I was looking to buy a car here within the next year and I have narrowed it down to these three cars. '06 MCS, '05 GTI, or '05 Civic Si. Now the GTI and the Si are both able to be talked down in price, but I have driven all and love the Mini the most, for obvious reasons that people on this website for surely experience on a daily basis! I was wondering if the people on this forum have any feedback on reliability, performance, aftermarket, and overall most fun to drive on a daily basis. Thanks for all your help and hopefully I will be joining you in the next year with my Silver and Black MCS!

 

I have a 05 MCS and I also test drove a Si, I know nothing on the GTI.

What can I tell you...

The Si is goofy looking, but fast. It feels cheap to me with the materials that put it together. I drove it and while my other car is an 03 accord I could not stand the Si. It drives great, like a small *** car, its fast, it handles...but it felt cheap to me. Its funny...alot of people tell me the mini is a girls car. I think the Si is. This is all opinion.

The mini, however, is far more refined. It drives great, its fast...too fast for my foot (& my wife). It has style and I always get that smile when I get in her. ITs been almost a year. I got in the Accord tonight to go to dinner. Boaring. I get in the mini and its a good time.

Handing - Both are great - edge to the mini

Speed - both are great - edge to the Si for off the line and the MCS at speed.

Style - All Mini - its no comparission here. Inside & out. A mini turns heads a Civic is a ricer.

Safty - I am guessing here but I have to say MCS

Resale - MCS - you mentioned getting the Si at a discount. You can. I paid straight up "cost" for my accord and that was a brand new model. But you will pay what someting is worth. They discount the civic cuz thay have to to sell it. So dont think of it as a discount - think of it as the real price. The Mini puts the real price on the sticker - its the real price cuz we line up to pay it. Out west its a long line too.

Ability to have bonnet stripes and not get laughed at - Mini baby.

 

I've owned two of the three. Getting an MCS now.

The VW's a nice car (I assume we're talking about a 1.8T) - nice engine and road manners. Big tuning opportunities, if you're into that sort of thing. Many people feel that the stock GTI suspension is the weakest part of the car (pretty soft). Relaibility can be a problem. High repair costs out of warranty (German, you know...)

The Si is a good car as well - well built, refined, reliable. Not much torque at all. Really could use more tire/wheel, even if just for looks. Pretty bland exterior styling. Plenty of tuning opportunities here as well.

As they're both hatchbacks, you've gotta find an enthusiast if you expect to get good resale out of either the VW or Si. Currently, the MINI's resale is pretty strong, but may fade as the new one comes on-line (differing schools of thought on this issue).

I figured I'd toss in my .02 to give your question a bump. I can't speak from experience on the MCS, as I don't own one yet(!) :smile:

 

SI is fast? not in my book

my friend's lowered SI-R (same as SI in the states) has nothing on my S.... not in the corners, not anywhere! i do like the SI's seats and the dam shifter though... it maybe on the dash, but it somehow just works! and its like silky smooth, not like my clunky box

GTi i drove both the 1.8t and the vr6, nice fast cars.. just front feels wayyyy too heavy! its defenitely bogged by the big engine up front as i always feel im understeering.... even left-foot braking helped very little.. but defenitely fast... reliability has been an issue, but the mk4s seems pretty reliable nowadays..

now.. if we are talkin a mk5 gti, then i might recommend a gti over a mini

 

Thanks everyone for the replies so far...yes i was referring to the 1.8T motor in the GTI and yes I am looking forward to tuning any one of the cars that I decide on. I have a friend with a Turbo Si and while it is fun to drive in a straight line (handling in his is good but the Mini will out handle his with just a few suspension additions for sure), the quality does feel cheap as mentioned above, but it is FAST! I also have another friend who has a bitchen Mini, exhaust, intake, and wants to do a pulley soon, I love to look at his car so style goes to the Mini for sure. I see the most tuning possibility in the GTI when it comes to motor, but I too have heard the suspension is soft as well as the gearbox is not that great. They say that the gates are not well defined so this worries me if I were to have a good amount of power running through the tranny if it would be able to withstand it.

