OK, here is my delema.... I own a 04 WRX. it is a replacement for my totalled 02 WRX. My wife wanted a MINI and when we went to test drive the first time they only had a MINI cooper S. We were coming back in 2 days to test drive the plain cooper, so my wife had me test drive the S (big mistake I now know!). These things, while slower than my WRX, handle amaizingly well. They blow my WRX out of the water around a corner... no joke... Now we ordered the wife a cooper and it came in on Thursday. I have been able to steal it away from her (mostly to get it registered for her) to drive a bit, and I am very impressed with the quality in this $17,000 car. It is VERY solid. The doors feel very heavy and close the way a door should close with the window up or down. None of this subaru door sound... subarus have very cheap door for those that don't know... the WRXs are an improvement, but not as nice as the cooper's. Also I have had a few speeding tickets in my WRX that the slower cooper S would slove because it's still fun to drive, but you're not speeding every second you are on the gas. Not as easy to drive slow as a cooper, but easier than my WRX. I also am considering a cooper for this reason. So here is my question:

Should I trade my WRX in on a Cooper S?

Cooper S
Pros:
Smaller (easier to park)
Better attention to detail (car is very refined)
Handles better
like people's attitude towards the car
Better MPG
Cheaper to insure
Cheaper car (even with my trade most likely)
Fit and finish quality

Cons:
Smaller (harder to fit 4 people with luggage) (al;though it fits four people better than a wrx without luggage!)
We would own 2 of the same car

WRX
Pros:
AWD
FAST!
trunk
potential to be VERY FAST!

Cons:
higher insurance
Faster yield more tickets....
Car wants to go faster all the time, but I can't let it or $$$$ on tickets....
Not as "fun"
worse MPG


So what does eveyone think.... I think I am asking everyone to convince me to keep the WRX.... I like my car, but the Cooper is very nice also. The more I drive it the more the "honeymoon" wears off and the more I can find small things wrong with it. And I don't mean wrong, but I mean the more of an honest comparison I can give and the better my wrx looks. For example, there is no center armrest so you right hand is on the wheel or shifter with you elbow hanging... great for short drives, or spirited drives, but on a trip it gets tireing.... Also the doors don't have a flat spot for your right elbow either. I always drive with my left elbow on the pad over there to the point that I have always had dents in it on my cars. The cooper's armrest is very norrow and isn't as comfortable. Also with the seat back where I drive (6'4&quot the rest is forward of where it should be for me.... Things like this come out the more I drive it, but I also like (especially in the cooper) you can get on the gas when acceleration and not be breaking the law in 1 shift/2 seconds..... I know this may sound dumb, but it will contribute to a big cost saving for me....


So anyways.... I want to hear what fellow MINI people have to say about the WRX and replacing it with a MINI. Good or Bad I don't care. Remeber I now own a WRX and a MINI so don't go to harsh on my car, but you can sure let me know why the S isn't for me, or why I should go place my order right now...


One last thing... The MINI buying experience is by far the best car buying experience I have ever had. I have bought my 2 WRXs before this at 2 different dealers, that were both good, but this was soemthing different... Very nice way to do business....

Thanks for the input.

Ben

(I also posted this on MINI2 and NASIOC forums, but I want as muc input from MINI and WRX owners as possible...)

 

I think I'd keep the WRX for the size and when
you want to have some fun go through your wifes
purse and steal her keys. We have 2 small cars
and I think having one a little bigger then a Mini is
sensible....but slow down.

 

should u trade ur wrx for the mini

no

 

Greetings!

Common sense says to keep the WRX, passion says two MINIs would be twice the fun !!

Ron

 

Keep the WRX ....

Why?

1. You've already got a Mini!
2. Speed (dude, I don't want to be too rough on you, but grow up, you can speed in either car, hell, I frequently do 80-90 mph in my Jeep... trust me, you're not going to drive slow enough not to get tickets JUST because you are in a Mini).
3. Space - you guys ever gonna have kids? ... we've got a 5 y/o who fits pretty well in the Mini, but 2 kids, no, that won't work on anything but short trips.
4. AWD - we're thinking of picking up an Imprezza based Outback Sport as a third car so we can just put the Mini to bed in the winter. I know we don't HAVE to, but my wife has wanted a Mini for YEARS (she first wanted the original) and SWEARS she wants to hang onto this car forever (we'll see about that).

Personally, I almost traded my Jeep in for a WRX a couple years ago, however the absolute lack of tow capacity would leave me out of the water (or at least, leave our ski boat out of the water)...

