Hey, looking for some input on how everyone is liking the new mini. My 2012 was totalled a year ago and I bought a 2015 GTI. It is nice but I really miss the mini. I added a burger jb1 and the GTI is fast! My MCS had a jb+ and seemed telepathic in response to my foot. It absolutely attacked the curves, the GTI not nearly the same. Does anybody have any comparison with the new MCS vs GTI? Seriously thinking about trading.

 

I drove the GTI before ordering my mini. Just not the same driving experience to me.

 

I guess you're glad they didn't make the GTI in diesel.

 

I purchased a MCS 2014 F56 2-door and traded in for a 2015 GTI Autobahn. I loved the Mini a lot and the BRG color, however, I didn't like the small seats in the back.

I had the GTI for about 3 months and then moved abroad for work --- I sold the GTI before leaving. I liked the extra room in the GTI, however, it felt rather generic compared to the Mini and step down in quality --- the new Mini F56 seems to have similar quality materials like my previous 2006 Audi A3 Sportback (gas).

Now I am moving back to the US next month and leaning heavily towards a Mini Cooper F55 4-door --- love the extra space and styling of the 4-door. I should also mention that the Mini dealership experience was extremely positive unlike the terrible buying experience with VW.

 

I ordered the 4 door. Suppose to be at the dealer this week.

 

I do love the extra room in the GTI. The biggest things I dislike:
Creaky weatherstripping on the doors,
Seats don't heat nearly as well as in the mini
No go-cart feel
Things I like:
I can see traffic lights without bending my head down or having to stop way back, every bump isn't transferred through my back, acceleration- especially with the jb1 (it really woke the car up).
I kind of got turned off at my mini dealer, high pressure sales, plus 50 mile drive.

 

I had a R56 JCW that was fantastic, but it started to have normal problems and it just got to be a hassle to keep the car running.

Traded it for a 14 GTI. Love it. Decided not to get into the whole modding thing. Stock is just fine. Sure I could lower it or change the sway bars or put on a tune. But it is comfortable and goes plenty fast for my daily commute.

If I want to have fun, I get my R53 out of the barn and go for a spin. Oh that whine of the supercharger.

 

This thread couldn't have come up at an more appropriate time. I want to my Mini cooper but wife doesn't like the road noise. So we went and drove GTI. These are my observations

Mini

Pros
1) Great dealership
2) Fantastic handling
3) Great for city driving (base engine with automatic shift)
4) Lot of customization options

Cons
1) Road noise. I was expecting it to be quieter since everyone said (including the sales guy) the new ones are lot better than 2007. I don't remember my 2007 Mini but its terrible on highways.
2) Rough ride. It wasn't as bad as my 2007 Cooper S but still not forgiving.
3) No cargo space. If you have to travel with two dogs and bags, you have to get clubman. Even 4 door was tad disappointing. So we have to wait till Jan 2016 just to see it.
4) Seems cheaper in build quality.
VW

Pros
1) Smooth ride.
2) Ample cargo space
3) Great build quality. Doors feel solid when you close them. Not sure about how reliable it will be but initial quality is miles better than Mini. Sorry! I know someone mentioned Mini has better quality - I have to disagree. Mini looks cheaply put together compared to GTI.
4) Relatively quieter (even lesser than CT200h - but that doesn't mean much)

Cons
1) VW quality - If Mini is bad, VW is worse. At least Mini stands behind their product but I have heard some horror stories of owners getting runarounds for warranty work
2) VW dealers. They are worse than used car dealerships. VW has 2% market share but if you visit these dealers they act as if they are selling hot cakes. (Except GTI - nothing sells). I emailed sales guy last Wednesday to give me some numbers, got reply on Saturday. Emailed back and still haven't heard from him. Of course it could be just one dealer but I doubt it. VW dealers should be laying red carpet and offering free massages.
3) No push button start in S version. Really, its 2015 and they want us to upgrade to SE ($3k upgrade) just to get push button. Even civic has it!
4) Sluggish for city driving compared to Mini.

