About the pull the trigger on Clubman, probably the S - need some help from the veterans out there, this is our first MINI.

If you get the S, how critical is it stick w/the RF tires vs. all season? I am in New England and do not want to have 2 sets of tires. Also, any word on the replacement cost of an all season 16" vs. RF 16". How much do you sacrifice w/performance by going all season?

Sticking to basics on the options, how critical is the Sport Suspension and LSD? I love driving hard, but if I were a skier, I would be on a black diamond looking like a hack - having a blast, but not technically sound - so not pushing myself to the point of risking injury. I just do not want to be the weekend golfer w/the $1000 clubs and a 30 handicap.

Having a hard time swallowing $500 for 10 speakers w/a little more kick on the bass, any thoughts on whether that is worth it or am I better off w/something aftermarket?

You probably get the picture, I am a thrifty New Englander who wants the spice of a turbo engine, but do not want to spend $$ on options/modifications where the value or perfomance does not significantly change.

Please feel free to respond to any or all of these.

 

Don't want to have two sets of tires???
The only car that I don't have a second set of tires for is my wife's E46. When one tire flatted and we noticed that one other was getting worn, we had to scramble to get a new pair of tires right before a road trip. Second set of tires and I could have put them on in a pinch to get by.

Do a search on the run flats. You'll see that it is a split jury. Some people love them, some people loathe them. I'll have to make up my mind after we drive our car for a while over our usual roads.

The sport package seems like a fair deal. We were only going for the sport suspension, and the 17's. My wife already wanted the bonnet stripes. When we added everything up, it was like getting the Xenons for next to nothing when we chose the package. I hemmed and hawwed about the LSD. I have one in my M3, and to tell the truth, I'd be hard pressed to feel that it does much of anything for me. We saved the $500. If I chose poorly, then I'll put the $500 towards some sticky rubber.

For the electronics, if you go aftermarket, it is only as good as the installer. The advantage of the factory stuff is it fits, it works, and your car electrics stand less chance of being hacked.

 

From what I know, all tires on the S are going to be RF even if you get the All Seasons. I wasn't sure on the LSD, but just so I wouldn't have regrets, I opted for it, because its too expensive to add it later.

 

Thanks, I will check that out on the all seasons being RF, have them on my Toyota and the replacement costs are brutal every 25k miles.

 

The sport suspension consists of a pair of sway bars-- last figures I saw had each being 1mm larger than the non-sport sway bars. This will reduce body roll a bit through corners, which has the benefit of improving transitional handling, like through a slalom, since the car won't be leaning quite as far one direction when you turn back the other way.

I rarely find roads where this makes much of a difference. A slalom on an autocross course, sure, but on a paved public street, you're pretty much looking at a couple wiggles on the Tail of the Dragon that don't let you get the wheel unwound and the car back upright before you turn back the other direction...

There's a personal preference aspect as well-- it seems most folks hate body roll. They feel the car lean over in a corner and it just tweaks something inside 'em; dunno what as it's not a problem I've ever had-- but if you do, it's certainly worth considering.

Someone mentioned the limited-slip diff was a good insurance policy; if you change your mind it's very expensive to retrofit. Sway bars, though, are easy-- if you change your mind, it may even be cheaper to retrofit beefier sway bars (and possibly even beefier than the Sport bars) than it would be to get 'em up front.

 

We opted to go with the all seasons RFs as we're in the Boston area and don't plan on getting separate sets of performance tires/winter for at least a year.
My novice assessment is that it would cost more to replace the performance RFs versus the All Season RFs as the perfs have a higher speed rating.

I also can't speak to performance gains/losses by choosing the all seasons but they seem to be doing a fine job of getting the power down and going around corners in a grin-inducing way!

I suppose that the intended use of the car is going to have the biggest effect on your choice.

 

I'm in the Boston area, as well, and opted for the all-seasons on 16" S-winders. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to anything performance-related about a car, but I agree with jonabad - what I got is certainly enough to keep me very happy. If when my first set of tires wears down I decide that I want to up the ante a bit, maybe I'll get a performance set and a winter set, but I'm very happy for now.

 

Thanks Boston drivers, I went with the all season tires and the MA did confirm that they are RF.

Order was placed an hour ago!

Anyone got a bead on whether the tire warranty is worth the $$$? Was quoted ~ $900, 5 years, unlimited miles (damage/blowouts/etc. - not wear/tear).

