Test drive on hill. You'll be rowing gears, sure, but that's the fun. The second gen Cooper engine is fantastic. Make sure you wind up with DSC and hill assist...that'll help out, too!

 

If you're worried about power, then consider a manual. Then you can always go down a gear. On the freeway (~70mph) it will be difficult to accelerate fast uphill in 6th, but no problem in 5th.

 

The regular Cooper has plenty of power for an reasonable hills, or any unreasonable ones. My first experience of a Cooper and hills was in Wales (in a hire car), they have some interesting hills in Wales.

If you're not afraid to use the gears it helps if I want a little extra oomph, I'll change down to 4th even on the freeway, its fine as long as you're not doing more than 90.

 

I'd say keep in mind that a Cooper S isn't going to blow the doors off of anything other than a regular Cooper. The 0-60 time listed on the website is 6.7 seconds. A number of SUVs are faster than that and any late model sports car will smoke a Cooper S in straight-line acceleration. I'm not putting down the S by any means, I'm just saying realize that "fast" is relative and in the realm of fast cars, 6.7 seconds is slow to get to 60.

Also, with the S you commit yourself not only to a higher purchase price, but a higher cost of ownership over the life of the car. The turbo moves the battery from under the bonnet to the wheel well for the spare tire. So you not only lose some fuel efficiency with the S's turbo, you also have to buy more expensive run-flat tires for the life of the car because you have no place to put a spare.

 

Sounds like the MC coupe would suit you for what you need. Mine's a perfect fit for me, daily commuting and some weekend fun, along with long trips.

CROC 411

 

Go with the MC. It's just as fast as the "sporty" small cars that the auto entusiast magazines are always raving about, and faster than the usual compacts and subcompacts.

Car and Driver has the Justa at 7.7* 0-60 and 16.3 in the quarter. The Civic Coupe goes 7.7 and 16.1.** The VW Rabbit goes 8.1 and 16.2. The MINI beats both handily on the skidpad and slalom.

That's plenty fast to get you lots of tickets, and it's faster than most of the performance options when I was your age. Damn, we've gotten spoiled!

* Numbers for all cars are from Car and Driver road tests and comparos. This is funny, since MINI posts an 8.5 second time on the website. C/D probably has better drivers than most, and their times are often significantly better than non-enthusiast sources like Edmunds.

** As long as you keep it at redline. Otherwise, you might coast to a stop when you hit second gear.

 

6.7 not too fast? compared to what? sorry what sometimes I read things that does not has any sence.
believe me is pretty fast for a normal car. course there are bmw's, porsche's and audi's with a lot more power.

with the mcs, you can ccerelate in 6gear if you are over 2500rpm.
with the mc, you wont have that kind of acceleration even in 4gear at 4000rpm. and don't even try to accelerate in 6gear at 2500rpm.

I know everyone says the best is what they have, but please try to be a little objetive.
the mc has 120hp and 118lb tq
the mcs has +/-190hp 180tq and turbo.

2 different cars, and they drives different too.

 

wow, ok

 

 

So... the Justacooper is the slowest car on the road and the MCS is the second slowest car on the road ?

 

Dang... I might as well cancel my justacooper order and get a Scion. :P

 

I agree...might as well sell mine and become a ricer

 

Maybe we can all chip in and send Jeru99 to driving school.

 

flip a coin?

 

Birmingham.

 

The MC has 118 hp, the MCS has 172. And for the price of a MCS, there are quite a few cars that would do 0-60 in the 5.0-5.5 second range. Just to name a few: Subaru WRX, Mazdaspeed 3, Chevy Cobolt SS, Ford Mustang GT, Nissan Altima Coupe.

The reason to get a Mini is not for speed. The fun to be had in driving a Mini is in the nimble handling and sharp reflexes. And of course, it is one of the only small luxury cars on the market.

