oh, a Grand Am? I thought they stopped making them.

 

I remember explicitly doing that test and in sixth gear at 3000 rpm's I commented to my wife how much passing power the little car had without downshifting, think I ran it up to 110 fairly quickly. Is it possible this is referencing the 1st gen?

I do remember for top end, 5th was much quicker for obtaining the 140, maybe it's just because I got bored... 110, 115, 120, 125, zzzz, what was that honey?

 

Yeah, the base Cooper S has terrible highway power considering its low speed power.... I'm definitely looking into some highway speed modifications that won't make it feel as sluggish.

 

Well not sure what aspect you are talking about it, on the highway it never feels that fast, but when I looks down at the speedo it sure is. The smooth torque band is impressive and staying in the higher gear still gives impressive acceleration. I would stay that the high rpm power of the engine is a bit unimpressive, but that is because the boost has been pulled back a lot at the top. So far I have only found that annoying for track day once it got over the 110 mph mark, cant say I would need much more on the highway.

 

I don't know... beats an MX-5.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=wAUVEq6sG3c

 

that Atom is soo wicked.

I have haard of car magazine getting below 6 seconds. They probably didn't care about clutches or longevity of the car.

 

Also beats a GTI mkv.
For a small hatchback its a quick car.

 

As stated earlier, the Mini is an excellent compromise between performance and fuel economy. Hard to beat the curb appeal of the Mini, the overall sport performance, and still get over 30 mpg in most driving situations.

For perspective sake, looking at two-wheel transportation, my stock Yamaha FJR 1300A gets 40-50 mpg in all conditions and has a 0-60 time of approx 3.2 -3.4 sec depending on the rider. That is with full luggage attached with no engine improvements. If I need a speed fix, just jump on the bike for a while and the Mini seems just fine.

 

Best bang for the buck on 4 wheels, IMO, is .......(drum rolls)............................ 135i. Under $40K and under 5 sec.

 

It's amazing how some folks are comparing this car to muscle cars or super sports cars. 6.5 secs is not slow for any car. The mini is fast...and the other cars are just faster period! This car is plenty fast for what it is. The quickness/handling in everyday driving around town can't be beat.

I've found really high powered cars in the city usually give to much acceleration with not enough room to put the handling to good use. The mini fits the bill nicely. Nice performance balanced by terrific handling.

 

Well, for actual numbers:

Using the old stopwatch method, with nobody else in the vehicle, all stock, 17inch wheels, 150lb driver, stock runflats, full gas tank, and automatic (I'm sorry...) I turned off DSC and Sport button on, launched from 2200rpm I believe mostly... any more the stock rubber just wouldn't hold.

Lowest time I got was 6.44, which was just a perfect launch, and didn't happen again. That was my sixth launch I believe.

Highest was 7.3 , terrible everything. It was averaging around 6.6-7.0, which is plenty good enough for the city I drive in. I hardly get on the highway, so I was pleased with these numbers. Besides, going 60 in this little town is a big way to lose your license, especially since the speed limit is 30 in most places.

Don't need high numbers to have fun in this twisty town. A joy, joy, joy! Anyway, new wheels and tires would improve the time quite a bit... this car hates these tires.

DISCLAIMER: I did these on an empty back road in the middle of the night... I believe it was County Road 44 or something to that effect. Not a house in sight. And the speed limit is 70 out there, but boring... it's a long, straight road.