One good thing is both cars seem to hold resale value. So dumping them (if they are problematic) doesn't cost much.

I am going to try WRX as well but thats going to be manual shift. I hope its not as noisy as Mini but I know GTI is quieter than wRX. However, Subaru dealers at least seem to know their stuff and their service has been great(when I was looking for Forester).

 

Did the MINI have run flat tires? Mine came with Pirelli RFT and I replaced them after 24k miles with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires. The car is now much quieter and smoother riding. I don't see any difference in handling, but I'm not good at noticing handling. The car is now at 49k miles.

 

I don't want it to sound like I dislike the gti. It is a great daily driver and awesome for raod trips. No complaints on long drives which is saying a lot since I have a bad back/tailbone. I can't stand 30 minutes in my wifes accord. My gti is quiet with very little road noise.
I am debating an older miata or r53 for my fun car and maybe a little autocross action.

 

Tried wrx and liked it. Quality not in the same league as mini and vw. Local dealer wouldn't dicker much on price. I couldn't get better than 17mpg on my test drives! Last tank through the gti was 40mpg (9.14 gallons over 367 miles!!
I find ths dsg transmission to be great around town and the paddles are fun when I want that. Sport mode is a bit much for the street but great on the track. Car pulls like a freight train with the jb1! Insane difference and highly recommended if you have the new gti.

 

Almost bought a golf r. Drove many GTI's. Great cars but the extra weight just makes the driving experience so much more serious. Also round town fuel consumption is terrible compared to the Mini.

 

I didn't notice the tires. My bet is Run-flats and you are right they are noisy. I had replaced my run-flats on 2007 with Falkens and was a huge difference in ride quality and noise. I recommend Continental Purecontact too. I have A/S on CT200h and noticed they have become noisy lately (>25k miles).


@BackroadRunner
How is the reliability on GTI so far? Any issues? Road noise and somewhat cargo space are the only two reasons we are considering GTI. WRX is not really a real option. My wife won't drive stick and I am not paying for Premium edition just to get automatic. Plus who wants WRX with automatic. They sell at MSRP but hold their value very well. I just wanted to see if the fun factor overtakes all practical reasons of not getting it.

My last option which in no way is in the same category is certified ES350- smooth and quiet. Love the ride and of course, wife wants me to get it because of ride, space and its a Lexus. Dealership service is beyond excellent - from sales to service advisor to service team leader. Thorough professional. It should be case study in management schools if its not one already.

 

I would never consider a Mini for ride quality or practicality. Just pure pleasure of driving and character.

 

I test drove the GTI 3 times and completely agree that it is not the same experience. I found the engine either lacking torque on low rpms or having too much of it on high rpms, suspension is too stiff, no personalization factor since GTIs get pumped out from the same MQB platform as most of VW cars. MCS was a clear winner in my opinion.

 

"go-kart feel" comes from runflat tires. The sidewalls are so stiff they don't flex so the response to steering input is more immediate. Some of the people who put non-runflats on MINIs then complain about losing the go-kart feel. Others rave about the improvement in ride.

Any car's handling can be improved or ruined by tire choice. My Roadster S felt very responsive on the OEM Continental Procontact runflats but understeered quite badly in midcorner when driven with intent. No off-throttle understeer at all with Michelin A/S3 or Hankook R-S3.

You also need proper psi in the tires no matter which ones are on the car.

VW has been putting poor handling tires on their cars. Check what you got before you throw the car away.

 

You can compromise and stick with the better turning runflats and just lower the pressure a few pounds to soften the ride. Mine call for 38psi, just go to 34-35 and it makes a lot of difference. If you plan to track the car then pump up the tires or some people get track tires and wheels separately. Also, after driving a stock F56 MCS my friend has I can say it could use a rear sway bar to make it handle like my JCW Coupe.