But that's just my opinion...

Kev

_________________
She let's me drive her MCS (which is good, cause I gave it to her as a wedding present)!!!

Our Baby? - she's an 03 Elect Blue (white roof/wheels) MCS, w/ all the toys (premium, cold, h/k, Nav, xenon, fogs etc) !

 

Seems to me you have a very tough choice... I have a cooper non S and love it... IMHO the WRX is a not so pretty car... BUT the speed and power of the car are very impressive... seems to me though the WRX needs suspension work to do well in the corners.. where the MINI is good in that area out of the box...

on the other hand the Cooper S could use a shot of power... (the pully mod is the path for that...

Soooo to end up with an ideal ride... you need one of 2 things... a WRX with a good suspension package on it..... or A MINI Cooper S with a 15% Pully...

The qestion then becomes a matter of personal choice... the WRX will get rather harsh ride wise in the quest for better performance for the turns.... Cooper S wise a semi involved mod is needed to get the power up to par...


Well this IS a MINI board... GO GET A MINI!!!!!

 

I think what 2minis says about having one slightly bigger than the MINI makes good sense; but I'm not sure that the WRX is bigger enough to make much of a difference. Also, I know that there are folks here who have two of the same car...but I think that even in a MINI that could get a bit boring. Personally, I really like having multiple (2) vehicles that serve very different purposes. Unless both your and your wife's "purposes" are identical, you may not want nearly identical cars.

 

It's funny- I was just reading articles from European magazines comparing the two, and they preferred the Cooper S due to the reasons you mentioned- solidity and more fun to drive. I think one of the articles was in "Evo" and the other was in "Car," both issues were from some time last year.

Also, if you look in the back of "Car" magazine, you'll see a list of their 100 favorite new cars, and this is what it reads:

1. 911 Turbo
2. Cooper S
3. Ferrari Enzo

The WRX STi and Mitsu Evo were somewhere down the list. WRXs are great cars though, but if you are seriously thinking about trading it in, and you don't need the extra space, the Mini's the way to go.

 

>>Greetings!
>>
>> passion says two MINIs would be twice the fun

 

Greetings Ben,

I suggest that you keep both of your present cars, and ADD a MCS, that way you can still play with all your toys.

 

>>could that logic be used for wives?

 

>>
>>>>could that logic be used for wives?


i wanna move to utah

 

I drove a 02 WRX before buying my 02 MCS and I feel the same. Plus the MCS' hatch is more usable space than a trunk... my 2 Greyhounds will fit in the MCS if I don't have access to my wife's Passat wagon. I would have had to buy the WRX wagon to accomplish that, and one wagon in the family is enough. Get your wife to buy the MCS and you can drive it on the weekends!

 

There are other places outside of Utah where one can have more than one wife...

I would love to have a WRX to compliment my MINI - when my wife rode in one, she was impressed. I think it would be too fast for her though.

 

>>>>
>>>>>>could that logic be used for wives?
>>
>>
>>i wanna move to utah

Then you'd have to become Mormon! Is it really worth giving up alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine? You'd get more of one vice, but none of all the others!

 

>>Soooo to end up with an ideal ride... you need one of 2 things... a WRX with a good suspension package on it..... or A MINI Cooper S with a 15% Pully...
>>
>>The qestion then becomes a matter of personal choice... the WRX will get rather harsh ride wise in the quest for better performance for the turns.... Cooper S wise a semi involved mod is needed to get the power up to par...
>>
>>
>>Well this IS a MINI board... GO GET A MINI!!!!!
>>

The WRX with suspension mods isn't any harsher than a MINI... also I have strut bars on my WRX and that helped a lot. I plan on doing wheels and tires as soon as the $$ permits, and then they should be very close. They are closer now than I would have thought.... after driving the MINI on the some roads as I always have in the WRX, the MINI is better, but not as much as I originally though.... but bang for the buck is amaizing.... As for power the S is more than enough, because I have too much in the WRX already... I am just looking for better torque delivery as in smoother.... WRX < 3.5 K is slow WRX > 3.5 K is a rocket.... I have enough power now though.... the WRX goes fast very easy... more on that below....


>>2. Speed (dude, I don't want to be too rough on you, but grow up, you can speed in either car, hell, I frequently do 80-90 mph in my Jeep... trust me, you're not going to drive slow enough not to get tickets JUST because you are in a Mini).