Also one question I had regarding the Mini is: Why is it that the only way you can get an upgraded supercharger is through the JCW kit. It suprises me that companies like M7 or Alta dont make a larger supercharger. I know M7 has a ported supercharger, is there just no need for a larger one because of the use of different pulleys?

 

you won't be happy with that word 'Fast' when you get ur license suspended twice and one of them was for 6 months. Paying 400+ for insurance.


Also there aren't many places you can be 'Fast' so forget it..

 

That's the dilemna I'm in.

I've resolved to hold out for an 06 MCS on the hopes that the Recaros make it over. In waiting I get to see if VAG can actually deliver the Mk5 GTI to us.

That car looks to be a blast, the first real GTI since '92! Plus it's got a real rear suspension (I believe VAG hired the same team that put together the IRS for the Focus, but I'm not positive). That 2.0 Turbo is a remarkable piece of engineering in it's own right: 200HP (and over 200 ft lbs of torque at less than 2000 on the tach).

Nice to have options.

 

Funny how we seem to gravitate towards the same choices...I came this close to buying a GTI this past January when they were 'giving away' leftover '04s at $4000 below msrp! My troubles with my 99 Jetta vr6 and lack of dealer and VOA support held me back.

I agree with most everthing written above except for using speed and Honda SI in the same breath. I liked it's handling and suspension, but felt it was totally underpowered.

Then I remembered what a friend who works for BMW told me about the MINI and what a hoot it was to drive. So in Feb I test drove an MCS, fell in love, and the rest is history.

GO WITH THE MINI !!!

hs

 

I test drove the MK5 GTI in Germany last month, the car is fast, tight. Very responsive, handles good. The only thing is no attitude. I had all generations of GTIs, and I would say taking an MK5 over an 06 MCS is a hard desicion, a lot of personal factors play role.

I was so close to buy an R32, however wanted to wait couple of years more, entertain myself with the Mini, because they just announced the production of MK5 R36. Now that is going to be monster.

Comparing a Civic Si? Not even close, that shifter kills everything. You will be one of those guys:(

I think I go with MCS over MK5 GTI, and wait for the new R series.

 

Get the MCS... it will be the last one standing out of the three in the next 20+ years.

 

go for the MCS. i just bought a 2005 MK4 VW GTI 1.8T. drove the car for a month. i liked (not loved) it up until the point of it catching fire on the highway. i've had nothing but trouble from VW's. my first VW was a 2004 Jetta GLS. i bought it in FEB of 2005. within 2 weeks of leaving the dealer i was back again because the windows only worked when the wanted to and there was a loud rubbing/grinding sound in the wheel well when turning at low speeds. i hated that car because it was slow and boring. so in MAY of 2005 i traded it in for VW GTI. i was initially alot happier. the GTI was sportier than the jetta and much faster. i drove that for exactly one month until it caught fire while i was driving on the highway. i was doing about 80mph with the AC on. then the AC started to blow hot air. i first checked the temp gauge, but it was fine. so i just turned off the AC and rolled down the windows. the next thing i know there is smoke coming out of my hood. i start to pull over. as i get into the emergency lane the fire becomes more intense and smoke is pouring out of the wheel wells, hood, and front grill. i just exited the car and watching it burn for about 10 min and then it burnt itself out. the paint on the hood even started to bubble from the heat. so now my car is sitting at the dealer. but i even have problems with the loaner they gave me. they gave me a PASSAT with 9000 miles on it and the damn turn signals dont work. the cd player only plays cds that it likes i guess and spits out the rest........so i'm officially done with VW

 

The JCW is not a larger or ported SC, it's simply a ~13.5% smaller pulley.

