[quote=TSR53]Build a newer style (964 based 3.2 litre) back dated Porsche 911RS replica [keep as a track car] and be done with it. Just like Paul Stephens builds in the UK. This 911RS replica will make you grin AND say "oh, sh^t... too!" Keep you MINI Cooper S.

Not a bad idea. Almost did just that before I bought the MCS. Found a really nice one all set up in white with blue script, but really couldn't make it work as a driver around town. Also funny you should bring this up as I was at my Porsche mech's shop this afternoon (where I drove the 996) and he had just sold a RS replica he built to one of the guys in the shop (67 S based with 2.7 motor with the right fixes (i.e. no thermo nuclear reactors).

 

Yes, with the RS replica (I'd choose the '69-73 longer chassis) and your MINI Cooper S you will have the best of both worlds. Well, almost. You just need to slip into the garage an '83 Audi ur-quattro with a transplanted 20v turbo 5cyl for the ultimate schtick when it snows .

IMHO, my early 1985 944 was very, very entertaining to drive. Waaay more so than the later 944 I had and even the Carrera 3.0. Don't get me wrong, the Carrera 3.0 was incredibly FAST, just not as, *FUN* like my 911RS replica, early 944 and now new MINI Cooper S. It's a power/weight/nimbleness thing.

I forgot to link the photo of me with Dr. Porsche (and wife Louise) when I was 12 at the 1973 Monterey Porsche Parade! What was I thinking? (WWIT?) Down below along with all my other past Porsches and Audi ur-quattros, take a peek or two, or three, or four...

PCA/GMR Mountaineer Editor, 2004-06
PCA/GGR Nugget Editor 1991
PCA member since 1973.

Past Porsches
1972 911RS replica
1976 Carrera 3.0
1985 944 early Club Sport
1987 944 late

Past Audi quattros
1983 Audi ur-quattro
1984 Audi ur-quattro
1985 Audi 4000S quattro
1986 Audi 5000CS turbo quattro
1988 Audi 5000CS turbo quattro
1989 Audi 200 Avant quattro
1990 Audi 90 20v quattro
1994 Audi //S4
1996 Audi //S6
2002 Audi //S6 Avant

 

I have two C5 Corvettes, the 98 Pace Car and an 04 Z06. They both sit in the garage now that I have the MCS. To me the MCS is the perfect car for one person going to work, errands, autocross, etc. I love driving this car and don't see anything else out there that could replace it. I do like the Cayman though.....

 

I totally agree with you, there really is nothing else that drives like the MINI! We own a 1995 Audi //S6 now (really slick nice sleeper FAST car) and the MINI Cooper 'ess. When we go anywhere, "let's take the MINI". Poor old Audi with his big red Porsche front brakes, just sits... at least he's got a really kewl garage buddy now

 

I'm very jealous of the car collection, Thompson.

You're gonna take that S out to the autocrosses and such so that I can try to beat you, right?

As long as you don't mod it too much, we'll be in the same class (using our local sports car club rules, not SCCA rules).

 

Beat moi? Holycrow, your gunna whip me good. It's mostly the driver and how much you know the limits of car and track. Well, since you've got me beat by about three years in your Cooper, I've got a load of track time to catch up on...

The only mod for me will be track time.

 

Its really neat the things you can learn here. P car is a Porsche, I think. Why don't you just say (type) Porsche instead. I mean Porsche is 7 key strokes and P car is 5 including the space. I was under the impression that with a $25000 MINI, you would be able to out do any other car made regardless of cost, now I find out I'm wrong. I also now believe I am but of a handful that does not take my car out on some kind of race track and do 65 or 74 mph in what I think is a bunch of cones spaced so many feet apart. I think of it as what the slolom ski course is but with cars. Perhaps being the owner of a 93 Ford F250 extended cab, IDI diesel and a 98 Ford Windstar (Limited) explains this. I doubt I could do much more then 80 mph in the straight a ways much less have to turn. Am I half right or just really wrong?

 

I'm with MINIclo. I have a highly modded C5 Corvette (that is faster than the C6 Corvette) in addition to the MCSa. While the Corvette could easily run away and hide from the MCSa, the MCSa is much more fun.

 

Having owned everything from TVRs to Ferraris, I certainly understand the appeal of Porsches. I currently own a trio of them. They work. Plain and simple. Take one to the track drive the feces out of it. Drive it home. HOWEVER. After the 968 and the 964 IMO, they've become simply too potent for street driving. IMO the 996 if a fabulous car, but on US roads its just not that happy. Take it to the track and it comes into its element. I say this owning an RS clone and an extremely potent one at that. In any case, getting anything out of these cars that borders in enjoyment on the street means sheer stupidity and endangerment of yourself and others. To my mind the only reasonable road car Porsche makes these days is the Boxster. I just drove a Cayman S while instructing at a recent AX. Again a fabulous car, but frankly too much for the street. Perhaps the standard Cayman, when it arrives, will be a more realistic option.

