I apologize up front if these questions have been asked countless times. I've been searching & reading all I can here yet I still have lingering questions about what I will buy.

Essentially I'm going back & forth between a Cooper and Cooper S. It is really worth the extra $3000 for the "S"? I can't make up my mind.

It appears that for the $3000 you also get the Sport seats, 16 inch wheels and fog lights (and the turbo obviously). Am I missing something? From the configuration tool at mini-usa.com I don't see anything else that's different. No suspension differences at all?

When I test drove both the cars, they both had the sport seats. There were no regular seats to see. Are the Sport seats that much better?

Wheels. The S has 16 inch where the Cooper has 15 inch. Is this a noticeable difference while driving? Really? I've not looked to see if the tires themselves have different sidewall heights.

I think that in my mind I'm trying to justify the extra $3k, just for a car that's a little more zippy once and a while.

One more, do all Mini's come standard with an auxiliary input jack on the radio? I see a couple of Ipod options that are available, but I can't imagine that a line-in jack would not be standard and would cost extra.

Thanks for your time & patience.

-jeff

 

The only way to tell if it's worth the difference to YOU is to test drive both next to each other. At all most a 50% increase in power, the S is a lot "zippier". My wife found the S to be worth the additional money even though she is a very conservative (spelled s-l-o-w) driver. The additional torque on the S makes proper gear selection far less critical. Even in 6th gear, it has ample accelleration. The additional torque and power, in her mind, gave the car a more "substantial" feel. You need to test drive to make your own determination.

 

Driven and owned both in the Generation 1's, To get a Cooper to get up and go you have to wind it out and wait a bit for the revs to catch up and move it. Hit GAS on S and the thing just GO'S. It's not just "a little more zippy" it is a good hard acceleration across the entire rev band on the new car, Gen 1's didn't come on to about 3K. Zippy is how you would describe a Cooper, race car is what the S is.

 

Hi Jeff,

I went through the same process you are in a couple months ago. I was debating over the base Cooper with the options I wanted or the S which already had the few items that were important to me... sport seats, fog lights, 16 inch wheels... Yes, the sport seats are worth the upgrade! I wanted the base model instead of the S for the added gas mileage in a standard trans. I found an S at a dealership that was configured to my liking with multifunction steering wheel (cruise control), Sparkling Silver/Black which was my second choice after Pepper white. It did have the sunroof which I was not too fond of, but really hard to find one on the lot without it. I did a build on Mini USA site for a base Cooper with what I wanted on it and there was not a great deal of difference in price. I was a little reluctant to spend any more than I had too, but needless to say I drove away with the MCS that day! No regrets what so ever! I love the S and the sunroof really is nice to have. It's not just "a little more zippy once in a while", it's a lot more zippy all of the time!

Both will have the aux input jack for your ipod, I use mine all the time. I can't see paying $500 for the dedicated ipod setup although some folks on here swear by it. I plug mine in and let it play, I'm not worried about changing tracks every five minutes etc. I take it out and charge it at home.

You will probably find that the S will be more marketable at resale if for some unlikely reason you do sell it.

Keep us posted on your progress. Good luck!

 

I chose the '07 non-S model (6spd manual, hard top) for higher gas mileage (I average 42+ hwy, and 36+ city), and it has plenty of power MOST of the time. The only times I wish for more power is trying to pass on two-lane country roads. An S model would make passing much easier. But I'm quite happy with my choice and would do it again.

For wheel sizes, you might visit tirerack.com and see what replacement tires will be available when the originals wear out. I found that there were very few decent choices in 15, and lots more in 16", so that's what I opted for.

Good luck, and welcome to the club!

 

Go with the S if you are on the fence. You will never regret it.

 

I agree, if you are in this position, you should probably get an MCS. It is a great value!!

Now, if you said "how fast do I really have to get to the next traffic light, huh?" or "I want the best mpg possible" or "Power is over-rated, I'm all about handling" then I'd say yes, the Cooper is a perfect balance of what you want.

You should be happy w/ your MINI, and those who choose a Cooper over an MCS are. If you'll enjoy an MCS more, $3K isn't much considering what you get.

 

As an MCS owner, it is a no brainer for me. Balance out your pros and cons (MPG, insurance, power, luxury details, etc) and as someone already mentioned, go out and test drive both on the same day! You will see that $3K for the S are worth it!

 

Opt for the turbo.

 

I drove both 2 weeks ago. I first drove the MCS and loved it. Even my friend wanted to drive the car and she loved it a lot. When we switched to the regular MINI, she wasn't even interested in driving :P. It just makes more fun driving.

For me it was an easy choice after driving both

 

Drive them back to back. The S is great, but not what I needed. I was perfectly fine with the base model.

Go for the sports seats. In my opinion, much more comfy.

 

One point to consider the 2nd gen MC has better torque down low and doesn't require quite the winding out for pep that the first gen did.

That said its still deficient from the MCS, but I find the MC to be a good balance of performance and economy for normal driving. If I were ordering again it would still be a MC.

If I really wanted speed, I'd have to jump from the MC to the JCW stage II, something I'm sure I'll never do.

 

Thanks everyone,

I did test drive both. It was a fairly quick drive for each, and I'm not that quick to come to conclusions. I did like the basic Cooper, and compared to our Honda, I would have been happy with that..expect that the Cooper S had so much more power!

I think I'm just trying to justify the extra money by figuring out what else you get besides the turbo. Sport seats, 16" wheels and Fog Lamps sort of offsets some of the cost. I was also under the impression that the suspension is different but that's not the case apparently. I tend to be so practical in my purchases that I'm tying to justfy the extra $3K by telling myself that I'm also gettiing some other "practical" stuff too, not just the turbo!

