Just curious if the extra weight makes it too slow or if it's good as a daily commuter? Anyone in a hilly area?

Playing around with options, but don't want the added cost/mpg hit from the S.

Thinking Clubman is probably a better bet so far...

 

I've had the base since 2011 that I used for daily commutes and it's been great. Since I was usually sitting in heavy traffic I had no need to speed. I recently changed jobs and now take public transportation.


The base has enough pick up for me. I live in the Midwest where it's flat and I also have the manual transmission. If you're looking to beat everyone at the light, you'll be disappointed, but if you're just driving to and from work in traffic I think you'll be fine.

 

I like it, but the 121hp is a bit low, and a 0-60 in 9.8 seconds, and 10.9 with auto.
And there is not much of an improvement in MPG.

I would skimp on the tech, and luxury and get the S, or JCW.
But that is just me. $3600 extra cost for the sport.

If it got 40MPG+ or even diesel, then would consider it more. Since it would save on less gas fillups. Maybe BMW diesel start stop technology.

But I live around a lot of hills and mountains, so the base would not do well for me. Used to own a Toyota 4x4 Pickup w/ a 4Cyl and a Jeep Wrangler 4Cyl, both were painful in driving over the summit of Santa Cruz mountains. (very windy mountain roads).

 

I've been driving base MINIs since 2002 and now my wife drives a base CM and we find them both perform just fine here in the rolling hills in the southern tier of NY.
They are fun to drive and perform flawlessly.
We love our base CM and Cooper!

 

Ditto this.

I moved from a Non-S to an S All4 primarily for the power and AWD. I average only about 2 MPG worse in the All4 than the Non-S. This is because I would have to drive the Non-S like I was mad at it just to get some power out of it--with the S All4, I rarely take it over 4000 rpm.

Definitely more satisfied with the S.

 

I went from a Clubman S Auto to a non-S manual. I definitely miss the turbo, but am OK with the non-S. You really have to work to get decent acceleration.

 

Auto is a little lethargic on hills, but doable. If we did it again, it would be an S ALL4. The fuel economy for the base is pretty much the same as an S because you need to rev the little engine to get it to go. Once it is up to speed, it is fine. See if you can get an extended test drive of each.