I posted a thread on Corvetteforum.com yesterday that I was selling my 01 Vette(subliminal advertising) and had ordered an 05 MCS and asked if I was nuts. I have received over 50 replies and they all want to have me institutionalized. Several suggested I go on Dr. Phil for help. Have they rained on my parade? No. I am anxiously awaiting my MCS.

Over the last 40 years I have owned MG's, Vw's--several bugs and a GTI, Muscle cars( 65 Chevelle Malibu/'74 454 Chev Impala/91 5.0 Mustang/98 Z28 Camaro), a 911 Porsche, 02 Acura 3.2 TL Type S and have had fun with most all of them (71 MG Midget a definite exception).

New experiences have added much to the fabric of my life. I am ready to do some serious MOTORING! Thanks for letting me share. Nick

 

Good to hear from you. The MINI is quite a different from the very beautiful, heavy and powerful corvette. Both cars are at "opposite" ends of the sports car spectrum so that makes for nice contrast.

The MINI is a relatively "cheap" sports car and fun to do mods. It's like a powerful gokart and even easy on the gas which is nice to have. It's nimble and responsive and you can bump up the power with a 19% reduction pulley for about $430 installed or even do it yourself (part $130, smaller belt $25).

Are your corvette bretheren crazy? Probably not, just hardcore enthusiasts like us. Most of us cannot ever own and drive a corvette. The MINI is reachable for many buyers old and new. You'll get to experience a different crowd. FWD will be different. You might appreciate a short shifter, Quaife LSD for the MCS, and lightweight Flywheel (RDR or UUC is good).

Have fun. The 2005 MCS has an option for LSD if you can wait until a January build.

 

First, people can be very loyal to a particular car and will think anybody is nuts not to have one. I think this way whenever I see people driving in cars that are not MINI's.

Second, folks with high horsepower rear wheel drive sports cars cannot imagine that anyone could consider an agile car to be a fast car if it is not the fastest thing in a straight line. As a novice racer, I consistently beat the 2000-2003 corvettes racing in SS class in my lowly GS MINI with less than half their hp. Of course, I am not about to race them at a stoplight, but in the curves, few things can match a MINI, and basically nothing can match it for the price. . .

Third, who cares what others think? If YOU are having fun with your new MINI toy, then nothing else really matters. . .

 

I did a track day at New Hampshire International Speedway with the SCDA last week. The Corvette's were irritating because they were in the way for 3/4's of the track and could only compete on one straight.
Here's a direct cut and paste quote from an email I received from the president of the SCDA
"Glad that you both could work together and make such great progress at NHIS
on June 21. It is always good to see a Mini Cooper S passing CORVETTES!"

 

I owned a 67 Corvette back in 68. It was a great car and I loved it. Today, Corvettes are a dime a dozen. While a new Vette cost more than a MINI S, slightly used Vettes that look exactly like the 04 models are available for the price of a new MINI, (or less). The Vette even gets 30 mpg on the highway.

It's the uniqueness and charm of the MINI, combined with great handling that make it so desirable. Not to mention the fact that most people will walk right past a new Vette without giving it a glance just to get a close look at MINI.

You did the right thing.


R.E.

 

My hubby owns a Corvette, which he truly loves, but is totally impressed with and enjoys my MCS, too! Granted, the Vette has plenty of grunt, but the MCS is just so much more fun and makes every little errand an adventure!:smile:

When we drove back cross-country together in Wanda, he was very impressed with not only her fine performance, but with how comfy she was for the long haul! You will LOVE your new MINI!

Clo/Wanda

 

Well, I guess this is a good time for me to come out of the closet. In additon to my MINI I have a C4 Vette. It doesn't stop there. I'm also a Mercedes enthusiast and have driven several different MB's to very high mileage, one over a half million miles, in the last 35 years.

For the most part I'm a very opinionated person about most things, especially religion and politics, but when it comes to cars and music I love all of 'em as long as they are done well. I love almost every style of music as long as it is performed well. To me, I can appreciate talent and performance over type of music.