 

Funny..
I went with a Jetta TDI...the $$ on the golf was a bit too HI compared to the jetta deals...so it was in my case it was a better deal....
I get an HONEST 50 MPG in commuting...tons of space, and 4 doors...I was not yet ready to go with the F55 4 door...just too much risk IMO...
I do MISS my MINI dearly....but I LOVE the TQ of the TDI(legal issues aside)
But spending more time in a car, a bigger, better MPG car was needed in my case.
things I have noticed....
Yes, dealers are dealers...I am blessed to be in an area with good MINI AND VW dealers....but both have reputations for uneven quality....

Not sure I can compare the cars, other than to say, now could VW get the Arm-Rest right, when MINI has struggled for years?
The TQ of the TDI sure beats my MINI....by boatloads....heck I ZIP up hills from a stop that my 200HP tuned r53 seemed to run out of power on...in some cases my TDI feels faster..handling is not there, but like I said, different class of car!!
I can say running 72 MPH at 2000 RPM on a trip is nice, especially with an HONEST 50 MPG....and the seat heaters in the JETTA TDI will LIGHT YOU BUTT ON FIRE they are so hot...well...almost!
As for the VW TDI legal issues....
the 2015+ cars actually have a different TDI motor that seems to be legal, but the stop sale was to gain leverage on VW....the older 2009-2014 cars will have SERIOUS issues getting updated, since most don't use AD-BLUE, aka DEF/UREA coupled with a SCA system....the PASSAT might be OK since the last 4 years has had the system on it...but an older motor design...they MIGHT get a buyback, or some $$ and a reflash that limits their HP (many tuners can reflash them back to custom tunes, or old VW software that is hacked too look OEM). If I had a spare $6000-8000 or so..I might buy one..the last 2 times VW stopped selling diesels in the US for a couple years, the prices SOARED....They just seem to run forever, with a few regular folks on the TDI boards having 300,000+ miles, some 400,000+...the bodies rust, the interiors fail...then the motors are removed, and used in transplants into bronoc's, etc....

 

I hear Mini makes a great diesel in Europe. Too bad it doesn't make California emissions standards or they'd sell it here too. I'm REAL GLAD I don't have a VW diesel right now lol.

 

Zippy....10 to 40 times more polluting than they claimed. I almost bought a Golf R. So happy I didn't now. Not that it would have been affected by this but I hate a cheater....But seriously I bet when they start digging that some other car companies will have cheated too.

 

It's funny I find this thread now. I haven't posted here for 2 years. I was a proud owner of a 2002 MCS (2nd shipment ever to our particular dealer). Drove it 12 years and 140k miles and traded it for a Golf TDI Jan 2014. There will always be a special place in my heart for that car.

The Golf has been great except for the emissions debacle they are now in. I can't complain too much about 43-45 mpg and the extra room in the boot. I'm saving $10 a week in fuel costs and the torque is quite impressive, though laggy. That said, when it comes to driver feel and handling, it is definitely no MINI. I have driven a friends GTI which had a tuner. While it was fast (definitely faster than the old supercharged MINI), it was still a boring Golf and it took a rock hard and lowered suspension to get sharp turn-in. Depending on what happens with VW, I've started looking at the new JCW... TDI torque for the entire powerband.

Zippy, I remember your username back when I was a regular on here. Funny we BOTH ended up going to a TDI.

 

I was very close to pulling the trigger on Golf GTI - even emailed my local dealer to start the negotiating process. However, thanks to his lethargic replies I ended up not buying it. In few days of him "not replying", scandal broke and now VW resale value is not as much. It will recover but I can't be holding the bag when the music stops. I trade cars frequently so can't take the chance of getting stuck with gTI to maximize value.

Funnily, after the scandal broke out the sales guy was quick to reply. His first email, which took 4 days, quoted me the MSRP on GTI and $3k below market value for my Lexus. I didn't even bother replying. Follow ups were within few minutes of me sending emails. 25% of VW sales in US are TDI models. I guess they will feel the pinch real soon - if not already. Hopefully they take this time to clean up the house. If nothing else, I hope VW customer service improves.