I was looking at a four door hatchback........


Suburban 2500HD. Keeps me from having to drive the Mini in bad weather.

 

I'm 6' 4" tall. The decision to buy a MINI (twice) is made easy by the legroom.

 

Considered? None.
Compared with?
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Mazda 3
Toyota
Toyota
Toyota
Toyota
Mustang
Camaro
Dodge Dart
Challenger
Subaru Crosstrek
The only 2 I might have been interested in was the Challenger and Subaru.
The Challenger didn't fit what I was wanting and the Subaru was just uncomfortable.
If any of the others had been more comfortable or I thought were better Id have just kept my Truck.( It was almost payed for)
NONE of them were even close

 

The bug I would get would have to be 66 or prior. I had a 73 Super .. and would LOVE a 65 hardtop.

 

I bought a new '73 Super Beetle when I was stationed in L.A. Loved that underpowered little car.

 

I loved mine too - it also pulled tow truck duties a few times. That car was bad *** .. and only 53 HP.

 

Test drive none, thought about it are, VW Golf GTI, Lexus CT 200h, Subaru WRX and the Volvo C30 (they stop producing it). But wanted a MINI for a long time even though nearest dealer is 2.5hrs away from me.

 

Nissan trucks were my thing...
Used to drive and love Nissan trucks before the Minis... Had 3 at the same time! One really nice piano black 2000 Frontier 1st. Generation Crew Cab wich I modified in the interiors (traded the horrible stock stripes for a super good looking black interior from a 2003 2nd. Generation). The other 2 were D-21's Hardbodies (Silver regular cab and Blue club cab). I had those lifted, with nice big tires and wood steering wheels... But, one day the Court took my privileges out (due to unpaid tickets and some speeding), and I found myself with 3 trucks I was no longer able to drive... Long story short, got rid of them with tears on my eyes... 2 years later got my license back and a friend gave me a Golf GTI for almost nothing and started driving again... But the Golf was automatic and the tranny went on limp every time I drove it. Hated that car! So, one day I was looking at the Craigslist site and I saw a little green thing that got my eye... Went down to the dealership for a drive and fell in love with that little green car... It was far from new, but 81,700 miles weren't bad to my eyes and I took it home with me. I have to confess that after driving my Mini and making those corners like a go-kart does, is the most fun I had with a car in years! And looking at those interiors with the big speedometer and the round decorations on contrasting silver over panther black, makes other cars just boring. On top of that, everybody loves my green Mini! And just on last May, my son asked me to help him buy our 2nd. Mini... And got the R53 on Indy Blue. Faster, with Nav. and leather, and Harmann Kardon sound, he is so happy with it...But I just love my Green Mini...

 

In 2013, looking for my first car, cross shopped 2013 mazda 3 as that was really the only other compact car that was claimed to be "fun to drive". Test drove it, definitely felt sluggish with the manual (but I did like the short throws). Brought my parents to see what they thought, both agreed it wasn't great. I had already considered MINI and really liked the one I test drove, but the price on that one was too high. A couple days later, found a great condition 08 MCS on craigslist and learned the seller used it mostly to commute between Milwaukee and Madison. Almost fully loaded ($30k MSRP) and stick - bought it for $15.5k. Ever since then I've been hooked on MINIs and wouldn't consider driving anything else as a DD. But I am saving up for a P car in my future...

 

MINI Coupe
135i
C250
WRX hatch
Speed 3
Regal GS
Camaro SS
GTO
A3 and A4
C30
What sold me on the MINI was how she felt under boost in a corner. So smooth. So quick. So right.

 

Golf TDI, went with it. It really is a great car, low end torque is a blast, stereo is fabulous. Now I am going to get almost all my money back after three years plus of use. Not a bad deal and will probably buy a 2 door hardtop MINI.

 

The only car I looked at was a 2016 GTI. I liked it a lot and almost pulled the trigger, but did an extended overnight test drive and decided it was great, but just nothing special. Definitely glad I went with my MINI!

I would've saved $2000 going with the GTI, but probably would've gotten tired with it in a year and taken an even bigger hit on depreciation.

Coming out of a big BMW sedan, I wanted something really fun and exciting.

 

The only other car I considered (I had a 2013 BRZ 6MT before this) was an automatic version of my BRZ. I needed to switch to auto because of a bum knee, and switching to an auto BRZ would have allowed me to transfer all of my mods over.

But, by going with the MINI, I got something that's still a ton of fun to drive, and let me sell my mods and pocket the cash.

 

BMW 320i Manual with sport package.
Lexus CT200h.
mk7 GTI.
Focus ST.
Audi A3

 

Hello everyone! I'm new here.

I just ordered my 3rd mini!
JCW convertible. Chili red.
I had a 2015 cooper S manual, and a 2014 roadster S automatic.
I've had in the past a Toyota Mr2 spyder, an S2000 and a Jaguar XJR.