Same goes with cars. A Vette is really a junky built car as far as reliability and durability goes, but it's a lot of bang for the buck. MB's are solid, rattle free and have long term reliability (except for my 2001 model that had so many problems with the technology that I ended up getting rid of it in favor of my MINI.)

A MINI and a Vette have more in common than most people think. The C4 Vette has 50/50 weight distribution, thus exhibits neutral handling. A MINI with the correct rear sway bar also exhibits neutral handling. The lack of weight allows the MINI to take corners on my country roads probably a little faster than I can take them in my Vette.

The MINI is a great car IMHO. If someone is so hung up on their own brand that they can't be open minded enough to understand the advantages of another, they're just plain old close minded.

Enjoy your MINI and don't look back.

 

I sold my 98 convertible Vette on eBay after getting my 2002 Mini Cooper. And I'm sorry, but the Cooper is just WAY more fun to drive than the Vette was. :smile:

"It's much more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow." -Autoweek

 

A Corvette is nice but it's all "SHA-WING". It's like comparing a stipper to a ballet dancer...it all depends on you're taste. I would love to have both but would probably spend more time with the ballet dancer

 

I've never owned a vette.

 

I've owned many different cars in my 24 years of driving. Those cars ranged from an FStock Mustang, to Lotus Esprit Turbo, Corvette C3 and C4 to Toyota Supra, Mercedes 190e 2.3-16 to BMW 750il. I still have a fleet of BMWs, but the MINI, be it a Cooper or the S has phenomenal handling! That is its forte. The Corvette, on the other hand is a ***** to the walls muscle car with gobs of torque and hp at low revs. It, too, can handle, but it takes a skilled driver to pilot it.

Ballerina v.s. Stripper? No, maybe more like boxers. Muhammad Ali v.s. Mike Tyson. One with finesse, the other with brute strength.

 

The two most recent vette rides I've taken were in a brand new z06 at GMs little test drive party, and in an instructor's car at an SCCA school.

Vettes are completely different cars but you have to appreciate how quick they are on their feet for such big cars. I'm duly impressed. (Too, I watched them for a bit at Mid-Ohio today on TV.)

They're both fun cars, and in the final analysis that's what it's all about. The first time I took my mini to the mountains I was blown away by how much corner speed I could carry. Driving the same roads I've been down a thousand times and finding that the limit was now a lot higher.

For me, small, light sports cars are the way to go, and alway the most rewarding.

--Jeff

 

My MINI is the most fun car I've ever owned. Owned several very fast cars and some way faster motorcycles. Brute speed is a blast for sure, but on an everyday basis.....for crying out loud, I want to go to the store! Everyday errands are fun. The short little blasts are an event.

The most surprising aspect of my MINI to me was how comfortable, enjoyable, and here's that word again, fun, long trips are. Everyone that rides in it says the same two things, this thing hauls ***, and I can't believe this is a small car. Also, with the big center mounted speedometer, at some point there's usually the comment, I can't believe we're going that fast! (Small streets make relatively low speeds seem fast)

Have a blast. You won't be able to help it!

 

Somebody once said "It's more to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow."

 

I'd like to try a vette later on...the previous vetts were all too big for me...
literally, I sat too low and couldn't see much out of the rear windows,etc.
I need a booster seat.

but the new one is suppose to change that, from what I hear. maybe
it can fit me too. :smile:

I sit pretty low in my MCS with the seat adjustments on purpose, but
can see everything I need to see. Same way with my other j-cars.

 

Among my friends I've started an informal "drive what ya luv" club. One guy has a vette, several have Jeeps, one an S2000, a few other MINIs, too. We're all idiots, but we love our cars and have a great time exchanging stories of owners we know and our favorite motoring moments. In the end its all about love over functionality...at least we all have that in common. I'm so pleased that our little MINIs are helping to rekindle a fascination with the handling characteristics of cars as opposed to raw horsepower. (...loved my old Spitfire!) I'm still amazed at the amount of engineering crammed into my MINI in relation to its cost. Awesome!!!!!