I beg to differ, after driving a WRX for some time now, and if you have driven one, it is very hard to not speed in one. It's not that the MINI won't speed, it's that the WRX won't not spped. The thing wants to go 100 on the highway with the slightest gas pedal push. The are very fast and want to go very fast. After drving the MINI it is MUCH easier to drive slower. It will go fast, but there is more though involved. I have looked down in my WRX thinking I was going 60ish and found out I was going 80 plus... the sensation of speed is weird in the WRX, it doesn't feel like you are going as fast as you are. Also in the MINI, it does feel like you are going fast. Also with the less horse power you do have to ask tthe car to go fast... it doesn't just end up at 90++, but I haven't driven one for that long....

Thanks for everyone's input.... It's makeing the decision hard though. Every forum has people that are for each car... I'm thinking if the wife can share, one MINI is enough, because the variety would be nice, but if I never get to drive it, I will probably get another MINI... We'll see how it all plays out, but all in all I am very impressed with the MINIs...

Thanks again! A lot of input here in a short period...
Ben

 

Utah joke,

Whats the penalty for having more than one wife in Utah??



Having more than one wife!!


Married guys can appreciate this. single guys, you have soooo much to learn.

 

>>
>>Having more than one wife!!
>>
>>
>>Married guys can appreciate this. single guys, you have soooo much to learn.

....and then they make it tough to get a drink!!

 

Ben,

I should have your problems...

As for driving the WRX slower on the highway ... use the cruise control!

I guess I know what you mean, the difference was really pronounced on some of the motorcycles I've owned. My last Harley (Road King) would cruise all day at 65 (which is a nice lazy pace), but my last BMW (R1100RSA) would not stay below 70-75.... it was just the sweet spot. Of course, I didn't have the option of cruise control on either, so I had to discipline myself.

Well, good luck with your decision ... but I still say hang onto the WRX...

On another subject

>>Then you'd have to become Mormon! Is it really worth giving up alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine? You'd get more of one vice, but none of all the others! >>>

Couldn't you be like a Mormom/Catholic hybrid ... I mean, who said you have to follow ALL the Mormon rules...
_________________
She let's me drive her MCS (which is good, cause I gave it to her as a wedding present)!!!

Our Baby? - she's an 03 Elect Blue (white roof/wheels) MCS, w/ all the toys (premium, cold, h/k, Nav, xenon, fogs etc) !

 

>>
>>
>>Then you'd have to become Mormon! Is it really worth giving up alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine? You'd get more of one vice, but none of all the others!
>>

 

KevM,
I think I am leaning that way now. It's just the newness of the cooper that makes me want one over my WRX right now. The whole grass is greener... routine. If my wife will share I will be OK. It's her first new car ever, and I can see how she wants to be the only driver for the first while. If she will share after that, I will be OK. She drive 5 miles round trip to work, I drive 70 miles roundtrip, so to keep the mileage lower on my car I want to trade cars every week. This way we both get to drive each car and split the miles... Plus once we have kids, she is going to want a wagon (5 years off, but the car part has been discussed) at that point we will either pick one car to keep (MINI) or trade both and get 2 new cars (wagon and new MINI). I've put 10,000 miles on the WRX since March 20, so I am on schedule for 30,000 a year... At that pace I would be getting a new car in about 2.5 years anyway and I could get my MINI then....

Decisions, Decisions....

MINIs on my mind....

Ben

 

>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Then you'd have to become Mormon! Is it really worth giving up alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine? You'd get more of one vice, but none of all the others!
>>>>

Then you should be very happy in Utah! When's moving day?

 

My initial impression of the MCS was that, "I can't get one of these, I will be in SO much trouble!"

It's extremely difficult to resist flying thru traffic, fitting that tiny car into spaces not intended for a vehicle to fit.

I had a 1999 Saab 9-3SE /High output Turbo with a manual, and I know what you mean by having a hard time NOT speeding.. especially difficult moving from the UK back to Gridlock, USA...

I would go with the vehicle that is most practical for your needs, that still keeps the biggest grin on your face. Still can't decided? Look at the $ side of it.

 

>>
>>Then you should be very happy in Utah! When's moving day?
>> :smile:

 

I was going to say, maybe you should borrow you wife's MINI for a week, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen.. , but I'd probally keep your WRX for a while longer. Wait untill you get some more use out of it. Granted, that may not be the best idea money wise, but you'll also get the chance to see what new options/features you can get on a MINI.

And my MCS likes to speed. It's them gears which I just feel that I need to use to their full potential...

Rocketboy_X