To me, a Honda is just like a Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Mazda, Kia, etc. MINI is unique, like Porsche, Morgan,and other marquee brands. Does Honda truly have a culture similar to MINI? I drive a '14 Roadster S. There is nothing on the road similar to my Roadster. Granted, it's not a Porsche or Morgan, but it's certainly not your average daily driver. Do Honda drivers wave at each other? Do Honda owners drive the Dragon annually? Do Honda drivers participate in numerous rallies like MINI owners? Doubtful. With all due respect to Honda, a fine machine indeed, I believe the brand lacks the personality and culture unique to MINI. My opinion, worth 2 cents or less.

 

Not saying a mini isn't unique..... But to answer all of your questions about Honda owners, the answer is yes. There are HUGE events all over the country that started out as just a bunch of Honda guys getting together. Import Aliance, Eibach, Honda Day just to name a few.

I believe it's a different culture due to the huge aftermarket calling they have. I was shocked to see how small the mini community was when I first jumped on board. I like it better, but there is still a massive calling for those darn econoboxes :-)

 

If you're planning on keeping the Si stock, it will feel slower than the S. Max torque of 170ft/lbs (pretty sure that's not to the wheels) comes in at 4400RPM, though above that all the way to 7100rpm is where most k20/k24 really shines. As a daily driver, it has a much more forgiving ride compared to the MCS while providing enough handling and passing power for the occasional spirited driving, the short ratio 6 speed is butter smooth.

The Si is a compromise between performance and comfort which leans a bit towards comfort as opposed to the MCS which leans more towards performance.

Both cars has a lot to offer, just depends what you're looking for.

 

Ahh nostalgia. I had a 85(!) civic hatchback DX, a bigger CRX essentially, that had a curb weight of 1920 lbs or something crazy like that. 76 hp, torque why even ask hehe. So much fun to drive, not enough power to get into trouble. Dropped a weber 34 dmtr in there (gained some decent butt dyno power), tokico adjustables, eibach prokits, bigger torsion bars (front 'springs'), strut tower bar, 8 lb VX rims. Handling and ride were perfect for a DD. When I sold it for $600 it drove stronger and better than the first day I owned it. Only thing that could kill it is rust.

Fast forward 8 years and the Mini brings me back to those days but with gobs more power, tons of safety features, and a radio I had to read the manual to figure out how the heck to use.

If you keep up the maintenance on the mini like you have OCD then that's all you can do for reliability. Considering it puts out 243% more horsepower with 0.1 liter more displacement, and better mileage after tuning the carb for max power, than the old CVCC I'm not complaining.

The mini also has fat, flat low end torque curve which is useful for real city driving so you don't have to rev past 4k to get somewhere quickly.

 

I see WAY less Si drivers on the road than MINI drivers. Believe it or not we wave to each other at times too

IMO, MINI is becoming too ordinary lately and the uniqueness is gone. They have the base cooper, S model, convertible, coupe, roadster, clubman, countryman, and now the paceman. Oops, almost forgot the JCW package editions. That means that MINI produces 8 (or 9 including JCW variants) different models to hit every demographic from someone looking for a sport coupe to a person looking for an SUV/crossover for a small family (countryman...). The culture of MINI is now the culture of our entire country instead of the niche market of car enthusiasts from when it was re-released as just a hardtop and S-models.

When I had my 2005 r50 almost every single MINI would wave back to me. This past spring when I still had my r56 I would get MAYBE one wave every twenty MINIs. Perhaps this is different in other parts of the country.

End rant

 

My favorite car was my 98 Civic Hatchback CX with a k24 motor which put out 250whp. However, being a married man in his mid 40's with 2 kids, my wife thought i was far above the median age of a modified honda civic. My 05 MCS JCW is more age appropriate but I"m having a hard time pulling the trigger and giving it a RMW makeover to get 250whp.