i briefly looked over the specs. it looks interesting. not that i'd every consider driving one. 5 cylinder, 2.5L inline? 150hp? transverse mounted (hey, good idea! hmmmmm...)

discuss...

 

It has 170 ft lbs of torque at very low rpm. That's more than a Cooper S, but It doesn't go as fast.

 

he is comparing it to the MC anyways, if you need something more practical get the Rabbit, for style and driving pleasure, get the MC, for real performance, skip both as well as the MCS and get a GTI .

 

For "Real Performance", thats a bit of an inflamatory statement, at least to me as a MC owner. Sure the GTI is faster in the straight line, but thats where it ends ends. And thats less than half the performance picture. My SS+ MC on holies and Azenis has spanked many many many cars with twice its power and torque at the autox - and I am not even that good of a driver.

 

I've gotten caught up with all the promotions. I have to say that if there wasn't the MINI, this would have been on the top of my list.

I like the idea of bringing back a classic. The funny thing is that the original Rabbit was an pile of crap.

I also heard that it was C,P&B (their ad agency and MINI's old agency) were the ones who talked them into bringing back that brand.

 

I think you're a good driver.


Check this out!

Imagine you in a GTI...you will be super fast..may be even faster than a Ferrari with your driving skill!

 

Ah yes. Road and Track, the automotive performance authority. If they said the 5 year old car is better than brand new one, they probably wouldn't be in business very long.

Oh, and I have gotten pretty darn close to beating a Ferrari at the autox

 

at autox its easy to beat ferraris considering our size, especially if its a tight course... ive beaten STis and S2000s on autox, and on more technical tracks, that said, ferrari under skilled hands can probably mop the floor at a more open track where all the hp can actually come out and play...

i'd be very suprised if we can keep up with a ferrari at a track like the nurburgring

 

And there are many MCS owners mopping the floors with porsches and m3s at the track too. This can go on forever. All i am saying is that a blanket statement that you get "real performance" because you have more straightline speed is silly. Power is only a part of it, and lack of power can be made up by other characteristics - the MC's great abilities at the autox course is just an example, not claim/proof that it is faster than the GTI or a Ferrari.

 

I'm so proud of you. That's true MINI spirit!

Ah yes. Road and Track will go out off business if they review performance of the car by the model year. If the car is fast...it's fast.


We can go on all day aboout who is the fastest in AutoX. Didn't you all got beaten by a miata and a civic before in AutoX? Fast in AutoX is the only 10% of what you want form the car when another 5 days of the week you will be just crusing in the traffic.

Straightline speed is not silly, it's addicting!

 

I agree that the autox is not the ultimate test of the car's abilities. And if cruising at highway speeds, stop and go traffic on the way to the mall, and sipping morning coffee out of large cup holders are the criteria for measuring "real performance", the GTI wins.

Clipping from the article you linked to: "If you plan to do an occasional track day, or some serious back road bombing, the Mini Cooper S is the best choice." But I guess track days and serious back road bombing doesn't classify as "real performance" anymore.

 

that i can agree on.. considering how many big hulking behemoths are on our roads....

 

to each their own, you never what will spank you in autox or race track, or even on the street. I respect everyone's opinions and tastes, and love MINIs to death, but question was asked so did i answer according to my thoughts.

...and neither MyPocketRocket nor I are trying to beat MINIs here, would not be a wise thing to do, both him and i drove pretty nice modified MINIs. Speaking for myself, the only reason i come to these forums, is because i have great friends and I love MINIs. I also consider myself a true car crazy. I owned too many European cars, both here and Europe, MINI is one of the most special ones. I know what its capabilities, and always been impressed with that. At the same talking, I can compare a GTI to a MINI better than you, whereas you can only speculate, because you don't own one. Maybe you test drove one for 10-15 min. which will never give the truth, just a feel for it. At this competitive level of auto industry, MINI seperates itself from others by its uniqueness and performace qualities. But it is not the ultimate autox car nor performance machine... neither GTI, nor SI....

Anyways, just wanted to let you know...

 

I second the statement that pure power isn't everything. My friend Ralph has a 1960 Mini with a 23 HP engine but with his driving skills and well set up suspension, he can absolutely smoke my '04 Cooper S and just about anybody else at an autocross. I think one of the coolest things I have ever seen was the Malibu run last year. He was effortlessly leaving new MINIs with eight times the power of his car - including me - waaay behind in the twisties.

Regardless of the car you prefer - I absolutely love VWs - they are all fun to drive and have their own merits. There is no perfect car. There may be a car that is perfect for a particular person, but no perfect car.

 

Werd!

 

i was looking at either MINI or Golf V, having decided that fun-to-drive-hatch was the thing for me... and it goes in steps of about $2000 (considering how i'd option them)- Rabbit at 18K, Cooper at 20K, GTI at 22K, Cooper S at 24K.
i went with the Cooper.
why?
someone said this in a similar thread- the VWs feel like really good, fun to drive, normal cars. they felt like they were as good cars as i'd ever ask for. (though they could stand to have tighter-feeling shifters). but the MINI felt *special*. (not retarded, special!) i know that's as muddle-headed and unquantifiable a reason as possible, but it's what made the difference for me.
between cooper and cooper S, i figured i could keep the *special* and four thousand dollars if i stuck with the cooper...

ian

 

Only thing I never really liked about VW's, the the "rubber shift linkage" feel.

 

I drove the Rabbit in June when I was car-shopping. I was looking for a speedy compact 5-door, and the Rabbit was the only car of about 15 I looked at that gave the MINI a real run for its money. It was a complete joy to drive--what a delightful combination of smooth and responsive, and the car just begged to double the speed limit. In retrospect, it's probably better that I didn't get a Rabbit, then...

I also found VW to be the only company other than MINI who seems to understand that people who want a small car don't necessarily want a cheap car (my problem with the Mazda3, Scion xA, Ford Focus and several others).

Plus, the Rabbit has the 5 doors I was looking for. I don't like the new lines as much as I liked the Golf--it's more generic now, which clearly doesn't appeal to me, given where I'm posting!

In the end, it came down to two things: I still don't trust VW's reliability, and the Rabbit just doesn't make my heart speed up like the MINI does. I went for the MCS, but the Rabbit was probably the closest contender.

 

Check out this sweet Rabbit.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2590198

 

The MKV Rabbit is 200 pounds heavier than the outgoing MKIV Golf. These cars are getting porkier and porkier...

 

Funny. The '07 MCS will be about 180 pounds lighter than the current R53 MCS.

There is a reason why BMW will continue to be the Macdaddys of the automotive world, outselling every single proletariat VW and Audi in the planet.

VW/AUDI = Heavier better
BMW/MINI = Lighter better

Take your pick!

 

Turns out the news put out by MotoringFile was WRONG. The new MCS will be 10kg heavier than the current model according to Paul at Mini2

http://www.mini2.com/article385-mini...ve-report.html