn't perform well here. But I'm not - this car is an absolute pleasure to drive and actually gets my adrenaline pumping.

Purpose #3 - road trips. OK I guess most people don't buy Minis for road trips. I really didn't either but it's one thing that I need it to do. I have 2 other vehicles but only one of them is really road trip worthy. It is a Silverado - great for road trips if you can afford the gas. All of my family lives in other states. About 4 or 5 times per year I drive a 1k or so round trip to spend some time with them. I have been on 2 trips so far and this was one of those weekends. I actually drove it 520 miles on the interstate today. Overall it does pretty well. At 80 mph in the mountains, I'm getting 33 MPG or so which I think is pretty good. It is also pretty comfortable, at least for one person. I can also leave the cruise set in 6th gear on some really huge hills and the Mini never has a problem holding speed. The only negative here that I will mention (and it is significant) is how the car acts on rough roads at high speed. Big bumps and rough roads really upset the car, especially in a curve. Today I drove through West Virginia on I-64 (for anyone that has driven this road), and I have to say that some of it was pretty hairy at 70 - 80 mph. I consider this a trade off for the 2 lane performance, and I guess it is to be expected and there are times when you just have to scrub off some speed.

My only real concern with the car at this point is reliability. So far I haven't had any problems but I expect it will require a bit more maintenance than a "normal" car after reading about all of the issues on here. I have pushed mine pretty hard so far though and no problems.

At this point I am happy with my car.

 

Glad you're enjoying your "new-to-you" car. You've done a great job of summarizing the types of driving most of us get to enjoy with our MINIs...thanks!

I'm actually going to be enjoying your fun Kentucky roads (again) next week with a few Harley buddies...staying in Richmond not far from Louisville and hitting the Bourbon trail. Nice that you can enjoy the 2 lane riding every day!