I considered the Honda Civic Si & the MCS figuring for both cost & gas mileage.
Regarding inside space- I have an almost nine year old daughter. I drove a Honda Prelude Si for the first five years of my daughter's life- no problem & one could argue that that wasn't really a back seat either. All three of us fit in the MCS easily & DH is 6'1".
For me, it came down to which car made me the happiest to drive & see on a daily basis while saving me $$ on gas. I grin every time I walk out to my MCS. I completely enjoy driving it (zoom...zoom) & I feel safe on the roads.

For me, a car isn't just a car, it's an experience. *lol*

 

I do agree, the Mini S is a great car and some features not found on other cars (comfort acess) etc..

But what am I looking for?

1) fun
2) cheap
3) some rear seat room (more is better)
4) Mini dealer is 40 miles from my house the Honda is 18 miles

not that I expect to be either dealership often, but it's something, but the Mini does ave the loan car and free maintance and better gas mileage looks like Mini S (average cty/hwy = 32 mpg) and Si average is 25 mpg.

at the rate I expect to put 10K miles a year would be $25 extra per month (saved in gas) would be 40 months to save $1K difference in price.

 

rai-zero if I may make one other point. "A Civic will always be a Civic", I would look at Edmunds, cost of Ownership in the Mini and Resale Value far out weigh the Civic.
It is your choice...our 3 choices were the Mazda3 Hatchback, drives well, handled great, I was not so sure about realiability however. The Honda Civic Coupe (of which I could not fit in at 5'7") my head hit the roof, no no. So then a Civic Sedan, we wanted a sportscar, again no no. And the MINI Cooper WON hands down. Read previous about test drive. My SUV (Durango) is staying put for the options it has, bought used 2.5yrs ago.
My Husbands 99 Blazer will be sold and in 93 days we will be taking possession of our 08 MC.
Ok, well make it two. What other car that is in your price range has a following like this?
OUR MINIs are INCREDIBLY AWESOME AND SUPER FANTASTIC.

You can still choose the Civic of course this is a Free Country!

Happy Motoring...either way.

 

i too looked at the civic si. when the driver seat is back all the way there is not much leg room behind it. at least that is what i found. the choice is yours and your money also.

 

Si coupe or sedan? the sedan picks up 4 inches of legroom and 2 inches of headroom, really is like a normal car in the back of the sedan.

think Mini (regular) or Mini Clubman and you see the Si sedan costs just $200 more than the coupe and the trunk is 2x the size of the space behind the seats in the Mini.

Here is the rear seat legroom

Mini hardtop 29.9"
Civic Coupe 30.3"
Clubman 32.3"
Civic Sedan 34.6"

the Clubman costs $1900 more than the Mini hardtop the Si sedan costs $200 more (and I am reading the dealers are giving more discounts for the Si sedan than the coupe).

 

Sorry if it seems like I don't like the Mini, I like it well but my wife doesn't like it too much. I would feel on an even level with the Si. I like them both a lot, but the Mini costing a bit more.

I know, the Mini has better resale, better gas mileage and (IMO) better looks and better web-site and this is a great forum.

I have not decided yet, still thinking, do I wish for the Mini (build my own at $25,500-ish) or do I save a bundle for the Si ($21K-ish).

thinking that's not a lot difference in price. Maybe I will take my wife to see it in person.

Just now I don't know.

My point is that (I thought) the Mini S as I said price it up to $25,500 but it does have some things better than the Si.

I dislike sunroofs and the Si only comes with a sunroof.

I LOVE the comfort acess system, bluetooth, etc.. that the Si won't have.

I LOVE the looks of the Mini and the way I can get it exactly like I want.

really I am not sure. This morning I was thinking save some and get the Si but now I am thinking spend some and get the Mini S.

The two big reasons I was against the Mini were

1) tiny rear seat. I wonder if I can get wife and two kids in the car (with me). Or just two kids (not sure about putting kids under 70 lbs in the front seat).

2) cost (relative to the Si) but I see the gas mileage, free service and resale proabably even that out.

 

just went back to the Mini website.

Build my own = $25,950 (lets call it $26K). I can get a Si for $21K

so that's $5K

But has my features (above the Si)

call it the entire convenience package $1500 (Bluetooth, ipod, comfort acess, rain sensing wipers etc.)
HIDs $500
10 speakers $500
---

that's $2500

my mini has $500 for paint (BRG) not sure how to figure that but lets add that to the features the mini has over the Si

So that's $2000 more for the Mini S (than the Si) if the Si had all those features.

figure free maintaince and resale should be worth something and gas so in that way they are nearly the same cost. In a sense.

I do have to figure which I like to drive better? And if the rear seat room is a big deal or not?

Think if I do end up with the Si it's mainly for the rear seat (sedan) and which is more fun to drive?

Bottom line --

cost Si = win or tie since the Mini would have extra content
rear seat Si sedan = win
fun to drive = ? I don't know

I know you will all say Mini hands down more fun to drive, but the Si was also very fun and it's got a nice 8000 rpm redline which is fun.

 

I don't know if this will help, but I used to own a 02 miata and anyone on this forum will agree it's one of the best handling cars on the market for it's price and it is damn near fun to drive it. When it was time to sell my miata, getting a new MX-5 was out of the question since I hated the new body style. I looked up and down for a car that was equally fun to drive as the miata. I drove around days in my sister's Acura TL, (powerful car, but difficult to find a parking in D.C) looking for my next car, going to car dealership after car dealership and nothing... My brother in law finally convinced to test drive a 07 MCS. So on that faithful day feb 2nd, I got behind a 07 MCS. The salesman didn't even come with us, he said "it's our policy not to go with our customer, the car sells itself." How cheesy, I thought to myself, but once I got on road and open it up a bit. I was instantly hooked! I couldn't believe how fast it was and the handling was near perfect sync with the miata. (miata edges it out IMO because it sits lower and doesn't tilt as much as the MCS) but the turbo makes up for it.
and WOW, the car was a blast to drive I was actually smiling when I got out of the car. I bought it that same day. 2007 PW MCS. So to answer you question, fun to drive than the civic Si? I think so.

 

When looking for a replacement for my 1990 Acura Integra I drove an MCS, a VW GTI, a Honda S2000, and an Acura RX (which I'm told is very similar to the Si). I've really enjoyed my Integra for the 18 years I've owned it. So, I was kind of partial to the RX before I drove it. I also had some reservations about the MCS after the test drive. I didn't like the ride height or the more restricted visibility. The Integra is much lower with more visibility up and down. The MCS made me think of driving a tank by looking out the front slit. In spite of all that, it was a fun car.

I took the RX and S2000 on some twisty roads in the hills outside of Monterey. They handled well, but they weren't anywhere near as fun as the MCS. I agree with a comment made in another thread about a Honda. The reason 6,000 to 8,000 rpm seems fun is that below 6,000 rpm isn't any fun at all -- or something to that effect.

That was my impression as a loyal Honda/Acura guy.

The VW GTI? I felt like I should be wearing a suit and commuting. We took it out on some very challenging twisty farm roads outside Salinas and I found it quite boring.

 

I totally agree with this statement. My RX-8 has a redline of 7,500 rpm but has zero low-end torque. It's fantastic after you get into 3rd gear but takes FOREVER to get up to any speed.