Now this is not a what should I buy post, so don't yell at me please... I have read the last 4 of those that have been posted. I have posted before 2 wrx vs cooper S topics, as I have a wrx and trst drove a S on Sunday. We went back to the dealer last night and my wife got a chance to test drive the normal "plain" cooper last night. I was in the back seat the whole time with my wife and our salesman swapping seats halfways through. This car was straight off the truck (10 miles) so we took it easy on it. Never went above 5000 (which I though was a bit high durring break in) per the salesman's instructions. I have to say I was very impressed with the cooper's acceleration and torque. We had 3 people in the car: wife 100#, me and the salesman both 200+#, and it was still quick. It handles as good as the S, with slightly less acceleration. Now here is my question:

How do these 2 compare to each other in terms of the feeling of acceleration? I know the cooper S is faster, but in normal driving around town and having fun on on ramps, how close is the cooper? Also what does an exhaust and air intake to to close the gap? We are ordering the cooper and we are very excited to have it. We both had a great time driving the cars, and I was very impressed with how quick the cooper feels. The 2 cars feel very similar in accel even though I have no doubt if you lined them up next to each other the S would win, but they are very close to each other I think....

I have already pissed of my wife an my car by suggesting trading in my wrx on an S to go with her cooper, but it looks like that won't happen!

Thanks for any help!
Ben

 

Ben:

As a current owner of a '02 Cooper CVT I can tell you that the Cooper feels a bit torquier and faster in the low end than the Cooper S (around 0-30 MPH). However, from 30-70 MPH range the MCS will be the fastest of the bunch. Remember that either model is almost about the same in terms of acceleration from the get go as these engines tend to feel gutless below 3K RPM. Where the MCS shines is in the highway passing power thanks to the Supercharger. The MCS delivers 140 pounds feet of torque at 4,000RPM whereas the regular Cooper delivers 115 pounds feet of torque @ 4K RPM. The MCS is about 100 pounds heavier than the regular Cooper, so neither car is adequate for stop light racing contests in stock form.

If you are going to be driving primarily in heavy urban traffic, the Cooper is more than you'll ever need. In fact the our Cooper CVT has proven to be a terrific highway cruiser and passing power has always been delivered instantaneously with no lag or any other noticeable issues.

I was going to go for another Cooper CVT (To add to our CVT which my wife drives) but once I took a test drive in a '03 MCS I was hooked so I ordered back in January a new '04 MCS due in October (10 month wait).

If you are not going to be racing or have requirements for maximum horsepower and torque, then you should be happy with the Cooper. The Cooper is more than adequate for everyday fun motoring in my book. The S' Supercharger is just the icing on the cake.

 

How do these 2 compare to each other in terms of the feeling of acceleration? I know the cooper S is faster, but in normal driving around town and having fun on on ramps, how close is the cooper?

Around town you won't tell much of a difference in either car, I have the MCS and actually after driving the MC, I think the MC is livlier for around town traffic and more sprightly for in town cornering, but that is probably due to the fact it is almost 200 lbs heavier than the MC since it has the dreadful runflats.....I have noticed a difference in handling in the MCS since I went to much lighter 16" alloys & yokos over the heavy stock 17" alloys that come on the MCS....I certainly like the looks and styling of the MC over the MCS as I have never really grown to like the garish hood scoop compared to the clean look of the MC...plus I like the chrome accents of the MC...closer to the original minis which I have always liked...but that is my preference and my 2 cents, laugh! I never test drove the MCS as the dealer didn't have one to test in March of 02, only the MC, since I was # 7 on the original wait list, I ordered the MCS thinking it would be much more robust...if you look at track results slalom, etc...very little difference...MCS has 48 more horses, but some of that is negated by the heavier weight...plus from what I've seen the 115 hp figures on the MC might be pretty conservative....a friend of mine had his MC chip tuned, new exhaust and intake and dyno came out around 135 hp, but tuner told him it was probably closer to 122 to 125 before it was tuned from his experience on other MC's before tuning....hopefully either car you get will have improved build quality over the 02's which had some build issues.....fun car to drive...good luck !

 

I will second miniblues on the MC's number's being conservative. My MC dyno'd higher than factory spec. I have plenty of fun hitting highway on-ramps. If I can annoy my wife and have my friends be impressed by this cars ability, that's cool.

An intake and exhaust will give you a bit more, but not enough to really close that gap to the MCS's number. The MCS is the more tuneable of the models by far. With the mods I've done to my MC since I bought it, I could've have gotten an MCS. BUT, I'm not a drag racer, my daily commute is 9 miles each way so I'm not looking to take on all comers at the lights. I know I'm not going to beat an MCS, a WRX or a Boxter off the line. It handles great, looks great and is wicked fun to drive.