I had a large extensive list of cars I wanted to try this time.
What I knew is that it needed to be convertible or have a large sunroof (I live in southern california), and it had to be raw and fun. I didn't want something comfortable or "easy", but it needed to have some amount of trunk space, at least for a weekend for me and my wife. And the sound had to be right for my ears, and there had to be quite a bit of it. I hate quiet cars.

So I drove in the same 2 days the following:
-2013 boxster S
-2013 boxster
-alfa 4C spider
-Golf GTI with performance pack
-new MD Miata
-2006 honda s2000
-new camaro RS convertible
-Corvette (targa/coupe)

I thought of M2, M235 convertible, Focus RS and TT convertible also, but honestly I just didn't like the look/character of any of them at all. The Golf R doesn’t come with a sunroof in the US.
And of course the Evora (but no sunroof) and elise (but I was too afraid of owning an old car made by a small company always about to go out of business, and with parts that are somewhat hard to find.

I was pretty sure i'd get a Porsche this time. I was really excited, and went straight to a dealer to test drive extensively the Bosxter S.
I pushed through the turns and floored it, put it in sport mode, and let the air go through my hair with the top down and.... I was just bored.
It was super solid, comfortable, perfect, sleek, but no drama. No unexpected, intangible element, for my personal taste of course.

The GTI was very similar, just slower. Great manual gearbox, but overall way too “safe” feeling.
The miata, for me, was a joke. The crazy body roll, the complete lack of any substantial power, the muted exhaust note, muted steering feel, everything felt non confrontational.

The S2000 still holds together after all these years. The direct steering, the stiff suspension, the noise, the kick in the butt when the V-Tec comes on. But it’s also an old trap, it’s super cramped, feels like a 10 year old car, which i wasn’t really sure I wanted, and has NO guts/power unless it’s constantly floored, and then one sounds like a maniac too often.

The RS Camaro was not even in the ballbark of any of the other cars in terms of sharpness, and felt like a regular airport rental.
The Corvette is hilariously powerful and dramatic, but still feels like a big muscle car, and I just could see myself in one, and didn’t want to deal with moving a targa top every time I wanted to open the top, or deal with the look of the convertible version. But BOY was it quick and dramatic!
The Alfa 4C was great. Totally up my alley. But the spider is $70,000 in US, and it doesn’t have ANY trunk whatsoever, the interior is cramped and looks plain bad to me, especially the steering wheel.
But the noise, the steering feel (loved it), the suspension, the kick in the back… It was all great.
But But, the JCW convertible felt 90-95% of what the Alfa felt.
Angry, great sounding, rigid, dramatic, beautiful to look at, with a way way better interior ( i got the chesterfiel brown leather interior with the diamond stitching, very Audi/Bentley. ), and it was/is almost half the price. And most likely more reliable than the Alfa and easier to fix.

None of the other cars besides the Alfa, to my personal preference, where nearly as much fun as the JCW convertible, and only a couple had its visual elegant and beautiful character. AND it sits 4 people and has a trunk with folding seats! No Brainer.
And now I can stop fantasizing about a Boxster S.

PS to me, the JCW and the regular cooper S with normal suspensions are night and day.
EVERY single driving thing feels different and sharper and more fun to me.
In fact compared to the regular cooper S, to me the GTI with performance pack was more fun. (manual, the DSG has a completely different, and slower, throttle response that’s infuriating).

I’m baffled by anyone that might have felt the JCW is just a cooper S with more power. I can see many people tho feeling it’s too loud and uncomfortable, but that’s exactly the experience I was looking for, a beautiful looking harsh angry convertible car with a refined, cool looking interior.
For that, again in my opinion, there is no competitor to the JCW at $40,000.

 

The only car we seriously considered was the Fiat Abarth. It seems like a wonderful car, but the F56 we got was clearly better. Plus, I owned a first generation 2003 MC, so I'm somewhat partial to the brand. Fortunately, I have a couple of friends who own Abarths (and love them), so I'm hoping this autumn to coordinate a day trip where we can car swap throughout the route.

Basically, we wanted a small, sporty car that was reasonably priced and had personality, was a "lifestyle car." For us, the MCS and Abarth were the only two cars that really fit that bill.

 

Old thread but maybe some newbies here? I've had in excess of over 20 cars over the years but lately had been doing the boring thing, BMW 428i, Jeep Wrangler, Ford Escape. All perfectly fine but lacking fun.

I've had muscle cars (Mustangs and Corvettes) that tear up drag strips, and in that class I'd consider myself a Mustang guy, have had a handful of different generations of them. I've had little fun cars (Miata, CRX Si, Integra GSR, MK5 GTI). Mostly now I spend my time in the city and wanted something fun around the city streets I prowl. My desire for all out speed seems minimal and leans towards smiley machines I don't need to be going 100MPH on a track day to appreciate (Been there, have the worn brake pads to show).

My fondest memories were always in small hot hatches (the 1991 CRX being the fondest). So for me this was more of a what haven't I owned that would be fun and had to be new. And at 6'4" 215 lbs, not many small cars are comfortable.

So here I am and thus far I can't stop smiling, I've even gotten into the history and considering a classic Mini now.