 

Actually, the '05 MCS from factory already have the second generation Eaton Supercharger that was previously included as part of the JCW kit upgrade.

 

Civic = NO

GTI = I like it, but the design of this MK5 is kindda throw me off. I think VW need a new designer. The thing I like about GTI is 2.0 turbo FSI and you can get DSG (the best gearbox in the world...right now). One guy on VW forum got it chipped and ...bam! 230hp at wheel. Plus all the torque come at really low rpm, so that translate to instance power at any gears.

MINI = Da Best of all 3! It's fast...and it's fun to drive.

 

Thank you to everyone for your information and knowledge. I believe I am just going to stay with my initial choice of going with the Mini...for the price you get alot more refinement, performance, and eye candy then you will with the Si or the GTI. While you may be able to make the other two faster then the MCS, I am a firm believer that neither of those nore many other cars out there will ever be as FUN to drive as the MCS on any day of the week. Thanks again for the information and the opinions, it was all that I was looking for, now I just need to save my nickels and dimes and hopefully I will be in a PS/B MCS this time next year!

P.S. One thing that I absolutely love about the Mini that actually has nothing to do with the Mini in material form is the people that come with the Mini. This forum has helped me out so much and I am amazed at all the helpful and knowledgable people and how nice they are!!! KEEP IT UP!!!

 

We have an 04 TDI, very happy with it, 17,000 miles, no problem, bullet proof motor. Sorry for the bad luck, but for some reasons, maybe production in Mexico, US VWs tend to have problems. In Europe, they are very well-known with durability and reliability.

 

Now I have 05 MCS and love it. In the past, I got to drive every GTI in its generation except for the Rabbit GTi, the 1st one. I drove the 8V, 16V, G60, VR6, 1.8T versions in last 20 years extensively. All my friends had either one or two versions of those VWs.

Going back to the comparo, emotionally the MCS definately makes me feel younger whereas the current Gti feels older. When it comes to true handling virtue, the Mini has the heart. The GTi is capable, but not fun. For the engine, I definately prefer the easy and cheap upgraditis of 1.8 Turbo. However I really like the supercharger's lower tone whirring. For ergonomics, the GTi again outedges the Cooper in more generous dimensions in the backseats. For chassis dynamics, no doubt I prefer the Mini where it's very kinetic and telepathic during cornering and braking. You really need not look at the performance numbers. It's how the car feels, needs, drives. As for the resale value, the Mini is unflappable by creating enough demand and enough supply thus better resale value than the VWs. Lastly the dependability issue, I don't know yet since my car is very new, but I have NOT heard much complaints in its reliability issue. For the VWs, many suffers from electric problems I've seen in 20 years. I rather go with BMW's reputation over the VW's plague in this department for sure. I suppose the insurance and gas consumption really depends on how one drives these hot pockets therefore about similar.

Not much mentioned about Honda Civic Si since it's not really the type R version that Japan gets. Not really fair competition since it's not the latest and the best version from the Pacific. Anyway I'd wait for the 5th generation GTi if I can, but the Audi A3 should be a very close copy. You should drive the new A3 to see how the new GTi will behave.

In one word, Mini Cooper S!

In one word, the Mini prevails.

 

I sold my 2000 GTI VR6 when I purchased my MCS back in 2002. While I really liked my VW, the MINI is so much better for what I want in a car, that I've not missed the GTI since the day it left my driveway. Get the MINI!

 

Please don't blame the Mexicans for VWs problems.

Sentras are made in Mexico too, and outside of the Energizer Bunny, nothing I know of is more dependable.

My Son's Nissan Sentras... 100K + miles on each without a problem.

hs

 

I was not trying to be rude or offend anybody. Apologies... The bottomline is not Mexicans, as a matter of fact they have nothing to the with VWs. My point was, maybe quality control is lower in outside Germany facilities. Again, Mexicans have nothing to the with this, it is Germans And please do not come up with "do not mess with Germans", my mother is German.