MINI is a car brand that means a lot of different things to a great many people. For some, it’s about economy. For others, it’s style. For many, MINI is about performance. Thing is, they’re all right. MINI is a brand and a range of cars intended to live in a variety of sweet spots at the intersections of these often conflicting areas of focus. As I left the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, behind the wheel of a Starlight Blue MINI Paceman Cooper S ALL4, I wondered just where on that multi-axis spectrum of MINI-ness this particular car would land. For MotoringFile, this would be our second time behind the wheel of MINI’s larger 2-door. Gabe drove the R61 back in November of last year. You can find his thoughts here, but this time around it was up to me and the beautiful island of Puerto Rico to see what MINI’s new slope-backed 2-door was all about.

You can find the rest of the review at MotoringFile...

 

This makes the two day delay that the ship delivering mine posted seem that much longer. The next 12 or so days can't go quick enough.

 

Still waiting to see/drive one before ordering one.

Power/weight ratio is troublesome and would like to be reassured before seriously contemplating ordering one.

Some reviews are encouraging while others not so much.

 

as far as the Power/weight question, Why not just try a countryman in similar trim. The paceman should feel as good or better than that.

 

Yep, which is why I didn't hesitate to buy one. I still went to the Detroit auto show to see and sit in one in person before ordering it, test driving the countryman a few dozen times told me the Paceman would suit me just fine.

 

That is part of the problem ... I tried the Countryman when it came out and I distinctly disliked it.
Build quality was suspect, the handling modest and lacking in power.

I will wait and see how it drives and then re-consider.

 

I had a similar reaction -- I test-drove two Countryman All-4's, one manual, and the other an auto. I did not like the way the manual drove at all -- had no grapes whatsoever off the line or accelerating to ramming speed. But the auto drove much better, ironically feeling more responsive, which I found highly unusual.

My wife ended up getting a Countryman All-4 Auto last year, and it really is a blast to drive. Not quite the blast as my MCS, but still quite a bit of fun. I'm hoping they tweaked things a little bit with the manual since my first test drive to make it not so blah. I've read many reviews that say the Paceman drives more like a Cooper hardtop than the Countryman does, but I've yet to see if by 'drive' they mean just handling or overall responsiveness -- including the throttle. Of course I'm spoiled because I've got a RMW tune on mine, which is like being in sport mode all the time only faster; so at this point anything will likely be a bit of a letdown from a performance standpoint. But I just love the looks of that Paceman.....

 

I used to have a MCS 08 BRG/W with the add-on Works stuff and a chip tune and liked it.
Then I traded in my 135i for a Clubbie and while our dog loved it, I thought it was a dud.
My wife has a 11 MCS CB/W that I drive whenever I have a chance .... 8-)