After 6 long weeks I got my PW/B MCS and I absolutelyy love it. This car is a total blast to drive. The fit and finish are very good and everything is functioning properly. I am amazed at the fine finsh for such a reasonable price. The handling is beyond belief, I was driving a road I had not driven in about 8 months and appraoched what I thought I remembered as a 45 mph turn at 55 or 60 and realized after I was committed that it was the one 15 -20 mph turn on the whole road. I felt my heart stop, my passanger freaked and I did the one thing I learned from my younger years of driving sports cars, downshifted, punched it and drove out of the turn. The car did not lose grip, leave the lane or complain in any way, it merely handled it like it was glued to the road. In fact this car is more capable of handling turns at rates of speed than I am willing to drive. This is a bit of a change from my Subaru, which I found to be maxed to it's handling potenttial with my normal driving habits. When you max a car like that you have no room for error or surprises. When I drive the MINI in the same fashion I am probably only using abot 40% of his ability with lots of room for safety left over. Let me clarify that I am not a maniac driver, but the roads in my area of West Virginia are quite twisty and I tend to drive a steady 55 mph. I still drive a steady 55 but now I am as comfortable as sitting in my living room instead of having to run nerves like in the Subaru.

 

Sounds like another new MINI owner with an unremovable grin permanently emblazoned on his face, you'll be happy to know that a year from now it will still be there........you also picked the best color combo, IMHO !!

 

Glad your MCS is surpassing your expectations!!! How often does something like that happen with a car!!! I must say I do envy you with all those twisty roads though...not many of those around here (...in N. Texas). Funny with all the hype that seems to surround MINIs, the very best thing about them is still simply driving them. Its a good sign.

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'03 IB/W Cooper

 

What type of Subaru did you drive? WRX??

Curious

 

I also found that I can take turns faster than I could in my Camry (imagine that), but I still am not a maniac. Like you said, I am probably only using about 40% of its abilities. I just drive faster than I did before (and this now puts me near the speed of everyone eles on the road). My wife doesn't call me Grandpa anymore.

Welcome, and nice color combo...

 

I drove a 2001 Legacy L 4 Dr SDN with suspension upgrade. It handles better than a lot of similar cars but nothing like the MINI. I drove a WRX and it isn't close in handling either. Given a choice I prefer great handling and adequate power. American manufacturers seem to want to give you imense power, poor to mediocre handling and poor brakes. I think Subaru's affiliation with GM has had a negative effect on the cars.

 

Yup you're hooked like the rest of us!....................mgg