No takers?

 

Chows4us, yes comparing apples to oranges. I am a proud owner of both a MCS and a 1993 RS America. I guess my point was not made clearly...for a small amount of extra $$ you get a lot more Mini w/ the S. With Porsche you will pay dearly for the extras as in my point in the 997 and 997S.

To Snid in VT, no disrespect to your Mini either, it's one great car. I will always have both a Mini and P-car, even if I have to sell my house to do so. And my Mini will always be an "S". Extra HP just gets you to the next corner quicker.

 

Agreed 100%. Congrats on owning a P car. I know they are painful to keep up Whats with $16K for the X51 option for 26 more HP? JCW owners got it easy!!!

 

You said it yourself, JCW owners "got it easy". And as you previously stated, it is apples to oranges. Porsche AG just figures that if you have the dough to buy the 997, then you have the extra dough to pony up for the extras on the 997S or the X51 option. Someone right now has my 997S in their garage and is taking good care of it. In maybe 5 or 6 years it will be my garage. In the meantime I can go out a have major fun with the MCS. I track both cars BTW. The MCS even goes Ice Racing while the P-car sleeps.

 

Hah...yeah...where was that sign at the MINI dealer when I bought my MC last July?! Performance is a very subjective word...for me, at the moment my MC performs well, it gets me to and from wherever the heck I want to go, and with awesome gas mileage!

Granted, I'm waiting for my MCS to arrive in May, so sue me, I'm a piscean girl who can't make up her mind! If I could do it, I'd keep both

 

What is kind of funny is the running joke about JCW being crap because its twice the price of going aftermarket. If you look at new P options (any car), you might just GASP ... breath deeply ... $3K for Nav? I thought $2K for Nav in a MINI was lame but that is just ridiculous.

I'm glad I dont have to worry about all those things

 

Yeah, tell me about it. Plain old MC's don't perform? Let's see, at the autocross I ran at today there were two MC's (I was one of them), an MCS, and two JCW MCS's. My underachieving little (stock) MC scooted around the course faster than the other four

 

How fast you going there?

 

I'm usually kinda busy when I'm autocrossing, and really don't have time to look down at the speedo (it is rather unsafe to do so). About the only time I know what speed I'm going is when I bounce off the rev limiter in 2nd gear. FWIW I was about 2 seconds faster than the other Minis on a 40-45 second course from what I saw of their times. There were definitely other factors involved as to why I was faster, but in the right hands, a lightweight MC can be pretty amazing if straight line acceleration isn't the only criteria being talked about.

 

Good for you!

I tend to believe 95% of this kind of stuff is in the driver, not the car. I doubt that 2% of people can drive their "stock" car at 10/10s yet people RUSH to add more HP ... useless.

A short story ... in another life I did PCA xcrossing years ago. All the locals had their 911s out (not me the peon, just a 944) with their heads held high. About midway comes a little guy driving a VW rabbit or something like that. It turns it he was a professional driver and he BLEW away everyone's time (including the 911 Turbo). Point being, he KNEW how to drive (it being his business). A lot of ppl with very expensive cars hung their heads real low that day.

I would bet your driving skills have a lot to do with it.

Congrats.

 

I test drove both the MC and MCS before placing my order for an MC. I found the MCS to be too much work for me for normal about town driving.

Yes, the MCS has better acceleration than the MC, but to me it was not worth the extra work involved due to the 'turbo lag'..what I mean is that in order to get the car to go, you have to get the revs up..otherwise, the MCS felt a lot more 'mushy' than the NA MC off the line at a stop light..until the turbo gives the MCS a kick in the rear, then yeah baby..it really goes!

If I was planning to take it to the track, then I'd probably have a different opinion, but for me it was an easy decision. The MC is a better car for my driving needs. More HP is not always better, it just depends on what you want.