If anyone got this, please share rationale and/or claim experience w/warrantor.

 

most tire warramties are not worth the paper they are written on. just my .02

 

not sure how it is in your neck of the woods, but plugging a tire is $5 and buying a pretty damn good new tire is around $100

now matter how many of the above you are planning to have in the next 5 years ... its just doesn't add up.

coming from my old days of selling Audio and the warranties for them ... an extended warranty should cost no more than 20% of the items selling price ... even that's pushing it.

 

anyone price out RF all season 17 inch wheels yet??????

 

replacement tires

 

My experience is with a 2007 MCS Coupe. Some things are just the same on the Clubman.

Runflats and all season tires are different issues. There are all season runflats and runflat summer tires, just as there are all season non-runflats and summer non-runflats.

MINI ships the S with runflats because there isn't room for a spare. I switched to non-runflats and carry a Slime compressor from TireRack.com. The way I see it is that with a flat I would have to get out, connect the compressor, pump up the tire and I'd be in the same or better shape than limping with a runflat. That balances against the higher replacement cost and harsher ride of the runflats. I'm in California. The equation may balance differently for someone who has weather.

I would say go with LSD and forget the sport suspension. You can have lots of fun with the stock suspension.

If you want, you can add a rear sway bar later that has adjustments to be equal to the sport sway bar or more aggressive. I have the stock suspension and have always had a love for driving twisty country roads (learned to drive in an Alfa Romeo Spider). I've added an H-Sport rear sway bar because I'm starting to do AutoX. Cost about $300 with installation. It was set to the middle setting and the ride is much harsher on our rough roads. I'll probably set it minimal for street driving and max for AutoX. Moving two bolts changes the setting. With the Sport Suspension, you don't have those options.

I think of the HIFI option as the economical route. The speakers suck on either option, but the HIFI adds an amp that isn't too bad. It also adds tweeter locations in the A pillars. So, you can swap out the stock speakers and replace them with something decent that is compatible. I did all this myself with Infinity Kappa speakers for about $400. That's $900 for the audio upgrade.

If you go with the standard audio, you need to add an amp and speakers. This can be tricky. It has been said here that installer that doesn't know MINIs can trash the onboard computer by getting a wire wrong. Also, the estimates professional audio installations seem to start around $2,000.

Just make sure you are not making penny-wise pound-foolish choices.

One recommendation I would strongly make to someone who likes to have fun, but hasn't been professionally trained at a racing school, and has to sometimes drive through foul weather is DSC. Hopefully, you will never need it, but it can save $$ and life if it helps you avoid an accident. Studies have shown that it is more effective at reducing the number of accidents than ABS has been. DSC helps you regain control of the car if it starts to slide.

Do not confuse it with AST, which helps keep wheels from spinning on acceleration. All MINIs come with AST which applies the brake to a spinning wheel and will cut engine speed. LSD reduces the intervention of AST because LSD mechanically transfers power to the non-spinning wheel.

 

Tire Warranty: $900 is less than I paid. I thought it was worth it when looked at like this: $900/5yrs = <$200 yr. Given you have run-flats that are pretty much $200 each and cannot be as easily repaired or plugged as a non-runflat I thought it was a small(ish) price to pay for rim insurance, plus towing, accomodation, etc.

I thought: How many puctured tires have I had in the past 2 yrs? > 2. Given the $$$ of runflats & the fact that the Cooper (not the Clubman) is limited on space to put a spare, I thought it was worth it. It may be diff for the Clubman, since I have seen it has a sig amt of space down below and may allow the option of putting a small spare in. That would make it easy. Check out that space in detail at the dealer before making decision.

HIFI: Worth it simply b/c I cannot imagine trying to upgrade the audio aftermarket for anything less than $1000s. If anything, it is worth the $500 just to have the wiring to 10 speakers done for you and an amp that you can replace simply by hooking up the wires later. If the stock 6 sp system sounds OK to you, then go for it. I figured it is the ONE option you are ALWAYS using.

 

Hey There,
On my last MCS I had the tire policy, and had four tires replace for nothing, they were the 17inch ones. On my ClubRed, I also have runflats of the 18inch size, I once again have the tire policy. Well worth the costs. I also had two flats which were fixed at cost on the road. I also carry a doughnut, just in case. never used, but its there if I need it. In the MCS there was no room for the spare, but in ClubRed, plenty of room. I hope you love you car, its a blast......Good Luck
Larry