i guess i just like cars i have a 61 vw convert, 69 campervan, now mini s brg so a new chapter in fun driving. still not selling any of the other spoiled cars either.

 

1996 Jetta GLS - 5 speed
2000 Jetta GLS - automatic
2002 MINI Cooper - 5 speed + personality and major sassy attitude

 

I think I win...
1983 VW Rabbit GTi
1991 VW Golf GTi 16v
1992 VW Golf GTi 16v
1997 VW GTi VR6
2000 Audi S4
1984 Rabbit GTi
1977 Rabbit (79,000 miles)
2001 VW GTi 1.8t
2001 Audi S4 Avant

Owned in this order. Now.. Two MINI Cooper S's - I'm a goof.

 

Had mk 3 GTi then mk 4 GTi 1.8T flogged it for the MCS.MINI blows it away !!!!
Ash :smile:

 

>>I think I win...
>>1983 VW Rabbit GTi
>>1991 VW Golf GTi 16v
>>1992 VW Golf GTi 16v
>>1997 VW GTi VR6
>>2000 Audi S4
>>1984 Rabbit GTi
>>1977 Rabbit (79,000 miles)
>>2001 VW GTi 1.8t
>>2001 Audi S4 Avant
>>
>>Owned in this order. Now.. Two MINI Cooper S's - I'm a goof.

KURT! What about the WRX?? (you want some crackerjacks??)

 

>>2001 Audi S4 Avant
>>

tell me you love this car! how is it to drive?

 

Ever since the New Beetle came out, my plan was to buy one when it was time for a new car. We had a 1970 Bug growing up, named Herbie and I always loved the bugs.

So finally after moving from MN to CT end of 2001 and was settled, I felt it was time to buy a new car. I test drove the bug in Feb, and was planning to get one May/ June. I had had my 93 Integra 9 years - time for out with the old, in with the new. Then I learned about the Mini in March and had one ordered within 26 hours for first hearing/seeing the Mini.

 

>>I was thinking about the new 200 hp vr6 gti or the 337, but the handling is too sloppy on the mkIV VW's. I had a long list of VW's over the last 8 years, but it was time to change. VW is too busy trying to cross over into a low end luxury car. They lost that "fun to drive" feel they started with the original rabbit gti.

Well said. Volkswagen seems to lose its way every ten or fifteen years. They forget that their supposed to be a
"people's car," i.e. a sporty auto with German values and an affordable price tag. In the late 70s and early '80s they tried to imitate the Japanese and wound up with a lot of cars nobody wanted to drive. Now they're trying to be Mercedes with $40,000 Passats. Sportiness has given way to luxury.

For the record, I had an '88 Jetta and replaced it with a '95 Jetta. The first had great response and a real hands on feeling. The latter was softer. And now I'm driving a Mini Cooper.

The people at VW should take note of this thread. While they're chasing Mercedes, BMW is eating their lunch.

 

Oh and of course the 2002 Subaru WRX that recently has put my license at risk.. something about a high-speed ticket. Bastard car. :smile:

>>>>I think I win...
>>>>1983 VW Rabbit GTi
>>>>1991 VW Golf GTi 16v
>>>>1992 VW Golf GTi 16v
>>>>1997 VW GTi VR6
>>>>2000 Audi S4
>>>>1984 Rabbit GTi
>>>>1977 Rabbit (79,000 miles)
>>>>2001 VW GTi 1.8t
>>>>2001 Audi S4 Avant
>>>>
>>>>Owned in this order. Now.. Two MINI Cooper S's - I'm a goof.
>>
>>KURT! What about the WRX?? (you want some crackerjacks??)

 

Sold my 96 Jetta GL for my MINI, still love that car!

 

Its a really sad commentary on the state of VW's sporty nature when the GTI can't even get an invite to some magazine hot hatch comparos any more. Even worse, when it does, the GTI hasn't exactly faired all that well.

I love my Jetta, I really do, but it's just a totally different car that the MINI. It has Bilstein shocks, sport springs, and at the time of my first MINI test drive it also had a 28mm Rear Sway. I took the Cooper out (with the sport suspension, not even the sport plus) and had a huge blast. Then I got into my Jetta to drive back to work. After throwing over $1000 into the suspension on my Jetta, it still felt like a wallowing pig in comparison to the MINI. It was a few weeks later before the Cooper S was available for test driving.

Needless to say I was very impressed with what MINI had to offer, and more than a bit bummed that VW didn't have anything to compete with it.

Now having lived with the MINI for 15,800 miles I think the MINI is even more practical than my Jetta (caveat: for two people). The MINI just has so much more usable space, and it's obviously more fun to drive.

... I really ought to sell the Jetta.

 

I loved the car... too pricey for me to do anything fun or risky with it though. And the Frau handled more like a fat pig than a svelte greyhound.

Kurt

>>
>>>>2001 Audi S4 Avant
>>>>
>>
>>tell me you love this car! how is it to drive?

