My first mini test drive in a non-turbo cooper with a good friend. I am 6'1" and my friend is 6'5". We were both amazed at how much room and comfort the mini has. The ride really surprised us. We both thought that it would be a lot more bumpy. The car felt really solid. I love the steering wheel. It felt so good in my hands. We were disappointed with the A/C (not auto a/c) It never seem to get cold. Does the A/C in the turbo version have more cooling power? My friend thought the engine was "Gutless". For city driving here in Los Angeles, I thought it was fine. How long did it take you to get used to the angle of the windshield? It felt so close. It reminded me of being in an old VW bug. Mini is a little narrow for both of us. I hit my elbow closing the doors both times.
My friend did not like the car especially when he saw the fabric sun-shade for the roof. He felt the price of the car was way too high. I must have the mini-bug or be crazy as I am still interested in getting one.
Saw the interchange yellow at the dealer. It's an interesting color, outside in the sun it appeared light green, inside it looked yellow. Thanks for letting me babble.

Have a wonderful week all!

 

Mini's are a bit expensive, but they are unique and a lot of fun. If you can afford the turbo, you'll probably enjoy it more. I doubt there is any difference in the output of the a/c on either car.

 

I just bought one, so here we go...

[quote] I am 6'1" and my friend is 6'5". We were both amazed at how much room and comfort the mini has. The ride really surprised us. We both thought that it would be a lot more bumpy. The car felt really solid. I love the steering wheel. It felt so good in my hands. [quote]
Yup, have had a 6'4" and 6'6" guy in my passenger seat, both were AMAZED. It's the people behind them that will hate life And I agree, the car feels totally in control when you're behind that wheel and despite the somewhat-rough ride, everything stays put. It really is a great ride for a small car

Auto-A/C is the way to go. I test drove both and noticed the same lack of power from the non-Auto. Don't know why though

I'm on Day #2 of driving and I'm getting used to it. It's a little awkward at first, but soon you "feel" the car and get used to things like the windshield, the toggle switches, etc

The 11s are tinted more now and make a HUGE difference. The fabric sunshade is intended to let light in but not get the cabin super hot, which is kind of nice. Why buy a sunroof if you keep it closed? The tint + the shade is pretty ample protection now though

Hahah all my friends have given me crap over the choice too. Don't listen to them, it will be the best decision. If you want the car, buy it! If you like it now, I promise you won't look back once you get it. All of my friends are envious now that they see how great the car looks/feels/handles. They're utter joys to drive and if it fits your needs and price range, why not? Sure, there's little things that are totally different and you may think are negatives. But once you really feel the car and get into it, it really meshes well. Then again, not everyone has this experience. But most seem to really enjoy driving these machines.

I also agree with the turbo advice. I live near DC and being able to zip in and out of traffic is awesome. That, and it's even more fun

 

Couldn't have said it better myself....


Mark

 

You owe it to yourself to at least drive an S before you make a decision.....

 

In your test drive did you have the sport button on? It makes a lot of difference in the cars performance.

 

Wow,

Thank you all for the feedback. Now I can't wait to test drive the turbo. I don't think I will invite my friend this time. LOL

Yes, we did put the sport button on and you are correct, it did feel more powerful. Originally I wanted the non-turbo cooper because of its great gas mileage. Just have to see what the turbo is like. Think I will wait another month for the dealers to stock up on 2011's.

Enjoy your ride!

 

FYI I did a write-up on a new 2011. It's a ClubmanS, but will give you an idea of another newbie's likes/dislikes and takes on things that are often talked about on here (noise, ride quality, windshield rake, etc)
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...2011-mccs.html

 

Was your test drive with a manual or automatic transmission? I test drove a MC with an automatic and found it to be utterly "gutless", I couldn't stand it.

However, I also drove an MC with the manual and loved it! Plenty of power.

Of course, after three years I upgraded to an MCS anyway.

 

Im 6'5" and I am the most comfortable I have been in any car I have driven. My seat goes back further than I need too. I got used to driving it within a few days and now I love it. I actually complain when I have to drive other cars.

 

Kasey, I test drove the MC with an automatic transmission. Was wondering if the standard transmission would have more power and a bit more fun. I may give that a spin.

wahoo_shoe, thanks for the link. I'll enjoy reading it.

 

There's no difference in "power" between the two transmissions, and the automatic has a manual mode. I thought the auto had more than enough power and was a blast to drive. YMMV.

 

Hello,

I'm surprised you thought that the windshield was close...I noticed when driving over cars that the windshield is close compared to my MINI.

I didn't get to drive the "S" but I'm completely content with the "Justa Awesome" Cooper. It has plenty of pickup if driven a certain way. My style is sport button on and manual shift with gear selector

 

The AC seems as cold as any car I have had. Though you must have the vents set to the dash and make sure the temp dial is ALL the way down. It's easy to inadvertently bump the temp dial.

I did not want the auto AC because of experience with 2 other Nissan cars I have owned. AC compressor running (cycling) all the time even in freezing weather (NOT just defrost mode). Expensive repairs on one car.

What I did notice about the MINI manual system is that when you don't want AC on and just turn on the fan to vent from outside air, you get a blast of hot air for a few minutes.

