Hey all,

I've been considering a new car for a few months now. I "rediscovered" the idea of a Cooper S a few days ago and, short of a test drive, I think I'm pretty much sold. Something fast that gets very good gas mileage and isn't too expensive seems nearly perfect for me. Plus the hundreds upon hundreds of posts saying how FUN the car is has helped sway me a bit.

Anyways, in doing some spec'ing and stuff I've got a few questions. I can only think of one off the top of my head but I'm sure there will be more

- What's the consensus on the Sport package, specifically the sport suspension? I have no real interest in DSC and I plan to buy wheels myself later. But I'm wondering about the sport suspension. I think I recall a few posts seeing that it's *too* sporty and makes the ride relatively uncomfortable. I won't be tracking it and while I drive pretty agressively, I'm thinking it's not necessary. I currently drive a 04 Mazda 6 and have dealt fine with the suspension. I figure the Mini will be better by default, and if not I can always upgrade later.

Thanks!

 

I had the sports suspension on my '04 MCS, and my biggest issue with it was as a daily driver, all the FREAKING bumps in the road made me scrape -- oh wait...somebody just told me those were "speed bumps" and I was supposed to slow down. AHA! I thought they were ramps!

Just kidding...the scraping DID drive me crazy though. The '04 MCS handled the road well ALL the time...in my '07, though (no sports suspension this time), I can get the handling more "sporty" with the button. It took a minute to get used to it, but it's not bad.

I haven't been able to do real racing or autocross yet, so you'll have to wait for somebody smarter than me. Shouldn't take long! ~~Good luck.

 

Heh, I lol'd. We've got a couple nasty speed bumps on the road in front of work. :(

I forgot to mention that I live in New England, where we get a good amount of snow and LOTS of potholes. The more I think about it the more I think I should stay with the regular suspension.

Will DSC help in the snow? I'll be getting a LSD and a good pair of snows.

 

If you're in New England, and you intend for this to be a daily driver, I'd suggest you DON"T get the sports suspension. I got both of mine while in the (very COLD, very SNOWY) mountains of Germany - I had to have a hoopdee 4x4 for the really snowy times since the sports suspension ended up just pushing snow like a freakin' shovel! I needed to go OVER the snow, and it didn't work out so well. My '07 MCS did much better w/ the snow.

The DSC has worked well for me in both these cars - when it wasn't snowy, it was black-icey, so the DSC did it's thing well. It's NOT a 4WD, so don't depend on it like it is, but it's got good traction. You may have to weight the car down more in the winter - and let the tires air-down a little for more spread, of course, but I think as long as you're not getting the 12' drifts (been there for the '78 blizzard!) and you do more city-than-country driving, you should be OK with a regular suspension and using it as a daily driver.

 

Cool.

I've got "Traction Control" in my 6 right now but the only time I use it is for starts when it's snowy or icy. Seems like it might not be worth $500 to use a few days a year, yes?

 

Another question - is now (soon) a good time to buy? Do we know anything about the changes for the 09's, or when they'll be announced?

Should I be willing to make sacrifices to buy one off a lot? I'd *love* to have this thing in time for the rest of the summer.

 

I just placed an order a few weeks ago and had the same concerns. After doing much research, It seems like the Coupe won't have too many changes in '09. So far it's Astro Black color being discontinued and better iphone support. The Cabrio is another story...

 

Disagree - I think it IS worth the $500...It's useful for more than just the winter season. Mine's popped on automatically for loose gravel (and of COURSE i was speeding in it!), wet leaves, wet grass, etc. I would say that I purposely turned the DSC on in winter...but it's been very useful at other times, too.

If you want to save money with the options, don't buy the blue-tooth thing factory...do it after-market if you really want it, or get (as my dad calls 'em) an "electronic cockroach" for your ear!

 

As for the other questions - Anthony 314 is right...they don't intend to do much changes to it for the '09 model...and oh-by-the-way, the '09s don't come out until DEC 08. They don't follow the "normal" car-year-change-thing.

So if you find one on a lot (a MINI dealer preferably) that has what you want in options, I say go for it. Just understand that they do NOT deal very much...these cars hold their value, and they don't do much beyond MSRP unless they have dealer-installs they're pumping... The best you can do sometimes is ask for lots of dealer-free stuff -- like two sets of floor mats (carpet & rubber), boot mats, car care stuff, better warranties, etc. If you get a used one off the lot from a non-BMW or MINI dealer, you have to be more careful....

