Just bought my wife an F56 and, as a car aficionado, all I can say is WOW!!

To me, the MINI was never a serious consideration. All of the accolades MINI received were just background noise...I thought, "Well, that's cute...I'll be in my M3."

But wow! The thing is just a blast to drive!

My wife wanted a Cooper S HT w/ manual transmission so we went and test drove one today. The salesman knew how to win us over and took us out for a REAL test drive. Told her to open it up, tear through the corners, brake hard, etc.

She drove it home an hour later.

One feature I REALLY like is the rev matched downshifts. The purist in me really wants to balk, but its just too nice to hear that blip without all the heel and toe work.

As I said before, the MINI was never really on my radar, so I literally know nothing about this car. It sure is going to be a blast getting to know this MINI!!

Here's a quick pic...

 

Hmm, sounds familiar. I never paid MINI any mind, as I've always only driven VWs. I only tried the MINI out, because it was next door to the Toyota dealership I was visiting. One test drive was all it took. Glad to see I'm not the only one, and welcome. Have fun driving it around and gradually losing your mind. That blue, in person, is fantastic.

 

Ditto... my wife always liked the Mini Cooper but never owned one. I never gave them a second thought. When the new car came out we went to the Drive event and we both drove the Justa and MCS. They were a blast to drive. Put a big grin on my face.... I was very surprised. When my wife buys this car I think I will be borrowing it often! But someone in the house needs to have a real 4-passenger car and I guess that's me.

 

I just got my first mini a month ago, 2013 MCS. I also hadn't ever thought about owning one in fact I had planned on buying the new Audi A3 but I had a coworker jokingly say i should get a mini, after thinking about it I went and test drove an '08 being sold locally and that was it I was hooked. went to the dealership that weekend. Now I get excited to go drive every single time I grab my keys

 

Thanks for posting your story and the pic...I have a Deep Blue/Black on order (arrived at Port Hueneme this morning) that is quite similar, but I have not seen the Deep Blue Metallic in person and so was glad to see your photo.

Sounds like your wife is going to love hers! Good luck getting it away from her though . My hubby only gets to drive mine when I'm traveling for work or when we are taking turns driving on MINI road rallies.

BTW, if you are so inclined, the MINI clubs are lots of fun and there are some fantastic regional and national events. Don't know where you are located, but the big one this summer is MINI Takes The States going cross-country from San Francisco to Boston. Other really good ones are MINI In The Mountains, MINI On The Dragon, MINI In The Ozarks, and a MINI Vacation In Vegas.

Congrats and enjoy your new addition!

 

My husband was really against my getting a mini to replace our 4 door sedan. As we have watched its build and the date of delivery arrives closer, he too is getting ever so excited.
Our 3 year old son on the other hand is super excited and makes sure to point out every single one we see and name it's color. He's partial to blue(sorry son, I got volcanic orange!).


--Is it the end of June yet??

 

Dat's won nice Mini.

 

I've always owned VW cars... I'm normally a 12K miles a year driver... Well, I'm on my first MINI and yep, got 2,500 miles in less than a month. I'm driving at double the rate of what I normally drive.

 

Funny to see how many of us VW owners have crossed over to Mini. I too just traded in my 2013 Passat SE for a 2014 Mini Cooper S in Thunder Grey. I can't get enough of driving it, especially at night with the sunroof open! I live in vegas, so soon it will be too hot to do that, but I sure am enjoying it right now. Congrats on the new addition to your family.

 

I'm between a VW gti mk7 and the new f56/f55 Mini Cooper s. Any previous VW owners had a gti? How does it compare. I use to have a mk5 and miss it dearly.

 

Funny you should mention that...

I actually had an APR/Evo tuned MkV GTI and I think the MINI is just way more fun to drive.

 

Another VW/Audi convert here. Being a bit of a car fiend I've had five since 2008, including two fine Mk6 GTI's (the latter with tuning and a nice carbon fibre Carbonio intake...whoosh). I find the character of these vehicles become apparent at higher speeds and are quite like every other dull car in the urban environment. The Mini however gives the low speed, daily thrills and is brimming with personality- even after some BMW refinement is thrown in. So in the end it depends on where you drive, the risks you take exceeding speed limits etc. But for me, the Mini F56 has no natural born competitors - and the price is excellent for the MC Lite, even nicely appointed

 

Traded in a beautiful 2010 VW CC on my MCS. Had zero interest in MINIs, but my wife liked their looks. Told her they were just a niche car and not a good choice for us. Found this forum in February and learned about the upcoming F56.

Wife got a Mazda CX-5 which made a MINI a reasonable choice for a second car. Ordered in March and took delivery in April.

 

Same story here, mazda loyalist(2 mazda 3s., 1 mazda 6 since 2005 ) Mini was not even on the radar,passed my dealer on the way home from work drove an s and a justa.Returned a week later with wife ..she loved it ,placed order..cant wait

 

The last 3 vehicles I have owned have been VW, so to say I was loyal to VW is an understatement lol. The only reason Mini even showed up on my radar, is because I do online automotive chat, and I help people who are looking to purchase vehicles. I had so many Mini chats, the more that I researched them, the more I knew I had to have one. So I can thank my job for turning me on to this new world.

 

Past VW owner here as well.

89 Golf GTI
95 Golf Sport (2.0 GTI)
2001 Audi a4 1.8tq m
2011 TDI Golf (wife's car)

Mini is waaaay more fun to drive.

 

2000 Beetle
2007 A3
2014 F56

 

My wife has a 2011 Clubman S manual trans, I drive a VW GLI auto. The GLI is faster but the Mini handles better and is more interactive with more smiles per mile. If its just the 2 of us, we always take the Mini.

 

I'm making the same jump as you. I'm trading in my 07 A3 for an F56. I would've gone for the new A3 but they don't offer it here in a manual.

-Matt

 

The demise of the Sportback for the US market did it for me. I have no desire to drive a sedan. Looking forward to getting my new F56, currently en route from Baltimore to Bruswick.

 

I read your post and I thought I was hearing an echo. LOL. I, too, didn't have a MINI on my list of cars I wanted to consider. What I DID have on the list was the 2015 Mustang GT, 2014 Camaro SS, and a couple of other performance cars. Just for kickers I again drove a MINI-S (2013) and I was impressed. When I saw the 2014 hardtop photos and list of features/options, and saw a video review, I was hooked. Now after having been driving my MINI-S for a month and a half, I can say it's the only car I want right now. I love everything about it!

 

Boy, there's a bunch of us out here. I had always admired the Mini but never gave it a second thought. I already had my wife's nod of approval to buy a new Cayman. On that fateful day we were out and about and on a whim stopped in to take a look at a recently opened MINI dealership here in Tucson. Several hours later we drove our base Hardtop home. That was in January and I still think this is the finest little car I've ever driven and I've been buying cars since 1952.

 

Trading in my Cayman for new base HT. Mini much more fun to drive. I find the Cayman somewhat heavy and cumbersome in comparison. Also have a 2006 R53 vert which I enjoy more than the Cayman. Actually trading in both for the new Mini.