In the end, as road cars, IMO these cars are all largely about ego. There is virtually nothing, if you're obeying the laws of the land and sanity that a 997S can do on the street that an MCS can't do. Thats why I have an MCS as a daily driver. In that role it is a far better car that the 911. So while I'll confess I'm smitten with the new GT3, its doubtful I'll ever own one. It would make a heck of DE car, but it would simply be too much of a PITA on the street. Don't know about you, but I lack the self control necessary to own one. Too much potential for street altercations resulting in speeds that are beyond anything prudent. Besides I could buy a real nice 996 cup car, track it for 3-4 years and and break even with the cost of a new GT3. And that would be a heck of a lot more fun too. My motto, MINIs for road, Porsches for track.

 

Stinger.. I am also 52 and have been on the car scene since I got my license at age 15.
Since then I have owned 37 cars... Most of them were sports cars.. My last two vettes were Z06's.. I LOVED the torque, the instant power at any rpm.. the handling was also amazing... cornering and stability were rock solid.. but for everyday use... it felt big on the outside and cramped on the inside. Too much power for the crowded streets of today. I will miss the almighty V8.. but for everyday use the MCS is hard to beat. Its not only fun, its almost practical! I also like having less but not missing out on anything.
I like having a bigger bank account and a smaller car...
It is also more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow... The mini is a great all around unique mode of transportation.. and its fun as hell!
I will never grow up... I promised my wife that many years ago..

 

Really enjoyed that comment about driving a slow car fast vs a fast car slow, I know exactly what you mean. Spot On!

 

Does it strike anyone else as ironic that Porche -- historically, rear-engined, RWD, overpriced; and so, the exact opposite of the MINI -- is so highly regarded by so many in this group of MINI owners? Nothing wrong with that. Just ... ironic.

 

Easy - the 997 is there because there are people who find it more important to have the most expensive of everything rather than the best performing.

 

I don't see it ironic at all. Both cars serve their purposes. I've read several times that 80% of all Porsches EVER built are still registered somewhere. That is pretty amazing.

As to rjmanns comments ...

There was a bumper sticker on some guys 996TT that said

"My other car is a tow truck"

A little bit to much tail coming around

 

I have a 1976 BMW 2002 that I drive every chance I get. The feedback I get from the road and what the car is doing is amazing! Pure driving bliss. Everytime I get back from a drive I have a smile on my face. I plan on getting it restored this fall. The wifes' MINI is being built next week (at least that's what my MA said in an emai) so hopefully we'll have it in a few weeks so I can compare the two. Can't wait !!

 

I think I have a far better solution then a P car. or MCS.

Honda Civic...not SI. Honda Civic 1992. Drop a prelude engine into it, add a turbo and you will be doing 11 seconds. Take that 911! Have your panties

but then, you better have some NOS!!!!!!!!

 

I'd go the Cayman S route personally

 

What does that prove? You will end up with a bland souless FWD honda that still can't handle , brake or provide feedback like a Porsche.

Unless you owned one, you can't really understand... It's more than just power... It's balance, refinement and pure feedback from the car and the road.. Quirks and all, Porsche offers authentic sports car heritage that is not easily imitated...

 

I did the same thing
My Z was my down payment on my JCW S

 

[quote]Some of you other guys and gals own some nice machinery other than your MINI, am I nuts or do you feel the same way? Is the MINI just more fun?[quote]


For me the early 911's (pre 74) have the true light weight feel--even compared to our mini's. Put a 2.7-3.2 in an early car--wow! (check my gallery for pics)

 

VERY well put!

Oh, to have that new GT3 on the track.....

 

Well... while I'd be the first to admit that there are many Porsches in the hands of posers, there is indeed a reason to own a 911 over a Cayman. Its called a rear seat. If you have a young child, and I do, its one of the reasons to have a 911 in the first place as there aren't many cars of its type that you can actually take your wife and child in. Yeah, yeah, its hard to consider a 911 pratical, but when I bought my 996 it was down to an M3 or the 911 as I wanted there to be times when the family could ride with me. No regrets on that decision.

 

There is no feeling in the world like having the right rear of a 911 digging for traction, foot to the floor and having the tire just load up and shoot out of the turn. Numbers aren't cars and certainly no more is that true than in a Porsche. The 911 is unique, until you've driven one in earnest and survived, you'll just never fully get it.

As I said to a number of my PCA buddies after I bought the MCS, 'I like to think of it as a 912 with 1 forward gear and 6 for reverse.'

 

How many of you have driven the Cayman?
Just curious. I have and I have to say.... I think it is pretty slick, but.... I still like my S.

Way I figure it is... give me my S, and a 914 6 on the side, and that keeps me happy....

 

I drove two at a recent PCA AX driving school we did. Its is a very potent car. The most impressive thing is that its extremely easy to drive fast. The evidence for this comes from watching just how fast novices were actually able to drive it. It was pretty amazing to see how much speed they could carry, get things totally wrong and still not hit a cone. Changes direction on a dime. It makes average drivers look good, what it will do for good drivers is probably off the charts. I actually pulled one guy aside and told him in the most politically correct way possible that he needed to understand that the reason he was doing so well was a result of how good the car he just bought is, and that this stuff wasn't as easy as he might think.