Spent a good morning with the crew at MINI of St. Louis on Saturday 5/26 participating in the test-drive challenge event.

I'd lamented that I didn't cross-shop MINI models with I evaluated and ordered my MCS; in talking MINIs with friends/family I'm asked about other models but at this point of my MINI involvement I don't have any first-hand experience with anything but Cooper S hardtops.

Not any more.

We spent some time with my wife Stacy driving a Cooper S Coupe; then I drove a Countryman S auto; finally, a stick-shift slim-optioned Justa.

My MCS is fairly zoot with leather and features, so it was interesting to drive the Justa. I had fun with it, it's still full of MINI-ness, no surprise given all the love shown to these on this forum. Still a little "tank" in build solidness, handles great, nimble. This one didn't have Sport Suspension, and I noticed it on the first good corner (and on all the cars, none had it...mine does).

We were comparing the Countryman to our Mazda 5 dog-hauler as a potential (someday) replacement, and as a MINI. I saw immediately that it's taller / heavier / not as athletic as my hardtop, but it's a hoot regardless. Our Mazda 5 is a 5MT, and has zoom-zoom, however I wish it had the scoot of this Countryman S. Maybe someday. I asked for an automatic as I'd never tried the MINI 6-sp automatic, and wanted to see how it behaved. It's SO different in sport vs. not, in sport it's really wanting to rock n' roll, hang onto gears, and not get in the way of a good time. For me...I came away still preferring the "involvement" of a manual trans, but I have nothing negative about how MINI's implemented their auto.

Finally, the Coupe. SO different-feeling inside than the hardtop, even more of a capsule / inside a bunker feeling. Noticed little things different: where they placed the microphone, smaller visors & no lights, some other things. This one had JCW 18's but not sport suspension; we could get it to "push" pretty easily on our favorite cloverleafs. Still, my wife had a ball with it. MINIs are the only non-V8-muscle car she's ever enjoyed, and that streak continues.

Anyhow, it made for a nice morning. A friendly gal from BMW/MINI corporate was signing up folks for a chance at an iPad, they had a nice spread of brunch items, and there were a couple other guys there that had already had the KoolAid, but wanted to see the other models (like I was doing).

Nice time, hope they do it again!

 

Thanks for the report. I still need to test drive my first MINI. I'm buying something later this year and MINIs look like fun.

I need an AT though, and wonder if a Justa / Automatic would make a good commuter / daily driver or if I'd want more punch. Maybe 25% of my driving is freeway, with the rest being pretty heavy city traffic.

 

Hmmm, none of the many MCa owners on here have jumped in.

For a daily commuter? It would be just fine, although how much kick you're used to / desire is a variable I can't account for, of course. The car I drove (with stick) was easily as capable (if not more so) than any 4-cyl I've owned, throttle roll-ons in the higher gears seemed very reasonable given the power level (meaning: it still had some decent acceleration ability without downshifting. Even on level ground in 6th).

The other fun-to-drive aspects are outstanding, of course.

You'll know when you try one

 

Thanks - and you're right. No substitute for driving one since "needed power" is very subjective.

I think if you're used to more power, you like to stick with it and not drive something less powerful.

But I also think there's a lot of fun in driving a good handling slower car faster!

 

I've got an 05 cooper cabrio. If I could go back to the test drive and do it all over again (7 years later) I think I'd get the S model for the 6 speed and extra hp. My fear then was it would get me in trouble. It was fast and I have a heavy foot. The 5-speed has never done us wrong and I've never driven a Mini auto, so nothing to compare to there. That said the extra hp is a good thing to have.
Plus if you ever decide to do any mods, there isn't much out there for the justa cars.