-Jeff

 

Well.. you get a hood scoop and those little red 's's everywhere! heheh Surely that's at least a grand, right?

 

You'll likely lose some mpg, too!!! I found the Cooper offered everything I wanted, and when I did access the additional power of the MCS I found I was breaking the law, whether real or implied.

 

I love my sport seats! I love the sunroof, yes it is a little flakey, but it was a really easy fix (grease the track a little and no more sticky). These are probably my two favorite things about my MINI aside from the way it drives.

I can't help you on the S vs. non-S debate, other than to say that I opted against an S because I really felt that it was more car than I needed, and that I would benefit more from the improved gas mileage of the non-S, though realistically, the loss in gas mileage isn't that significant between the two.

Good luck, and welcome aboard!

 

I think gokartride has summed it up well. If you absolutely need to be first off the line at one stop light and the first to stop at the next, then there's no choice in the matter. But if you're just looking for a wonderful little car that you can enjoy driving around and save some bucks on the gas mileage as well, then Justa Cooper would do you just fine.

Those two thoughts sum up the decision, because once you sit behind the wheel of an S, you probably won't want to have to start worrying about gas mileage. That worry should have happened before you bought the S, not after. And as for resale value, quite honestly, I don't think that really matters. Both models have their fans and both would sell very well if you ever wanted a new model.

 

You tested both. Which one turned you on more? Get that one.

 

Good point. I first test drove a Cooper and immediately felt right at home in the car and loved being able to row the gears to use the power available. Everything seemed nicely balanced just the way I like it. When I test drove an MCS, I couldn't extract any more thrill out of it (w/o breaking the law as previously mentioned). Choice made. Now many obviously have a very different experience finding their thrill threshold, including many of my own MINI-friends. Trust me, as compelling as my reasons were for getting a Cooper, there are as many equally compelling reasons to get an MCS (some of which even make sense to me!!! ).

 

I bought the justacooper myself and it's all I need in a car. I am not into racing or driving fast I do sorta wish I had gotten the sport seats now but I don't really do a lot of long distance driving so I'm sure I will be happy with my new Mini when it gets here.

 

It is an interesting phenomenon with the new MINI that was really part of the classic Mini culture as well. Is a MINI a vehicle for practical, everyday motoring about? Sir Alec would have said, "yes!" Or is it a tuned enthusiast car? John Cooper would have said "yes!" Both, however, would have said it was a fun car to drive!!! Really, it's an amazing thing that MINIs appeal to such a spectrum of driver and still deliver the fun-factor in any configuration!!

 

I'm about to place my order and was in the same boat as you, but I have decided on the regular non-S cooper. While the S is certainly much faster, it also seems to suffer from a significant amount of torque steer, and I felt the handling of the regular cooper was more to my liking. I'd say that if you were going to get an auto transmission, then definately get the S. But if you are going with the 6-speed, the regular Cooper definately is "zippy" and a ton of fun to drive.

 

I believe the brakes on the MCS might be larger than the MC. That is why 15" wheels are not available on the S.

With 15" wheels on the MC, I believe you get a spare. The S does not have room for a spare, so you rely on runflat tires (which are expensive and harsh riding) or carry a tire repair kit.

You can add very nice aftermarket 16" wheels to an MC for about $700 and keep the 15" for snow tires, if you wish. The O.D. of the tires remains about the same with 15, 16, 17, or 18" wheels. With the MINI, the profile of the tire changes with the wheel size to compensate. So, with a 15" you get a tall sidewall that provides more cushion for rough pavement, but a little slower turn-in (steering response). As the wheel size increases, the sidewall size decreases and you get harsher ride with quicker response. The response differences can be fairly subtle from one size to the next. The ride is a little more noticeable.


I think the choice of the S or not mainly comes down to whether you value power or mpg more.

The sports seats can be had in either car.

 

I've always suggested that people looking for a test drive should try the Cooper first--once they're in a MCS, all bets are off. The feel of all that power for such a little car is so much fun.

Having said that, if fuel economy is crucial, go with the Cooper. If you can give a little on this, don't worry about the MCS. I get 33+ mpg on mine, and I do put my foot in it where appropriate. Others might get less, but then again, if you're worried about economy, you'll probably do better than I do.

Go with a stick, either way. It's the best way to economize, and the only way to enjoy a Cooper--my opinion only; others may disagree.

FWIW, we just returned from a trip to northern Italy and southwestern France. For some reason there were distinct differences in what models we saw. In northern Italy (Milan, Lake Maggiore, etc), we saw lots of Coopers, and almost no MCSs. Not so on the rest of our trip, but Coopers were still the most common. Gas and diesel were running about $9 to $10 per gallon. A lot of them were diesels, although we didn't get to check more than about 10%.

 

Not sure how long you are going to keep it, but a turbo charger or super charger will add stress to the engine (higher compression ratio) and will shorten the life of it. How long ???

If the engine / transmission / suspension is designed for a turbo, great. If it's an add on item, hummm...

If you trade cars every 75K or less, it's probably not so much of an issue. I've got a truck that has 235K on it, but it has a diesel engine designed for the turbo.

Maintenance on a turbo is really important. I'd suggest an initial oil change at 2K miles, another one at 5K and every 5K or 6 months afterwards. If you run in a hot climate, I'd suggest a 5-40 or 10-40 oil in the summer.

just my opinion, however ...