 

I have owned a Cooper and now have my second S. Yesterday
I had a Cooper loaner with 15"wheels. The Cooper seems to
slow at the point where the stock pullied supercharger starts to
kick in as in an on-ramp. Around town no big deal...but once you
hit about 3500 RPMs and the SC kicks in......it isn't a 427 Vette
but the car does start moving. Take an S, lighter wheels, pulley
upgrade, intake and exhaust and.....................................

 

The only reason I bought the CVT was because of the stop and go traffic in S. Cal. Plus, it was the only car on the lot with a custom painted roof and it was yellow and I was able to walk in and walk out with a Mini basically that same day.

Exactly 1 year ago. WOW...Time flies...MY kids are almost 3 and 5...WOW...WOW...errr sorry.

I know for a fact that I would not have enjoyed the car as much if I would of gotten the 5 speed.

Now. after I have learned how to drive the CVT, it is really a kick.

I know that I can not down shift and grab a gear above 4300 rpm. But, I can also hold a gear right at 6000 rpm's for as long as I need to. It has learned to shift out at 6200 rpm's. Both, the down shift point and the up shift points have increased 200-300 rpm's.

As soon as we figure out how to raise the limiter in the transmission to 7000. I will again have a new car.

Hey rent one of each on a weekend and then autocross them. Then you should know.

_________________
Diamond Mini

 

The MCS comes standard with 16" V-spoke wheels and runflats. If you get the heavy 17" S-Lites you must likely ordered the MCS's Sport Package.

 

>> The MCS delivers 140 pounds feet of torque at 4,000RPM whereas the regular Cooper delivers 115 pounds feet of torque @ 4K RPM. The MCS is about 100 pounds heavier than the regular Cooper, so neither car is adequate for stop light racing contests in stock form.
>>


Actually the S delivers 155 lbs of torque at 4000 RPM.

 

I have an 03 MCS with 16" v-spokes and the "dreaded" runflats.

I took the car to the TX World Speedway yesterday (Link to TWS trackday post)

and had a few laps on a 16 curve street course behind Chris' MC with MINI MANIA Stage 1 mods (lowered suspension, 17", air intake and exhaust).
Here's a pic of Chris' beautiful car:



Chris' car is FAST! I was very hard pressed in my MCS to make any gains on him. His car handles really well, and sounds positively awesome.

I have thought from the time I was looking at MINIs to now, that the MC may actually be the better car for around city driving, autocrossing, and that the MCS may be the better car for higher speeds or faster tracks. Either way, you cannot go wrong. I would personally love to drive an MC for a week or two to really get a feel for it.

Just my 2 c.

 

I'm wondering why my experience with test driving the two cars is so different from many posts here. I felt the S had a noticable power advantage from a dead stop. Granted I only had one test drive in each model with the salesman along. So many posts here share a different experience with the cooper being at least or more responsive off the line. I don't think the MCS I test drove was any tricked out machine either. Any thoughts? Thanks for the great info on the site everyone, this is my first post but I've been lurking and learning for awhile; we are on a waiting list for an S but all these posts are at the least making me think twice.

 

I've driven both the MC and the MCS, thanks to a couple of generous friends. I'm not an owner yet, but I'll be placing an order for the S soon. Here's why.

I found that the normally aspirated MC really lugs at low RPM in a way the MCS doesn't. Going around a 90 degree uphill corner, I had to put the MC back in 1st fear to get the RPMs up. That really surprised me, especially for a car with a sporting bent.

The MCS, on the other hand, seemed relatively happy to pull from low revs in any gear. Cornering in 2nd was not a problem, and subjectively, it just felt like it had noticably more power to offer the moment I put the throttle down.

Of course, the MC is a car that needs to be revved to wring the power out, and reading the many posts from MC owners seems to indicate that you'll get accustomed to keeping the revs up. It just seems to me that the S feels like a different car, with a lot more power to offer at the low end of the tach.

Once cent. Two cents.

 

Time, money, and looks. I would have had to pay $3000 more, wait about a year, and I don't like the look of the S as well as I do the regular Cooper. Would I like the extra horses? Yes, but I'm not a big fan of supercharger whine. Those 3 factors helped me decide. I don't autocross or race, so I don't dwell on the missing low end torque. Again, I'd like more, but then who wouldn't? When the I'm thrashing throught the curves, I'm too busy smiling to think about a different car.