So what about the whole FWD vs. RWD thing? I consider the MINI to be a sporty hatch or sporty coupe. Definitely an awesome driving car but I'm not going to call it a full on sportscar.

I know a lot of people think the MINI is tiny... but I actually think it's quite practical for people like me. It was always more than enough space for everything I needed and more than enough fun.

 

Having owned an MGC-GT, I can tell you I never considered it as a sports car. It was a GT. The MGB and MGC roadsters I owned were sports cars. My MCS-JCW is a hot hatch, but not a sports car by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Humm, anyone out there having fun driving their MINI?? I really don't know if the MCS is a "sportscar" or a "hot hatchback". Nor do I care. I enjoy driving my car whenever I can (I work at home). Perhaps some of you may be taking some of this a bit too seriously?

 

^cosign

Its all about the ride. I dont compare myself to anyone else.

 

:: Waves hand ::

Me! I love driving my MINI. I have a '06 cabrio, which is about 150 lbs heavier than the coupe, and I can still drive rings around most people if I try (which, I admit isn't often on public roads). I also (gasp!) leave my DSC on 99% of the time. Granted, I don't usually dart in and out of small holes in traffic - that's what turn signals and a spot of patience are for (and before you blast me, I drove a motorcycle for six years in Chicago - I know more about the dangers of darting into and out of traffic than most people can probably believe or want to). Honestly, and this is just my opinion, if you're routinely jumping into traffic holes so often that DSC delay is a major factor, then you're just begging to get smacked. Slow down - wherever yopu're going will still be there 5 minutes later than you would have arrived, and hey, you might just get there in one piece.

As for "is it a sports car?", well, debates on semantics on the world-wide web are about as useful as a poopy-flavored lollipop (to paraphrase Patches O'Houilhan), so I'm not going to bother. All I know is that I've owned an RX7 and a Mustang and the MINI is 10X the car as both of them put together.

As for the OP, if the MINI is continually coming up short compared to other cars, then NOT buying one and instead coming into here and bellyaching is... well, OK, it's just not smart. If you have the means to afford your dream car then stop relying on anonymous forum members to do your deciding for you, think for yourself, "follow your joy" (or whatever navel-gazing t-shirt phrase floats your boat), buy it, and be happy.

 

Oops. Yeah, the GT, I meant, not the C (I was going for the hatchback). Anyway, huh. I had an MGB, which I definitely considered a sports car (despite it being a 1980 model - a smog-sport), and I don't think I'd have considered it otherwise if it had had a roof. *shrugs*

 

Well, ideally ANY performance car would be RWD, but in a small enough car that handles as well as the MINI, it becomes less of an issue. Not totally moot, but less.

 

You most certainly drive a RWD car differently than a FWD car, assuming you're doing it agressively enough to reach (or exceed) the limits of your tires' traction. To simplify: having the weight up front in a FWD tends to make the car understeer (which is a fancy way to say "you turn but the car skids straight forward"). RWD tends to do the opposit and oversteer (or "fish tail") in an agressive corner. Most of the true performance nut-jobs I know swear my MID-engine cars - you've never seen a more rabid discussion than on an NSX or Porche 914 performance forum, believe me...

Of course, proper suspension and tires help a GREAT deal with over- OR under-steering issues, but such upgrades can cost quite a bit of coin. In most daily driving situations this is seldom an issue.

 

I know all that, but my point was that you can thrash the MINI around a track so fast that it's obvious the designers overcame a lot of the limitations of working with FWD. Sure, all other things being equal, if the MINI were RWD you could probably get it around a track even faster. I rode along at Thunderhill in a bone stock MCS JCW, and we were lapping spec-Miatas. Sure the JCW has a bunch of power on the Miatas, but it's not like they were running away in the corners either. The MINI went through the corners as fast and as well as the prepped, lowered, RWD Miatas.

I also rode along in a race-prepped MCS that day, and it was even faster and more sure-footed than the stock one.

On the other side of the coin, last week I was talking with someone who races 3-series BMWs, and he said that that same driver (whose stock JCW I rode in) is his biggest road block when he's on the track. He said that the MINIs are pretty amazing on the track, but that they just can't match the torquier, higher hp RWD BMWs.

 

Sure, but then it would NOT be a MINI.

Besides, my reply was more in response to the question "So what about the whole FWD vs. RWD thing?" a few posts up.

 

Ah. Very well. And true, RWD would sap much MINIness.

 

I think you are settling in to "reality".
OK, you're ready for the "mature" part of the relationship.
One that lasts over time.

I have the same things happen to my 2003 MCS as you.
The fixes:
1. If you haven't replaced your original battery it's time for doing so. Get one that has a strong cranking capability. Make sure your charging system gets checked out. Stock batteries wear out after about 2-3 years usually and get weak and don't keep a charge. Alternatively you can trickle charge your current battery in the garage overnight if needed. Short trips drain the battery with insufficient chance to recharge. Long trips are good.
2. Potholes and other road hazards are a fact of life and some areas the roads are worse than others. I deal with some bad highway connector strips daily due to a concrete bridge span attached poorly to an asphalt highway on both ends. Doesn't look that bad till you hit it and it feels like a pothole.
Just dodge the potholes as best you can and purchase M7 strut tower braces to add to each shock tower for reinforcement. When driving in dark areas or when raining just go a little slower and be careful. Tires with taller sidewalls are especially good to prevent damage to your suspension and shock towers. 16x7 rims and 205/55-16 tires are good as are Koni FSD shocks. If you still have runflats thats not helping when you hit potholes.
3. Rush hour traffic- yup that's life. You're going to creep along, just stay in first gear and creep until you can get into second but it's always bad with a manual transmission. If you have to do this too often an automatic transmission makes some sense so you can keep your sanity. I change my commute time to take advantage of less traffic so I can zip along at 55 not 5 mph in the morning, it's much more pleasant, traffic is still heavy but at least it is moving. Getting mods doesn't take away the heavy traffic and in fact might be more frustration. Find some good music or radio station and just chill in traffic. Find some nice road when not in traffic to take your MINI out for a fun spin, then you'll remember what is best about the MINI- it's a driver's car. Enjoy.