 

i've driven and rode in a few different muslce cars, vipers, vettes, mustangs, camaros, trans-ams and found them all to big. not until i test drove my first MINI did i find a car that i really enjoyed driving. i agree with the comment posted above, "it's a lot more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow"

 

They are small but at close to 2700 unladen pounds I wouldn't call the MCS light. It's power to weight ratio of 16.4 is not too impressive and the standard MINI power to weight ratio of 21.9 is even worse.

 

Nick - don't feel so bad, I gave up my M3 to start saving for our new house and I'm replacing it with a MINI. If I were to go back to e46fanatics.com and ask them the same question you asked, they'd all say I was crazy too.

But, I realized how much I've enjoyed all the smaller cars I have had along the way. I *also* realized how much more fun it is to play around in the car when you realize the worst you can do is tear up a $20k auto - not the same fear you have when you worry about tearing up a $60k auto.

Doug

 

A friend of my dad's had a C5 and moved to a JCW MCS... He LOVES it. And who wouldn't? It's an amazing car. Also, since when is the MCS only 2700 lbs? I've read it's about 3200... unbelievably heavy for a car its size. Doesn't mean I'm not getting one.


-mike

 

No way is it 3200 lbs. It's around 2700lbs w/ all options and fluids (curb weight). It's in the back of the owners manual. I hear that it also accounts for driver weight (165lb) but not sure whether that's just in Europe or not. Still heavy, but 3200 for a car that size is ridiculous. Dunno what the weight is w/ the JCW kit though, but I'm sure it doesn't add 500lbs. I'd venture to guess it'd only be about 50lbs heavier if that.

 

You're right, which I also realized about 5 minutes after posting as I looked around some more. The weird thing is that I know I saw somewhere on the MiniUSA site a figure of 3200 something.. but now when I look where I could have sworn I saw that, I see 2678. *shrug*

-mike

 

I've owned a honda civic, and that was the fastest and best handling car I've ever driven, until I drove a MINI. So the MINI takes the cake over the Honda by a very small margin :smile: . Don't get me started on my Saturn.......

 

Leaving work one day, I wound up behind a co worker in his ZO5 .we got to the light at the bottom of the hill and as soon as he realized I was behind him he took a left with waaaayyy too much gas a nd even with his traction control,started fishtailing all over the road.eventually he got it under control and took off in a flurry,BUT I was definately able to keep up with him.Down the road a bit we both took the Harold Parker state forest road(one that I take every morning around 4:45AM) and despite his every effort,he was totally unable to shake me from his tail.At the end he put his flashers on and pulled off to the side and rolled down his window"I am impressed ! I AM IMPRESSED!" I told him "Scott, the only reason I wasn't able to go any faster was that you were in my way!"

the price of humility came hardest when I reminded him I was running a 1600 cc engine.LOL. Go with the mini ,you won't be sorry.How many straight lines can you possibly go as fast as you want to in a covette versus the twisties you can totally enjoy at almost any speed in a MINI?

 

Something that didn't occur to me when I posted earlier in this thread is the fact that probably MOST of the people in the CorvetteForum that blasted DoubleNick have probably never even sat in a MINI, much less driven one. Again it's about narrow mindedness.

It might surprise some of the posters here to know that my C4 Vette, an '88 with manual transmission weighs 3,050 pounds. That's only something like 12% more than an MCS.

Someone also commented that the Vette was more difficult to drive. I'm an extremely experienced driver so maybe my impression is not valid, but I find a C4 Vette with 50/50 weight distribution and neutral handling to be an EXTREMELY easy and FORGIVING car to drive extremely fast.

The MINI, being front wheel drive is a hoot to drive, but for me, not growing up with front wheel drive cars and this being my first FWD after 40 years of driving, find it more difficult to drive than the Vette. For younger drivers, and there are probably very few here that are not younger than myself, front wheel drive is probably much more natural. When I started driving we had barely even heard of cars with front wheel drive.

I suppose the first front wheel drive car I drove was a Honda Civic that my boss owned in 1973. Since it takes a different set of habits to drive an FWD fast, maybe that's part of the fun for me in driving the MINI. It handles great and requires some new things for me.

For me, it is still more fun to drive than the Vette though.