cute flag... can I get one?
maybe I should put it in my sig?

 

Nah, your car may be a dyno queen, but you at least have the dynos posted.

P.S. Take it to the track.

 

the dyno queen will be on the track soon enough....

 

Yes, but the apples and oranges are really becoming pears (which are more evenly matched) when you start ripping apart a MINI and stuffing turbos into it. No?

 

Pears maybe?

 

Yes. That's what I meant. You caught me before I could fix it.

 

I had to hurry because the first was PAIRS< then PARES... I knew you would get it right eventually....

 

To this day I'm still really bad with all of those silly words that sound the same but are spelled differently. It really frustrated my Mom when I was a kid as she was an English major and so she couldn't understand why I didn't get it. It's a good thing that I became a scientist as we don't have to spell (and are known for our horrendous spelling mistakes).

 

Oh man that would be fun! I'd love to see that in real life. I've still yet to go to the track and watch any MINIs run.

 

It's fun seeing the reactions of the 'murican car crowd when they see MINI after MINI run 14's or better!

 

Really? Stock vs. stock? I dare you show me the numbers. Specifically would like to see G-force on a 300' skid pad and MPH on a 60ft slalom.

 

if u look in road and track, u'll see the slalom numbers for the mcs...this was the 03, which doesn't go as fast as the 05...this is without lsd and this is with winter, not performance tires...

however, it has the 7th best slalom time of ANY car...the boxster S, saleen s7, elise, z4, viper comp coupe and something else beat it...

none of those are fwd and none are 4-seaters...

msc is the best-handling fwd and the best-handling 4-seater that is currently sold new in the US...

 

Slalom only measures how well a car "transitions" between turning right and turing left. You MUST include skid pad numbers which will tell you how fast a car can take a given corner. Man you'd look pretty silly flying off a cliff "trying" to follow behind a car with better g's on those sharp corners on a mountain road. Sure, you'd be able to out slalom them if someone left orange cones in the road, but wait until you hit that corner. Whoosh! As someone here on the board if fond of saying: "Show me the numbers!"

 

And you would look pretty silly when your steady state corner turned the other way. Slalom has more real world applications than outright cornering power. The slalom defines a car's balance. How many geometric turns do you typically find in this world, not many, if any. You're comparing a lab defined asset against real world ability. And, placing this in perspective, that same magazine also stated that, "it would take a suppremely well driven Porsche Boxter to pull away from a Mini. If you know anything about that car's dynamics, compliments don't get any better. And, it's more powerful. Outright cornering power has it's place, but without balance it cannot be put to use.

When you decide to take your great cornering wundercar out against one with superb balance on a mountain road, call me. Because mountain roads are typically unforgiving to cars without balance. I'll be glad to pick the car with better balance any day. Balance wins races, not cornering power. Cornering power is such a small portion of an auto's performance envelope.

Simply one of the silliest responses I've ever read.

 

Let's mod our cars...and go out smoke all that WRX, EVO, R32, SRT and SALEEN.

 

On the canyon roads that begin as I leave my driveway, I've encountered a fair share of road-worthy cars that want to play; and many with much more power than our MINI. The control and stability when darting in and out of turns is exceptional. The bigger and heavier cars were not as composed... The grin factor is huge . Taking a big sweeper at 110 mph... that's not our forte. A longer wheel base would be sought for such stuff...

 

Yes but the MINI would be one of those little sickle pears

 

The facts don't lie, (thanks for backing me up NickP), the handling of the MINI is unmatched, I know the SVT focus is a close 2nd, but its tough to beat the handling of a stock MINI, and do so on 205/45 17 tires

 

I think it has a lot to do with where you pick your battles. Canyons with turns that put us in the 2nd and 3rd gear are really our forte IMHO. It's more of a handeling deal verses absolute power. Take for example a certain new black 355 ferrari which was wondering in the local mountians. He thought HP ($) was everything and he was REALLY trying

Randy

 

I drive on an open highway for much of my commute. A waste for this car. One day I happened to take the Taconic Pkwy home; a winding road with rock faces and gaurdrails only inches from the actual drive lanes. I could not believe how well compsed the car was. I'm simply upset that this route adds about 25 miles to my commute.

The Mini is simply a wicked accomplice in good hands.

 

That Type R funks things up, eh?

--
Cheese

 

I love the Taconic, as long as you are 25 miles out of NYC. North of FDR park, it is a beauty.

 

jlm, where are you from? I live in Fishkill, NY.

The Type-R is no slouch. I have about 150,000 miles of seat time in one. I still prefer the Mini - with 200 Bhp. The Mini feels much better too.

 

nyc

 

Or, unless a friend loaned you his 360 Modena. Then the ride south of FDR - sans the resivior/bridge crossing - is an absolute blast well into triple digits.
...Bob said go fast...when I was done Bob looked shocked. I said, "what's wrong?" Bob said, "I didn't mean that fast." I said, "Bob! Fast in a Hyundai is one thing, fast in a Ferrari is another." Bob smiled.