 

So I essentially need to decide if I want to wait or not. I won't gain much by buying off the lot except for time. Gotcha.

Will the dealer install any options that I'd like? Or will I just have to order one if they don't have what I'm looking for in stock?

 

(Sorry for the delay in response - work gets in the way of my NAM time!)

That will pretty much depend on the user-friendliness of the dealer. My dealer (in Europe) didn't give in much - but he WAS going to give me the $200 navigation DVD and carpets. I had to pay for the alarm install and the iPod.

But reading some of the experiences of other NAM-ers, they got much better options / upgrades / accessories than I did with the purchase...

Now, I'd suggest you at least go to the dealer and see what they have on the lot -- that way you get a feel for the dealer (and how user-friendly they are), what the options actually LOOK and FEEL like (but don't touch too much - they're addicting!), and to see if they actually have any on the lot that fit what you're looking for. Some folks have gotten SUPER lucky, and found "THE Mini" on the first try.

 

Just Say NO! To Drugs and the Sports Package.

As above, go spend some time at the dealer and drive a few on the lot. Note how tight the ride is already and don't forget to turn the stereo up real loud, like when in your car.

 

I like the sport suspension. I also got the DSC, I didn't get the 17" wheels and the sport package. The 17" wheels probably have more effect on the ride than the suspension, if you get real tires instead of the runflats you get an even more acceptable ride.

I'll keep the DSC, the statistics are quite startling, its the feature most likely to save your neck. The R56 DSC is quite a bit more permissive than the old one was, so I don't think I've ever noticed it getting in the way. I sometimes think it learns and I've beaten it into submission.

 

Thatnks for the updates, all. I'm thinking I might skip on the Sport package, but get DSC myself. I want to buy wheels aftermarket - I don't like any of the ones MINI offers (under $2k, at least).

FWIW, I've started a thread for my build here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=144946

 

My dad said he heard some bad things about the run flats. Are they really something to be concerned about?

 

If you're thinking manual transmission...the DSC also provides "hill assist. On any incline, holds brake for about 5 secs or until you engage clutch. Nice feature.

 

Ah, forgot about that. Nice.

 

Can I make the turn signals clear myself via aftermarket stuffs? Or should I just spend the $100 to have the dealer do it?

 

Does anyone remove the rear seats from the car when not in use? I'm thinking it might help save gas and give some more space.

 

You could change the clear signals yourself but it will probably cost more the 100 bucks.

You could probably remove the back seat but the car will be allot louder. The car is louder with just the seat folded down. I don't think the gas savings would be worth it either.

 

They ride harder than regular tires, and they don't last as long, and they cost more to replace. But you don't have to worry about having a flat either. Your choice. Mine have 16k on 'em and I bet they'll last at least 25k, maybe 30.

 

if your getting the MCS also consider the abundant lack of a spare tire. while the road side assistance will get you home, i'd rather not be waiting around for 4-6 hours for someone to bring me a new tire.

 

just to clarify, as I've had to use the roadside assistance recently, the DON'T bring you a tire. they tow you to the nearest dealer, who will SELL you a tire, if the dealership happens to be open. If not, they'll make an effort to get you a rental car. Although in my case, there were none to be had locally, and we were .... screwed, basically.

 

IMHO I wouldn't let lack of a spare dissuade me from buying a MCS. Unless you have a blowout, keep a tire repair kit with you and a small portable air compressor (one that hooks up to your cigarette lighter). With those tools you should be able to make the repair yourself on the side of the road and get back on your way. If you know that your going on a long trip and don't have runflats and are still worried about it; you could always purchase a donut (spare tire) and keep it in the boot.

 

The two times I've had tire trouble in MINIs, a spare would have helped and the mobility kit (repair kit,compressor etc) didn't.

The first one involved finding the edge of adhesion in number 1 and hitting the median at about 60mph. That demolished the wheel. The spare got me to the dealer.

I don't know what happened for the second, but resulted in a hole about the size of a quarter in the sidewall of the tire. I got a tow to the tire shop.For the planned run which invoves motoring through Death Valley, it'll either be the Tristan (who has a spare), or I'll borrow his spare.