Cooper S owners, has the novelty worn off? Would you spend the extra $3k again to get the S? I mean, it looks the same as the base cooper. And the base cooper is not exactly a slouch.

Three Thousand Dollars extra!

Ok, I do want the turbo, but wonder if the novelty will wear off for me. I'm too busy to just drive around and enjoy my car. Actually, I dislike driving in general, I just want to get there and be done with it.

-jeff

 

Most probably would do it again as this represents a definite school of thought around MINIs and how they should perform. Coopers have their enthusiasts, too....a different school of thought, equally valid. It really comes down to personal preference, what you expect from the car, and how you plan to interact with it.

 

You are right, the MINI Cooper is no slouch, however, I've become accustomed to the extra bit of thrust from the turbo, so turning back would be pretty hard.... I'll say this much, if I were to keep two MINI's in my garage, one of them would definitely be a non-turbo Cooper.

 

If you're still in the decision mode...these are my thoughts:

If you haven't already...GO DRIVE BOTH BACK-TO-BACK. Drive the Cooper first, and put the S out of your head, and ask yourself, "am I having fun".
Then drive the S.

Your decision will probably be made, one way or the other. Mine was, and I chose the Cooper. I was not that impressed with the S as far as the acceleration. Sure it's faster, but for me, that's not what a Cooper is all about.

Ask yourself...do you most enjoy the feeling of straight-line acceleration? (the S) Or do you just enjoy the fun of driving a car that handles extremely well around corners probably faster than your skills allow? Then go with the Cooper!

My personal preference has ALWAYS been cornering, with "spirited" acceleration. The S gets you both, with even MORE "spirited" acceleration but at a financial (and possibly long-term maintenance) expense due to the turbo.



The Cooper (IMO) gets you the cornering and what I consider to be "spirited acceleration".

I chose the Cooper for my own desires of "twisties". It's got enough "get up and go" for me (it reminds me a LOT of my former 1990 Miata!) to motor you around the corners...plus I actually like the looks of the Cooper better. I REALLY like the chrome grill, and the whole front end (it looks more like a MINI to me...the S just has a "boy racer" look to it that does not appeal to me, with the big black grill and hood scoop (to me it just looks unfinished) (sorry S fans, please don't take offense, this is a matter of opinion!)

A friend of mine just bought a Mustang Cobra, and wanted to know if I wanted to drive it. I politely declined...never been a horsepower fan...just a handling fan!

So look at your own likes and dislikes, and I think you'll answer your own question. If you want that extra punch and "pushed-back-in-your-seat" feeling, get the S. If the twisties are enough to "trip your trigger", go with the Cooper!

My $0.02.

 

I wouldn't get the S again, I'd buck up for the factory JCW S !
knowing what the good aftermarket parts cost vs. the gains they give, I'd rather start out w/ the improved platform & not mess w/ my warranty.

 

You gotta pay to play!

Think about it, 3k now might be big, but if youre stuck with a slow car after 4 years, you'll say to yourself.. "Why didn't I spend the extra money when I had the opportunity?"

Yeah that's right, it's now or never.. If you buy the Cooper and get tired of the slow performance.. what will you get with 3000$..? Not even 50% of the MCS gain..

IMO the Cooper is a cute car, the MCS is a cute car that is really fun to drive.. you won't regret anything!

 

I used to want an S...before gas prices spiked and found that the justacooper appears to have better reliability. While I do love to go around twisties and would like to get into auto-x, in reality what I'm looking for is a commuter car that's fun to drive. I think the justacooper fits that bill better.

Will just hold on to my Celica to beat on at auto-x.

 

Yes $3K is rather spendy, but it also represents 54 additional hp and 63 more lb-ft of torque. Also, the MCS has the sports seats and 16" wheels as standard. If you option these upgrades on the Cooper, it will cost you $1,000.

 

Doing it all over again in the same circumstances at the same time, hell yes. I love my Lewis.

At some other point in my life, I may be happy with a Cooper. Maybe with a couple kiddos I'll get me a Cooper Clubman, even trade in my stick so I can have a free hand. But I love to drive - that would be just to get me around in something that's cool enough to get away with being a mommobile.

For me, for now - I'm young and have money to throw at my car. I leave work and can't help but smile at him sitting there just begging to be thrown onto the highway and let him go.