If you want a bland reliable, easy to drive in traffic, smooth riding car then just get a Prius. It's not cheap but it's good on gas. It doesn't handle like a MINI though. Hey I just had an idea, they should make a hybrid MINI, runs on gas or electric motor like a Prius- then in traffic you have the electric quiet and powerfull motor for lower speeds until you get freed up then you can turn on the turbo motor. Hah!

And sports car or not my MINI has no trouble darting around town or on the track. I can keep up with other performance oriented vehicles.

And I use DSC all the time except when on the track or at autocross.

 

What the hell? If a MINI is a hot hatch back (coupe), what catagory does that put the Cabrio in. Not a hatch, not a GT, not a sports car, not a rwd....what am I driving?

 

No, people are just discussing. No one is riled up about anything, just having a chat.


Anyways... I drive a RWD car with no backseat every day and it's a big change from the MINI. The MINI is easily the best handling FWD car I've ever driven but it's still very different.

 

I believe there was a recent announcement about BMW and some other company teaming up to make a Mini Hybrid....don't remember where i saw that news...maybe MINI2...

 

Would that make it a hot rag?

 

Split hairs much? Sheesh.

LOL.

 

I think Seymour is just telling you that he wants some upgrades! Take it slow, try getting an intake, even the JCW intake if you want to stay within warrenty... they are on sale at Morristown MINI for $380... not cheap, but an intake definitely increases the feel of low-end power.

Also, keep the engine revved up in traffic, just drive in a lower gear than you normally do. And, do the ECU update at your dealer. Most importantly, love your MINI and have fun!

 

Answered in PM.

I should have mentioned RWD ... your right.

 

A Cabriolet, just like your car name says. For example, check out the new Audi RS4 Cabriolet http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/06/c...coming-for-08/
2 door, backset ... just like a VW cabriolet In fact, notice that Porsche never call their 2 seater Boxster 987 a cabriolet but the 997 series ragtops ARE cabriolets. Interestingly enough, they have those miniscule backseats.

 

Your starting trouble could be due to worn or fouled plugs. Might check them to be sure.

I have a bunch of potholes where I live, too. A different car won't fix them, but strut tower reinforcements will lessen the likelihood of dmage as many others have suggested already, and that is a cheap fix.

The traffic doesn't get much worse than it is on my commute (San Diego Fwy from Long Beach CA to El Segundo and back daily at or around "rush hour", which lasts from 6am-7pm). I can truthfully say that I have been driving stick for so long that I barely think about it. And, when I do get a chance to let the dogs out, the OBD/Milltek exhaust note is better than music.

Stop whining.

 

I like mine...and its not even supercharged! :-D

 

Personaly I buy a car that meets my needs regardless of what others think it is. I wanted a car that was FUN to drive, got reasonable mileage, didn't leak like a sieve. I had enough of sports cars that killed my kidneys and froze my but off. ( Is butt one or two t's? ) Such as early MG, Triumph etc.
Current "sports cars" bear no resemblance to the old true sports cars, thank God.

As to over and under steering, in the purest sense this trait has to do with physics. A car with the engine in front is understeering and rear engine car oversteers. Example: understeer = large american V-8: understeer = porsche 911, or Corvair. (Sorry I mentioned those two in the same breath.) The end with the weight rules in general.

That being said, a lot of things can be done to alter this rule and in fact most american cars are designed to be understeering because american drivers seems to be more comfortable plowing off the road head first. The Corvair was an oversteering car and americans could not handle it. Then Ralph Nader, who didn't even drive a car, called it " unsafe at any speed" and killed it. Graham Hill or Sterling Moss, I can't remeber which, said there was nothing wrong with the car but but most people had no idea who they were so Ralph got away with that book.



The Mini is a perfect example of a car that started out as oversteering and was re-engineered to understeer.

I owned a 1275S Mini which I bought new in 1965. I raced this car in europe for several years and I can tell you it over steered but that was the way I wanted it. Find some old pics of the original mini deep in a corner and you can see the inside rear tire completely off the ground.
In the old mini, drivers would get the back end out and then give it all the power there was. Of course there are limits to everything and driving off the road is bad form in any case.

On the other hand american drivers ( think midget racers here ) would lift the gas entering the corner to cause oversteer and then nail it: hence the classic pic of a sprint / midget car in the corner in a power slid with a rooster tail of dirt and the car at a 45 degree angle to the line of travel.

The most desired situation for a true racing car is mid engine layout which allows the driver to use the most neutral condition in cornering. Formula cars, which are an example of the ultimate race car are in fact a mid engine car.

I hope this was not to boring but I have no doubt that it might cause so heated conversation. Happy motoring.

 

I'm with you. If my '66 MGB was a "sports car" then my MCS is a super car.

 

Seriously you don't know how to spell butt?