Hi everybody, im a bit confused about what mini to buy.
I have 4 option that includes 2 cooper S and 2 normal cooper,where the diference of the price is 2.000 euros.(around 2700$)
- would you buy a cooper S for 13.500 euros(18.500$) from 2003 with 60.000km.
-other cooper S from 2003 with 50.000km for 13.000 euros(17.800$).
-a normal cooper from 2005 for 12.000 euros(16.400$).
-or a cooper from 2006 for 14.000 euros(19.000$) with 21.000km

I have those options and thinking about it and im gettin crazy, because i want a mini cooper s, because people told me that the difference of both are considerable, please let me know about your experience and your opinions
thank you so much
Bye

 

I'm in the market for a newer MINI and am having the same internal debate. I'd love to have the "S" but it comes down to cost, etc. Just curious if there is a HUGE difference in performance, etc? I'll be interested in seeing responses, as well.

 

We have 2 MINIs, a 05 S and a 07 S. When taking one or the other in for service, when we've had "loaner cars" they have always been plain Coopers. Our cars are stick, the loaners were auto, so not sure if that is where the difference came in or not, but they felt SO different. But what I would do in your case is drive each one, consider the options each has, the color combo you like best, and how each one feels, and base it on that. I'd probably be leaning towards the newer non-S in this case though, to be honest. Good luck!

 

Huge to one may be small to another. Go drive them. I did and found a big difference.

 

my brother and i both have the cooper S. he has a 2004 and i have a 2002. ive never driven the non S so i dont know how they compare to the S; however, I love the S so i would recommend going for the S if you can get a deal!

 

As the owner of an 03 MCS.....90% of the FUN in a MINI is in the car and how it handles the road, not in raw horsepower. I too had loaner when in for service and I thought that the difference was minimal....made me rethink, If I had it to do over again I would not get the S and save my $3000. The supercharger is fun, it does improve the car, but it is not $3000 worth of fun.

 

thank you everyone from your answer!! I see it depends each one, im going tomorrow to try the non s, and the cooper S, i just called now and the mini S is from 2003 but is register on 2005, was stoped 2 years, wit 61.000km, and cost 1300$ more then the non s with 70.000km and non extra accesories, i think i will definately go for the Cooper S,but first i will try it, is green british racing colour, with 17'' wheels, white bonnet stries, checkered mirrors, panoramic roof, mixed leather/cotton seats

 

If you drive the S you will not buy the Cooper. At least that was the case for me. IMO it was well worth the cost difference going with an S over a non-S. Lots of fun.

One other thing to consider is that while gas prices are crazy low now, they will go back up. That fact makes the Cooper look better than the S in my eyes at this time. If I was buying today I'd buy a Cooper for the additional mileage they get.

I hope that I helped you more than I confused you.

 

The other thing I like to do when trying to decide if something is "worth it" or not is some fuzzy math. Let's say you're going to keep the car for 3 years, and in those 3 years you'll drive it 1000 days. If something costs $3000 extra, it costs about $3 extra each time you drive it. Would whatever it is be worth $3 extra each time? If so, get it. If not, don't.

 

Okay, I started with an '03 Cooper. I had her for 3 years. Very fun car, and very good on gas. I traded her in '06 for an '05 S. Now, I can tell you honestly that just plain driving around town, the Cooper and the Cooper S are similar. It's when you mash the accelerator on the S and the computer senses you mean business that the differences occur. From experience, the Cooper handles just as well as the S. I'll even go so far as to say that it handled better. Even my wife says that the Cooper handled better than the Cooper S. BUT, she also loves the power differences. She was always ******* the car saying "It's just a MINI.", or "That thing isn't that fast." Well, the first time she drove it, she was used to driving the Cooper. She thought I was kidding when I told her to BE CAREFUL. She took off while turning at a stop sign, and didn't realize that it accelerated as fast as it did, so she made the big mistake of removing her foot from the pedal, thus experiencing a bad cae of "lift throttle oversteer". Needless to say, she respected the car after this.

To sum this up, it's your choice in the end. It's a matter of do you want to go fast and the car to handle good, or do you want good fuel economy and the car to handle good. My first MINI happened to be an impulse buy, so I never did research. I found her looking lonely on a lot. She was a lot of fun, but just didn't give the pep I so desired. Had I been in the market at the time , I would definitely have settled for the S.

 

thanks fatherdeth for the answer, people tell me that the difference of handle isn't very big, is what you say i think, if you want a power car but very wasteful car, or an economy car and medium power
but i will wait till tomorrow to see the difference of both cars, the driving and the power, also the economy

 

The power of the S provides more than fun ...I think it provides a measure of safety as well. There have been a few times when I have been in situations where I needed to either slam on the brakes (and risk getting rear ended) or throttle it and go around the problem. In those instances its nice to have the choice (the power).

Also, when entering traffic on a highway I like knowing that I can get on the throttle and enter at speed if need be, rather than having to slow down and wait for a spot to get in.

 

yes, i consider that too, thank you

 

Hope this helps:

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

 

A wise man once said, " Horsepower is like guns and money; it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it".
While the decision is, of course, up to you, my advice is.....
BUY THE S!!!!!!

 

+1

 

That one way to look at it.......Buy every time I buy something I concider the true cost....The future value of the purchase and how it diminishes capacity to build wealth. That $3,000 if saved and invested for an 8% return, over the next 40 years is $65,000! Now, we can put that true cost into your formula and see that an extra $65 every drive is a bit much. Fortunately, I believe in driving a brand new car for at least 10years so I will have plenty of years and drives to disperse the added expense

I love my MINI, but to do over, I would probably get a MC instead of the MCS

 

An old fart has been heard to say.... I'd rather drive a slow car fast that a fast car slow.

Tough choices, drive them both. Either way you will end up with a great car. Good luck on your quest.

 

In 40 years I'll be 90. I'd rather spend the $3K now as I can't think of any $65,000 toys that are going to make me happy when I am 90.

 

+1 Have found that when I had to mash the gas to haul @$$ and by-pass, the extra oompf of the MCS has saved my bacon several times. MHO.

 

I drove a sport-suspensioned S before a Cooper and bought a Cooper (both new) because I still thought it was a great car. Less money outright, better gas mileage, and just as much fun to drive, imho.

 

I started a thread just like this HERE

 

drive " s" and "non s" and find out for yrself..

 

No problem. And again, IMHO they are both fun cars to drive. The fun factor is in either of them. You just have to factor in whether you want that extra umph !!! Plus, if they are asking pretty close to the same price for the 2, I would probably go on ahead and get the S. Other than that, just test drive the 2 and see which one fits you best. Keep us informed.

 

i see everyone has their own little 2 cents added to this topic.
the s and non-s are essentially the same car. just a few differences.

s: more power (hp/tq) but [generally] less mpg simply cuz since people know they have the power they tend to stomp on the gas pedal more lol.

non-s: less power (hp/tq) but [generally] more mpg. people who have a non-s (like me lol) is eventually gonna stomp the pedal but only outta curiosity, thus most of the time they dont since they know its not gonna be as fast as an s.

another diff i s the engine. duh. bigger engine = more gas consumption.
hope that helps!