I stopped by the VW dealership today when I thought they were closed, just to have a look around. My girlfriend opted to wait in the car. A salesman appeared, and let me know they were open tomorrow if I wanted to come test drive something. I mentioned I was thinking about test driving a Golf GTI, and he pointed out a 2011 6spd manual they had on the lot. I said I'd come back in the AM and check it out. Take a nice Sunday drive in a new car, right? Then he suggested I just leave my MINI there and take the GTI overnight. Who could say no?

My girlfriend made a bit of a face, but she's a good sport. Filled out some forms, and took off. First impressions: The interior is nice. The sport seats are really comfortable, although the bolsters seem a little narrow. That's saying something, since I'm 5'8 and a muscular 165, so not a big dude. It's on the edge of acceptable for me, but I don't see how a chubby driver would enjoy it.

The clutch feels incredibly light and engages very low, which is neither good nor bad. Shifting is extremely smooth, feels like butter. The armrest is nice, I can actually rest my elbow on something and shift at the same time. Acceleration from a standstill is atrocious. At speed it's fantastic. Overall the car is very refined, and it didn't feel like i was going as fast as I was.

I think it's a great car, but definitely lacks that MINI fun factor, and even though it is technically worlds faster than my R50, it doesn't feel like it. I'm going to take it out again tonight when the roads clear and have a little more fun, but I don't imagine I'll be trading in my Cooper.

 

The GTI lacks the light feel and nimbleness of the the original MKI GTI. I was considering both a GTI and Golf TDI before I bought my R56 Cooper S.

 

It's certainly not as "light on it's feet" (wheels?) as anything in the MINI stable. However, after typing up that quick review I ended up taking it out for another spin without my girlfriend in the car. I got up at dawn and hit the highway and the twisties before other motorists/the rozzers were out. I have to say, after giving it a thorough thrashing, I would consider buying. Running it through twisties was incredible , with so much power (compared to my R50.) to pull out of a turn. The passing power on the highway was exhilarating. This morning I took my car out on the same route, and had 90% as much fun, and the roads were wet. The cars are so different it's impossible to fairly compare, but I certainly wish I could own both.

Things I flat out did not like about it after 24 hours were: terrible stock stereo, ugly "jacky cloth" upholstery, poor rear visibility, slow as **** starting out in 1st gear.

So the early years are a little more nimble? Maybe I should start checking out some of the older ones. I have an appointment to test drive a 2012 Turbo Beetle on Saturday, that should be interesting.

 

I wouldn't bother test driving a Beetle Turbo because it's just a rebodied GTI. But I do like the styling of it. I want to test drive a Beetle R when it makes it stateside. 4Motion Beetle just sounds interesting. I would love to see the current VW Polo to make it here to take on Mini.

The current GTI is portly compared to the previous models and that is because it shares alot of it's underpinnings and technology with the Audi A3 and TT.

Why not just go test drive an R56? I love both of mine.

 

Interesting. There's an '08 GTI on the used lot I think, maybe I'll see if I can take it for a spin. I'm not expecting to love the Beetle, but I am curious about it. I'm a manual guy and I want to see what all the DSG fuss is about.

I have actually driven R53, R56, R56S, and R55's. They were all great, but if I do decide to move onto something else, I want something quite a bit different, not just a faster, slightly more refined incarnation of what I have now. Nothing against the R56, I just want to see what else is out there.

 

I ended up test driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart yesterday. With about 100HP more than my Cooper, and AWD, it felt like an absolute monster. I didn't even hate the flappy paddle automatic gearbox, which is mandatory. I understand the Evo trim is faster and comes with a stick shift.

I wish I had never started shopping around! I just bought my Cooper 2 years ago, if I was smart I'd just pay it off.

 

The guy I bought my GP from last month had a 2012 Golf TDi, auto, loaded with xenons and nav. What a nice car. My other buddy is a VW Nut and has 2 GTI's, one with the APR Tuning chip in it. If you had driven one with that in it, you would be amazed. IMO though, VW's do not hold up like other German made cars. They do not last as long, but the TDi is probably the exception. Very comfortable, nice cars, just not a MINI and I would NEVER trade my MINI for one

 

I traded my 2007 MKV GTI with a DSG for my 2012 MCS. The GTI was APR chipped, lowered and had other go fast goodies (I think the last dyno was right around 285 hp up from 200 stock). My concern was in the DSG itself. Supposedly the DSG is hardy enough to take 350+ hp, but I was already hearing horror stories about the dual clutch going bad in some of the other MKVs - and costing a small fortune to fix. I had about 70k miles (out of warranty) on her, and was already getting a bit of rough shifts.