 

this will be my first post. vw's? hmm? 72 porsche 914...sort of a vw engine, a moded 81 rabbit conv. and an 84 gti. then i guess you could add, while the 914 was in the shop i drove the mum's 82 rabbit conv. and her 87 cab. i ended up driving those a lot. just got my mcs last saturday. not off to a good start. went into the shop for that coolant problem monday. : ( good thing i didnt sell the miata yet. i want my mcs back!!!

 

I had a new beetle. Silver. One of the very first here in S.D. The vin was 11,251. Lost it in a relationship split. I always thought I would replace it with the orange beetle when it arrived. But my gut kept sayin for 3 years straight...wait for the Mini...wait for the Mini.I knew if I did not like the Mini, I could go out and get my beetle. The rest is 'herstory'.
Motor On!!

 

jer: welcome to MCO!

 

First post! :smile:

Count me in...old vwvortex'er here...

As of two weeks ago (11/ 16), I'm out of the 'Dub-club and into my MINI...Had a 2001 Jetta Wolfsburg--1.8T, sport <g> suspension, BBS wheels. Nice car...mini-BMW I used to call it.

But I had lots of problems with it (Turbo Diverter valve, the ubiquitous window regulator problem, peeling paint, squeaky doors, wouldn't start on cold mornings, etc.), and it just wasn't as fun to drive as the MINI...life's just too short, ya know?

Also: My VW dealer was a real pain. I'm hoping ( ::fingers crossed:: ) that the MINI dealership service is much better!

 

Well, my family had VWs from 1959 on. My first was a '73 Beetle which I LOVED, repaired, rebuilt, etc. Traded it for an 81 US-built Diesel Rabbit (a VERY bad trade), traded that for a 86 US-built Golf (no-one makes two dogs in a row, right? Wrong). Moved over to an '89 Honda Civic (solid little car but sexless). Drove that until now and was looking for the replacement. Gave the New Beetle a try. It's a nice little sedan. With the turbo it is a nice little sedan with a hotter engine.

Then the Mini came out and reminded me of the early production Morris 850 Mini my family had in the '60s. Boy could that car could hug the road. And the 'S' is the new definition of a "pocket rocket", in my estimation. Goes like a scalded dog and loves curves. Sounds like a resume' description to me!

Waiting to pay off another car in January and my wife and I have fallen in love with the 'S'.

2

 

Welcome to MCO, Harry and Jer!

 

I had a 1978 diesel rabbit and 1984 Jetta. I am currently looking to buy a Passat wagon for my wife. My MCS comes in January. I was not intending to buy two cars at the same time and I cannot bring myself to cancel my Mini order eventhough my wife needs a new car more than I do. She is driving a Volvo 850 wagon that spends every other week in the shop. Where is that Mini wagon model?

 

Dad always has VW's when I was growing up...there was the bug with the pull string accelerator and the thing with the firebox under the hood and bondo'ed fenders. I was SERIOUSLY considering getting a new Jetta, but then I test drove a MINI. the rest as they say, is something.

 

Hmm lets see..

79 scirocco
84 GTI
87 Jetta 16v
94 Passat VR6 GLX

Convinced in-laws to purchase

94 Jetta GL
95 Jetta GLS
98 Bug

_________________
cb


Greta...DS "S", premium, cold, 17s on all seasons, DSC, fogs, lapis blue leather, chrome mirrors

 

yup. me too.
i don't miss the new beetle.

 

i was once the proud owner of a 1988 VW jetta gti (helios blue), with all the usual mods - alloys, lowered, intake and exhaust. it was great having a car that spit flames out the exhaust for a first car. unfortunately, 3 weeks after i ordered my electric blue MCS, the jetta departed to the scrapyard in the sky, after an idiot in a large truck for me off the road and into a lampost! i was without a car for 4 months, however the arrival of my MCS soon helped to heal the wounds. i still miss the jetta, it was a fine car, even after 147K miles. it was bulletproof. dont think i'll ever go back to owning a vw though, its kind of a step down.

 

I've driven aircooled VWs for most of my adult life. 3 beetles, a super beetle and a Karmann Ghia. I loved them, and still do. I still have a '70 beetle and a '74 Karmann. One day, though, I was changing the oil and adjusting the valves on my VW, thinking about how I should get in there and adjust the brakes on a cold Seattle morning that I realized that it wasn't fun anymore. I looked at my Ghia (which is a 75% original beauty that I bought from the original owner) and it was a source of stress. It's so nice, that every time something would break on it, I'd feel bad. I'd get it fixed, or fix it myself, but I'd stress out about it.

So, I decided that I needed a family car. I started keeping my eyes out for a good fit. I wanted something with personality, like the Ghia. Also like the Ghia, though, I didn't really want a 'status' car... no Porsches or TTs or anything like that. I wanted back seats, to squeeze the kids into, and something that was well built and reliable. So far, I'm batting 1.000 with the MINI.

I'll be putting the Ghia and the Beetle up for sale this spring.

 

Im returning a 00 GTI GLX Lease for the MCS.