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Hi all! Just picked up this 2025 Mini Cooper S and loving it so far. I am coming from a long list of high-performance cars, the last being a 2023 M3 w/ manual. In my so far limited experience with the car I feel like it's going to be much more fun driving a slow car fast (the Mini) than driving a fast car slow (the M3). Not that the Mini is slow per se, but the M3 is just crazy fast. So fast that the performance limits are simply not even close to accessible on the street, unless you want to put your life or license at risk.
I'll post more of my thoughts after getting a bit more time with it. So far, my 2 biggest wishes for the car are:
1. Wish the 17" tires it came with were summer tires, or at least high-performance all-seasons. Haven't pushed it yet, but assuming the Hankook Kinergy XP's are going to be pretty awful in the twisties.
2. Wish it had paddles, especially coming from a manual. Going from a manual to paddles is a hard transition in terms of the missing engagement, but even harder going from a manual to zero control. I know the entire story of why, but it's still silly that cheap economy cars with traditional automatics or even CVTs are shipping with paddles, and here we are with the Mini, a supposed fun driver's car, with a true dual clutch, and no paddles. Mini, you really messed up here.
Overall though, really impressed. Ride comfort is good, overall interior space much roomier (for the front passengers) than you'd expect given the outer dimensions. And fun to drive for sure.
Hi all! Just picked up this 2025 Mini Cooper S and loving it so far. I am coming from a long list of high-performance cars, the last being a 2023 M3 w/ manual. In my so far limited experience with the car I feel like it's going to be much more fun driving a slow car fast (the Mini) than driving a fast car slow (the M3). Not that the Mini is slow per se, but the M3 is just crazy fast. So fast that the performance limits are simply not even close to accessible on the street, unless you want to put your life or license at risk.
I'll post more of my thoughts after getting a bit more time with it. So far, my 2 biggest wishes for the car are:
1. Wish the 17" tires it came with were summer tires, or at least high-performance all-seasons. Haven't pushed it yet, but assuming the Hankook Kinergy XP's are going to be pretty awful in the twisties.
2. Wish it had paddles, especially coming from a manual. Going from a manual to paddles is a hard transition in terms of the missing engagement, but even harder going from a manual to zero control. I know the entire story of why, but it's still silly that cheap economy cars with traditional automatics or even CVTs are shipping with paddles, and here we are with the Mini, a supposed fun driver's car, with a true dual clutch, and no paddles. Mini, you really messed up here.
Overall though, really impressed. Ride comfort is good, overall interior space much roomier (for the front passengers) than you'd expect given the outer dimensions. And fun to drive for sure.