The MCS was an easy choice; great handling, similar power feel (a bit less with all the mods accounted for but still its a 2700 lbs MINI vs 3300 lbs GTI), and a similar community of enthusiasts. I've very happy with my MINI still.



PS. I do miss the plaid cloth seats of the GTI.

 

don't sell the mini. in the past 4 years i have owned 8 cars- 3 of them have been minis. (I always end up missing it so much that I have to go back).
You can read about my experience in another thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mini-rant.html

Currently rocking an R50, and loving it. Just got a throttle booster

That being said, if you end up selling your R50, let me get some of the goodies you put on there!

 

This was me exactly before I picked up a '11 MCS. I also drove a DSG tranny and didn't care for it. In auto mode I found it to be as sluggish as any other slushbox and manual mode didn't seem as effective *for me* as a 3-pedal manual. Definitely a lot less hard plastic than the Mini though!

 

If I ended up getting a GTI, I'd get a manual, so the DSG isn't a worry.

I do worry that I'll have some regret if I trade it in! I think I might just hang onto the MINI for a couple more years, pay it off, and in the meantime squirrel away a big down payment for an Evo. I'm test driving a WRX this weekend, too... I just can't stay away!

If I do end up getting rid of it, I plan on taking it back to stock (unless I can find a private buyer who wants the mods.) so you'll have first crack at the gear!

 

What kills the Cooper S in options is that the Volkswagen comes with plenty of standard equipment, while the MINI features are almost all options. An example is that the GTI comes standard with USB and Bluetooth compatibility which will cost extra on the Cooper S.

 

The GTI is the only other car out there that I would get instead of a MINI right now...

 

USB iPOD adapter will be standard in the 2013 MINI's

 

I was offered to take over a friend's lease on a Golf R...It's got an APR tune, so you're talking about 6 speed, AWD and 300 hp. Went to my friend to check it out and he threw me the keys and said enjoy. Drove it for about 20 minutes, 75% of the drive being highway. Had a hard time keeping it under 6000 RPM and 80mph. Hooooooe Leeeeee Shiiiiiit. It has the APR stage 1 chip, so I can't compare it to a stock one because it's my first time driving an R. I was giggling like a little school girl. I don't know if I was drawn to the memories of the pleasures I had driving my '07 MKV GTI or the unexpected power, but it really got me all emotional. Definitely has the straight line speed over the Mini, but the Mini will run circles around it in agility. On the downside, I barely averaged 17mpg in my short drive. Damn.

Sun was setting, I don't know why my camera took such a bad pic, but this is the R being offered to me. Has about 3,500 miles on it right now.



As much as I loved it, I still decided to go with a Countryman S ALL4. Someone kick me now!

 

My son just purchased a Golf TDI I must say it is nice, but Ill keep my JCW.

 

That's a nice looking car... I was thinking about the Golf R but realistically it's out of my price range. Maybe when I'm 40

After driving the Lancer and a few WRX's, I thought I "needed" AWD, but I took out another GTI today, an '09, and I really do enjoy the way it drives. I'm going in on Monday to take it out again for a longer drive, and to get some numbers to crunch. I think I'll miss my MINI, but I also have a "need" for something new, shiny, and quick. I like the interior better on the 2011, but the driving feel on the '09 was pretty similar. Were there any major changes between those years?

Here's the one I'm considering, note the baller status BBS wheels. (They might be reps, I have no idea, but they do have center caps.)

 

Took the above '09 GTI out for an aggressive run through the twisties with some highway mixed in on Monday AM. I did it immediately after taking my R50 out on the same run. I tried to replicate a hard 90 degree right hander onto a side road at 60KMH that I pulled in the Cooper with no drama. I experienced terrifying body roll and oversteer like I've never felt before. Completely lost the back end, but surprisingly managed to save it and end up still facing the right way. I wouldn't have tried something like this if it wasn't a totally deserted area. The GTI is a good handling car, but for all-out hooliganism, it can't beat the MINI. The steering lacks feedback and it just feels "big." If I could have a "fun" car and a DD/highway car, I'd get the GTI in a heartbeat. Can't afford such extravagance though, so I'm keeping the MINI until I can afford an STi/Evo