I heard a lot of talk about the sun roof mesh sun shade or lack of, but so far it has not bothered me. I am not in a really hot climate zone however. Venting the sun roof in hot weather does pretty good job of keeping the car reasonably cool when parked.

 

I am 6'4 and have owned 4 MINI's, so obviously that hasn't been a problem for me.

As for the windshield, just realize that because of the upright nature, you are more likely to get chips and cracks from flying rocks. That seems to be the one downside that I have found with the design of these cars - I have had to replace two windshields over the four years I have had MINIs. But, that has not deterred me so far!

If you can afford it, get the S. Manual vs. Auto is totally a personal choice. I have one of both and the power is more than adequate with either of them in the S model for sure. My first MINI was a 2006 Justa-Auto and I never complained about the power it had - until I bought my first S.

 

This is a good point, and one I had forgotten when I made my comment about the lack of power during my test drive of a MC with the automatic transmission.

I tried using the manual shift and found out I was far too uncoordinated to do it well. Maybe I would have figured it out eventually.

I'm probably the first person in history to have more trouble shifting with an auto than a manual!

 

Let everyone know what you think about the S. I have a manual MCS - depends on personal preference - but I could simply not own this particular car with an auto transmission. I'm happy with the fuel economy - I get 31 MPG to and from work... 34 on the highway. Can't complain with those numbers. BTW I'm 6'6" and fit in the car just fine.

 

Let everyone know what you think about the S. I have a manual MCS - depends on personal preference - but I could simply not own this particular car with an auto transmission. I'm happy with the fuel economy - I get 31 MPG to and from work... 34 on the highway. Can't complain with those numbers. BTW I'm 6'6" and fit in the car just fine.

 

Let everyone know what you think about the S. I have a manual MCS - depends on personal preference - but I could simply not own this particular car with an auto transmission. I'm happy with the fuel economy - I get 31 MPG to and from work... 34 on the highway. Can't complain with those numbers. BTW I'm 6'6" and fit in the car just fine.

 

Hi 56carnut!

My mother-in-law has a 08 mc vert auto. When I drove hers, I felt it was a fun car, but somewhat lacking in power. When I was car shopping in 09, I test drove an MCS auto. The difference was literally night and day. Plenty of power with the auto (my wife insists on an auto). I will say that take off is somewhat gutless even in an S. I can see where the manual is much better than the auto for this, but once you get moving, the auto is fine.

I live in Las Vegas and the perforated sun shield is a joke here. I bought a solid shield to put between the sunroof and shield for the summer. Really, here in Vegas, you can't use the sunroof in the summer anyway. Come on, it's 102 at 11pm in the summer here!

As for the AC, even here in Vegas, I rarely have to put it on max, I have the auto ac, so maybe there's a difference.

As for the windshield, as said above, plenty of nicks from sand, but the only problem I have is seeing close up traffic lights, and someone can pop up a link to a company that has a fix for that if it really bothers you.

Yes, the price is high, but you get a lot of performance for it. A co-worker has a Scion xA and he wanted to test drive my Mini. He said he really doesn't like going fast or turning at unbelievable speeds. I told him to keep the Scion, it's half the price of mine, but if he isn't performance oriented, then the Mini's a waste of money for him, at least in my opinion.

I average 27 around town in my MCS and alot of the time, my driving is, shall we say, spirited

Test drive the MCS, both with a manual and an auto if possible. The only reason I would never recommend a mini for someone is as stated above. Even if you have a family, there's always the Clubman or the new Countryman.

 

Wow, I didn't realize how much I'm addicted to my MINI.

I was going to change my oil b4 work using an oil pump to change it...well I got the filter out fine for starters. Then I went to pump the oil out and the pump wasn't working.

So a friend loaned me their Jeep and I walked away looking back at my MINI just sitting there.....

The WHOLE day at work I just kept thinking about my MINI and how I couldn't wait to get a oil pump and finish the oil change.

End of story.

These cars are addicting and there just isn't any thing else like them out there in my own opinion. BTW I still waved at the normal MINI guy I see everyday on my way to work....even if I was in a Jeep

 

Test drive the S - 6-speed Manual - press the "Sport" button and by all means take your friend. Gutless will no longer be in his string of adjectives and possible expletives.

 

The problem I've found is learning how to drive slow in the S. Seriously..yeah people go "that's not a problem blahblah" but when you take other passengers, sometimes they just don't appreciate the sport-button approach to driving. It's not that I'm being unsafe, I'm just a bit faster than normal because I'm so used to driving vehicles with a lot less power. *sigh*

 

Well, it is a rainy day today in LA and I decided to test drive the MCS. The one the dealer had was a 2011 automatic. Wow, it sure has plenty of power more than I will ever use in city driving! Funny, I don't know if it was because the car was brand spanking new or what. The accelerator had a lot of resistance. I had to really push down on it. Maybe I was sitting too far back. I don't know. I thought I was in a good driving position. After a while, my foot started to hurt. Still feels that I have to really lean into the gas pedal to get the car to move once stopped. Ride was a bit more bumpy than I am used to. Brakes were really great. I would have to get used to being so far back from the windshield. The sunroof helped to make it feel roomier. May not be the car for me.

Have a great day everyone.