-g

 

Actually I agree w/ going aftermarket, if you are reasonably handy with tools and cars you can save a good deal of cash. JCW is not crap as you now, but it works for people that want max performance and don't want to be bothered by the aftermarket stuff. As far as the P-car is concerned, I don't have any NAV BS, wasn't even an option on the 93 RS America. If I where ever to be fortunate enough to order a new Porsche at a dealer, the salesman or woman (must be pc at all times) would faint as they watched me delete every option that "most" customers want. I have no neeed for leather seats, anything that adds weight, NAV?, I know where I am going...the next corner. But we are going way off topic, so my apologies to all. Yes the 120 HP Mini is a great car. Is the MCS worth it? You betcha. In the Mini world we live in there are "Motor'er's" and there are those who feel the need to be a "Uber Motorer". We are all correct... no need for arm twisting, both sides are right for their personal reasons. So peace to all and happy, safe, motoring.

 

Please explain exactly what "too much work" with the MCS means for about town motoring? This is not a personel shot at you but I am truly confused.

 

I think (s)he's referring to the effort required to restrain one's right foot from pushing the accelerator to the floor at every opportunity. Very tiring.

 

I used to run a old 84' VW rabbit in SCCA events and it did quite well and was the car to use in it's day, the inside rear tire would always hover off the ground a few inches in tight turns and it was fun to drive, but not as fun as a Mini.

 

It's not technically "turbo lag," but probably a combination of heavy 17" wheels and low-compression engine. The MC requires a bit of clutch slip to get underway also when using the heavy 17" wheels.

 

I was wanting to go to the drag track at sturgis SD and do the eighth mile. Does the s have a good eighth mile time?

 

Nope...I haven't had any PM's yet.
I guess all the MC owners are happy with thear cars

But seriously ....I would trade my MCS for a MC +$3000....The supercharger just is not worth 3k in my opinion.

 

Just im some of the guys at the beginning of this post who wished they had bought a mcs not mc, there was like 3 of them saynig they were kicking them selves for not going mcs.

 

I wonder how many S owners never test drove the MC, and just bought the S because that's what they thought they "needed" (powerwise), even though they might have been perfectly happy with the MC.

I'm sure more than a few S owners would be surprised how good the MC is off the line and around town compared to the S. The revised gearing in the MC helps is out a lot, as does the fact that there isn't ANY first gear bog in the MC.

 

Yep, you beat me ...it was a pretty good course for a MINI too...with a well handling car and what I seem to remember as alot of experience, the power of your car isn't necessarily an issue. It's my second year doing this, so I'm building up the experience slowly but surely.

 

I have driven a MC and I felt it was nice and peppy. I don't NEED my car, but I like its extra power and it came in pretty handy at HDPE's. The first gear bog thing, besides lack of experience, is one of the things that I think hurt me at this week's autox. There were a couple of places that went a bit fast, but generally it was a pretty tight course with a couple hair pin turns where my car was bogging a bit in first so it was a bit difficult accelerating out of them.

 

It was good meeting you yesterday Mandaboo, as well as some of the other Ohio Mini owners who were at the autocross. I do have a little more experience autocrossing than some people (going on seven years now), but my R compound tires probably had as much to do with my good times as anything else. I've been humbled many times by drivers better than myself, even in my own car. Frankly, the $400 I spent on a set of used holey wheels and used Kumho V710 tires that I toss in the back of my MC for a race did more for my autocross times than any other modification could have.

When I bought my Mini I decided I would test drive an MC first, and if its power seemed sufficient to me, I wouldn't even test drive an MCS. I've driven much faster cars and the two Neons I replaced were both faster than my MC (one was substantially faster than an MCS), but I fell in love with the light nimble handling and decent power in a tiny little package. I could be happy with either, I'm sure.

 

Where did you test drive a turbo in a MINI Cooper?

BTW, SCs do not have any turbo lag at all since its always "on"

 

I'm on my second MCS. Would never consider anything else. It is the best $3000 I ever spent.

Others have said it, but for that $3000 you get an awful lot that can not be spec'd any other way.

Otherwise available options:
Sport seats
Sport suspension plus
16" V-spoke wheels
ASC (or whatever they call the traction control)

Not otherwise available options:
Forged connecting rods
Special alloy pistons
Supercharger
Forged crank
Intercooler
6 speed

Even if you were to turbo a MC you would not have the higher strength internals to handle the loads. You would be building a time bomb. You would also not have a 6 speed.

OK, yes you can purchase a 6 speed Getrag on the aftermarket and have it installed, but at what price?

JOHO