BTW, there is also one major factor that will determine how fast your MC or MCS is by the way you option it. While those larger 16" (for a MC) or 17" (for a MCS) wheels look very pretty, they also are heavier, have heavier wider tires, and dramatically increase the unsprung weight you have at each corner. Each pound of unsprung weight added to your car has a much larger affect than each pound of normal curb weight. Some say it is as much as a 10-to-1 ratio, meaning if have 1 lb heavier wheels at each corner, the affect is the same as carrying a 40 lb weight inside your car. So if you are getting a MC, the best performance will be had with the stock 15" wheels, and for the MCS, stick with the 16" wheels. Of course, there are some aftermarket wheels that are very light. But keep in mind that tires usually weigh more than wheels, so wider tires will generally be heavier no matter what kind of wheels you have. You would be surprised how much of an effect this has on acceleration, especially on a small, light car.

 

Not necessarily speed, but acceleration through all gears. Luchini states it well.

More power is always good, no matter what the package - especially if you're able to get decent MPG and keep the spectacular handling capabilities of the Cooper.

 

Some of you all really need to get a grip. In the short time I've participated in this forum, I've seen all too often that people go off-topic with a bunch of hostile comments that have nothing to do with the post.

The point that I made was not an indictment of the Cooper S. The point I was making is that nobody trying to decide on a Cooper versus an S should make that decision based on thinking that the S makes you the fastest thing on the road. In the DC/MD/VA area, you can't drive anywhere in an S (or any other fast car for that matter) and think you'll be the fastest car to the next light. Yeah, some of those cars cost twice as much, but some of them are only a little more than a well-optioned Cooper S.

Eric, I think I'm being more objective than anyone who has responded to my post. I don't think the regular Cooper that I just bought is better than a Cooper S or anything else on the road. Although I do like this car, I'm not a fanatic about it or any other "thing" that I own. And I certainly don't love this car in a way that would make me post vitriol at any perceived slight.

The engine in the Cooper accelerates just fine for normal drivers and the engine in the S will make enthusiasts happy. But the fact is that nobody should buy an S with the expectation of being the fastest car on the road. It may be the fastest car in its price range, but it is not going to be the fastest car at every stop light. And for someone on the fence about S or non-S, that's a legitimate, objective point to make.

 

Are you going to retract your previoius statement, or sticking to it ? Sounds like now you're changing it to "it's not THE fastest car on the road. Big difference from what you previously said.

That's a pretty strong statement. And then you accuse others of needing to get a grip ?

 

I like that.

Great way to put it Zip.

 

I'm not retracting anything and I'm not going to parse every word I've written or every word that anyone else has written. And, yes, others do need to get a grip because nowhere in my statements, parsed or in aggregate, have I made a personal attack against anyone. You can disagree with someone and be civil about it and those who can't need to get a grip.

I will not be commenting any further on this. I refuse to participate in the hijacking of a thread. This discussion is in no way relevant to the subject of this thread.

 

Fair enough. You want to stand by your comment that the Cooper is the slowest car on the road and the MCS is the second slowest, you're entitled to your opinion.

But when you voice your opinion on a public message board, you should be fully prepared for the dissenting opinions just as much as those that are in agreement with you.

 

No one ever said the MCS was the fastest car on the road or that people buy the MCS just for speed, you made up your own argument there. If I wanted the fastest car for $25k I would have easily purchased an MS3 and saved 2k. However that was never the point of me purchasing an MCS over an MC, only problem is that you think to seem that that's the only reason to buy an S over a Cooper. And you made it even worse with that absolutely dumb exaggeration about the MCS being unable to "blow the doors" off anything but a Cooper. None of us should apologize for what came out of your mouth!

I'm not justifying my purchase to you, of all people. However, I will explain why I decided on MCS over MC. I wanted what the Cooper platform had to offer (the whole package) + more power. The base engine doesn't do it for me. I want hard acceleration and and wider power delivery on demand. I don't want to have to stomp on a gas pedal to get the acceleration I (mind you, subjective I) want. Different strokes for different folks.

So there. BTW if I'm not a "normal driver" for not thinking the MC accelerates just fine, (edited by Krut) that's my opinion

These "what should I buy" threads are stupid, in the end it's all subjective. Drive both and decide what's best for YOU.

 

Everyone please take a step back and look at this post subjectively - as the moderator of this forum I have to tell all of you we'd get a lot more out of this forum if we all respected each other a little bit more. That said - I've taken the liberty of editing DrewN's post. Drew please be more considerate of other members in the forum - we're all entitled to have our opinions, if you disagree, please disagree respectfully.

 

You got it Krut , my apologies to anyone who was offended.