 

Stock wheels = winter tires, smaller the better. Better to spend money on wheels on the aftermarket and get something unique.

 

I'd get the S! The Cooper is decently quick, but the S is FAST! I like speed.

It makes even regular commuting fun.

--Dan
Mach V

 

I find that (at least in my mind) I plan on driving the S that I am going to order somewhat conservativly, for fuel efficiency's sake. But anytime I want to, I'll be able to throw it hard into a curve or blast around that slow moving truck in front of me, or .....

It's kinda like that old Datsun (now Nissan) 280Z commercial, something like "You may not want to take it 0-60 in (however many) seconds, or go around a corner with (however much) lateral G's ........................................ but knowing that you can is ........ awesome!

Just having it there for when I want it is reason enough for me. Then we get into the advantages of the sport seats.............

 

Test drive both... multiple times if needed. Its the only way to decide which is right for you.

I would get a cooper again. Its the right one for me.

 

I have an MCSC that I am thinking of selling for an MC. After years of having fast BMWs I'm beginning to tire of the whole speed culture. So I'm tempted by the Cooper as almost a protest to this maddening, pointless race for more power and speed.

It's not really a money decision. For me, because of all the things that are standard on the MCS and the way I loaded the cars up, the difference between an MC and MCS would only be around $1k. The MCS is very well priced.

I'll probably load up on all the gadgets though, so I love that on the outside people will see a slowish little "cheap" Cooper with 15" wheels, but on the inside I'll have pretty much all the gadgets that every high-end car has.

 

I would get the S again. I wouldn't really refer to it as a 'novelty'.

I would probably pay 3k more to get the appearance of the S anyway, I just don't like the chrome grill and plain bonnet on the regular Cooper (no offense!!!!!).

 

Sorry the "just a Cooper" is a slouch (JMHO), I personally couldn't own a car with an over 8 sec. 0-60, thats like the magic number for me for just not fast enough for my driving style. Yes its better than most cars out there, but I couldn't drive a Mini w/o it being an S, and I certainly wouldn't call the increased performance a novelty.

 

Not to me.

 

I used to want the S before the gas prices became ridiculous. Now I'll be happy getting 35+ mpg (hopefully) on my new MC. Gas prices are not going to drop anytime soon and we'll be paying close to $5.00 a gallon by the end of 2008. For someone like me who puts on 24,000 miles a year the difference between the MC and the MCS is not negligible as it would be for most people who do between 6-8000.

Happy motoring!

 

With that reasoning why not just go get a Prius. I mean the S only gets what 3-5 mpg less than the MC, with a pretty big performance increase. And while the Prius cant quite handle or perform like a cooper, if your putting so much value on your MPGs, the 50mpg you get with a prius sounds like it would be of more value to you than any advantage the cooper might have.

 

I'd do it again, no doubt about it, love the S

 

+1

Looks was one of the factor in my decision of getting the S. I like the black honeycomb aggressive looking grill and the hood scoop. Looks more angry and ready to bite your a$$

 

My Cooper is on order, so I'm not an owner yet, but I ordered a regular Cooper. I drove both of them, and to me there was not a huge difference. I know others will disagree, but it depends on what you are used to. Not too long ago I had an Acura NSX, and so the acceleration from either of them was not going to impress me. Both seemed brisk, but not fast. I opted to save my $3k, as they both seemed to be fun to drive and handle like go-carts. I'd imagine that someone who has owned slower cars most of their life would find the S to be fast.

 

totally agree and much more fun at stop lights

 

While this is no doubt true, it could also be said that for those who have owned Mustang GT's and Grand Prix GTP's (and many other cars like that) that the speed difference (lets not get distracted by handling) wouldn't be as noticable in an S also.

But as everyone says, and I agree, it's personal preference.

 

Um just for reference the 0-60 of a stock NSX was @ 5.7 sec (depending on year and it could be much lower with mods) the Cooper S is 6.7 sec. (again stock w/o mods, and can get much lower) thats not a big difference at all, in fact I've driven many cars that have 0-60 times between 5 and 7 seconds and the difference is negligible for the most part (unless your at the drag strip). Now to me once you jump above 8 sec. (the cooper is 8.5) it makes a big difference as a daily driver(JMHO), but I guess that also depends on your driving style.