Hello All!
I have really enjoyed these forums since I have decided on purchasing a Mini. I currently drive a 2003 Focus (Yellow) and am looking forward to my next Yellow Car!

These are the options I am leaning towards. I am looking for opinions about them. Just as a note, I will be using this car for primarily freeway driving (In So Cal) outside of normal traffic hours, 80 mi each way.

2007 MC Mellow Yellow / Black Roof
Black Bonnet Stripes
Premium PKG
Sport PKG
Conv PKG
Audio PKG (HD Radio w/ Sirius)
AT with Paddle Shifters
16" 5 Star Rims with All Season Tires
Anthracite Head Liner
Leatherette Sport Seats
Mellow Yellow color line
Brushed Alloy Int Surface

My thoughts are that the 16 inch rims will give better cornering than the 15" but not as rough a ride as the 17"+ Rims.
What are your opinions on the leatherette vs leather seats?
Is there a noticable difference with the Sports suspension package? (I have a few twisty roads I take and imagine the cornering to be better with that).
AT selection is due to sometimes traffic becomes and issue and I can still use the paddle shifters to shift during normal driving.

Overall, what made me first consider the mini was the fact that I was looking for a yellow fuel efficient car and the cooper most certainly fits the bill. After driving one, the car exudes an aura all of its own. It makes it fun to drive and with the 160 R/T driving daily, I need all the aura I can get. BTW, my favorite color has always been yellow so the color selection was a no brainer.

Thanks in advance for your advice. I am looking forward to finalizing my selections and ordering soon!

The Big O

 

Great breakdown of your needs and usage, seems like you already know what you want. (!)

My 2cents: skip the sport susp, you are getting 16", maybe the sport susp isn't necessary? Enjoy the softer ride mayabe for your long commute? I have sport susp on my S with 17", I have not complaints about the ride quality. Can't say I compared the two though, I just wanted sport.

I have the leather seats (Tuscan - now THAT would be a yellow car!)... Love them. But 1500 clams is a lot. Your call!

I have anthracite- REALLY glad I got it... The grey just wouldn't go with my Tuscan interior... Now it's black all the way down the pillars- quite nice... You have that- good call!

I got park distance control (PDC). I kinda did it as a joke, since the mini is such a small car. I never had problems parallel parking my Land Cruiser after all... But since it integrated with the nav (has a little graphic with colors as you approach stuff), It is kinda cool. Last night I parallel parked in a tight-ish spot with it, took ALL guesswork out of whether or not I could fit!

Anyways, I think you've outfitted quite a nice mini. Just decide on leather or not... maybe you don't need the sport susp, or maybe you want a little more edge to the handling- again, your call...

 

Oh, PS: I pretty much knew what I wanted when I went to order. One thing though, at the time, there were NOT many minis at the dealerships, so I couldn't even see the interior I was going for in person (Tuscan) or the NAV. I knew I wanted the NAV regardless... But it is a little alarming to order your interior sight unseen. Same with sport, I test drove an S, but don't know if it had sport or not. I ordered Sport anyways, then kinda had second thoughts after I read threads about it being too harsh.
The moral: You may likely go through this angst AFTER you order- "did I get it right, will I like x or y?..." One way to avoid this is try to see the things you are picking in advance... take your time. Go drive a sport MC vs non-sport. See the leatherette vs. the leather in the colors you might chose...

One other note: In CA, you are NOT obligated to buy it when it comes in. You could walk if you hate it- they can't keep your deposit. I'm not saying you should do this, and I really doubt one could dislike any mini choices, but it is not the end of the world.

My 2cents (now 4 cents for those counting): just try to checkout the items you have the most questions on then decide. Once decided, try to stick with it. Don't panic. I 100% love my choices. Of course, I got just about everything... But I do really think my interior is awesome, love the sport susp ... etc..

 

I took an MC with the basic Sport Package. So I had the 16's as well as the addition of DSC. I took the car off the boat though, so I also got the performance tires with run flats. That makes for a pretty stiff ride. My mom and step-dad recently took a ride in it, and they compared the stiffness to Miata, basically a sports car feel. The DSC will help with the cornering as well. I say go in and try and test drive a car with and without the suspension though, to make that decision.

I came from a Focus and there is deffinately a better ride in the MINI, and even a bit more power, or so it feels.

 

If economy is what you want, get the manual transmission. You will lose several mpg with the auto. I've driven my manual MCS in Los Angeles rush hour traffic jams, and it wasn't bad. However, I don't do it every day. So, you have to make your own decision on that.

You are getting a pretty well loaded MC, but you don't have NAV and Parking Distance Control. I like them both very much. The NAV integrates the radio, PDC, and other aspects of the MINI. I think you would enjoy having that large screen for your audio package.

The NAV has traffic alerts that have gotten me around traffic jams in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles.

I find the rear visibility in the MINI not nearly as good as my 1990 Integra. I find the Parking Distance Control quite helpful.

 

With money not the deciding factory, I opted for leatherette in my CR Cooper. We have leather in the JB MCSC. I actually prefer the leatherette. It's easier to maintain, it seems to be wearing better, and everyone who looks at it and/or sits on it thinks that it's real leather.

Spend those $1500 on something else, is my suggestion.

 

IMO,-- you are going to get the Mc, just like I did , dont waste your money on any thing other than OEM 15". They look good, lots of exposed rubber, soft ride, lots of traction, low noise, and a spare tire. cant get better than that. UNLESS you are going to track. then you got to make the decision to upgrade. As regards the transmission I have selected the auto and im glad I did.

 

Is the traffic reporting system part of the Sirius subscription (Which is included on the radio) or is it a separate cost?

 

That's a good question, because as stated, in heavy population areas (Charlotte or Atlanta, for me) traffic information is available on standard radio. Is this feature something like the traffic information on Google maps? If so, it would be pretty slick. Still, at $2100 I'd rather have a top notch interior than something I'd rarely use. And I'd stick with no PDC — $350 seems like a lot for some cool graphics (only if you got the Nav kit, that is)!

As far as leather goes, I love the leather in my Beetle so I'm going to go with the Lounge Leather. It's pricey, yeah, but it looks good and if you decide to get leather, what's $400 more beyond the $1500 punch leather?

I'd go with the 16's, especially if you want everything else in the Sport package!

My .02 worth, from a guy who's more or less in the same boat (tho mine will come in a couple months later down the road!).

 

It is part of the NAV. Nothing to do with Sirius radio (AFAIK). I don't have Sirius.

 

The NAV alerts you that there is congestion on your selected route and guides you around it.

Red lounge leather looks great. The white piping on the black lounge leather ruins it for me.

 

My Focus has the 2.3L PZEV with Approx 133 HP. It is very quick. I will have to try out the Sport Suspension. Have to weigh the difference in cornering vs. everyday ride.

I do think I will go with the NAV. The traffic monitoring is too good to pass up with the amount of driving I do!!!!

 

Sounds great ...I agree about the sport pkg may not be nessesary with 16"s
But if you are **** like me self I would toss in $100 worth of rear fog lights and another $100 for white turn signals..this way all your toggle switches are filled.

Mellow Yellow GO!

Congrats!

 

I have the sport suspension on my MC. In my opinion, it provides a more "connected to the road" feel than the stock suspension. I ordered it without test driving a car with it.

I have 15" stock wheels and tires. Unlike the suspension, these can be easily and cheaply upgraded anytime I want. Used wheels and tires are up for sale everyday.

I don't find the suspension harsh and like the firmness it provides.

 

There's a toggle for the white turn signals?