Having owned two of each, I can say that MC is more than adequate for around-town-driving on the surface street and on relatively flat twisties that shows off just how much fun the Coopers are. But on freeways and highways when passing ability at high speed is important (where those SUVs speed up just to prevent dinky lil' MINI from passing), or on mountainous twisties where extra horses help to get you up that steep incline is where MCS shine.

So, really, it depends on what you need and how you drive. If you're a relatively calm driver, MC may be very well the best. Although, Calm driver you may be, with an MCS, it's hard to be a calm driver with a torque requester at the tip of your right foot.

 

R56,

Does the UK still use a larger gallon than the US?

 

It'll be interesting to see how the Cooper responds on the highway with 6 gears now at it's disposal. My take on the whole thing is matching up the right MINI to the owner's expectation. If power is your thing, get an MCS. If fuel economy is your thing, get an MC. Handling is equal and both are a total blast. For me, mpg = the type of performance I want, so I want to max out those numbers. Therefore I'll be getting another MC....no question. I've also learned to love (addicted to ) the nuances of the way Coopers drive. It's overall the best fit for me.

 

yes, this is in imperial gallons (4.54 litres), or about 1.2 US gallons

 

That is still about 30 mpg US gallons. Not bad at all. How heavy is your right foot? Do you baby it most of the time or enjoy some spirited driving to when you get those numbers?

 

Careful Skye2. You're used to experiencing the DIRECT relationship between angle of foot on the accelerator and degree to which the car thrusts forth. That's been my long term experience too. But on buying my current car I decided to grow up and go with the flow. I bought a very nice, highly sought after car that goes from 0 to 60 in the vicinity of 9 seconds. Unfortunately the memory of power breeds the need for power. I very much miss it, thus the current purchase of an MCS. The MC with it's excellent power to weight ratio would probably meet those needs, but I fear the automatic transmission would drain too much away. If I had more wisdom I'd more than likely wait for the manual transmission MC or maybe the automatic transmission MCS (actually, if I had more wisdom I'd stay with what I have), but apparently wisdom isn't one of my strong points. Desire for fun and excitement seems to overide.

Go for the S.

 

I'll have to test drive em both.................. but I'm certainly leaning toward the MC.

I rarely use anything close to the power in my current driver. And, I suspect a turbo would just incourage 'bad' behaviour.

JohnG

 

My commute to work takes me over a mountain. Thank goodness - it was the perfect justification for the extra HP in the MCS. But, I remember a zillion years ago when I drove an old VW. It was slow, but dang fun to drive and work through the gears. I'm positive an MC would be just as fun as that old VW - more. And one of my primary prerequisites for a car was good MPG, which will be one area where an MC will always outperform my MCS, and I'll always be a little jealous of that (and will work hard to get over it).

 

Damn, your probably right on that one. I will really have to watch it because I opted for no cruise with my S order.
Geez I think I'm gonna need a radar detector.

 

Honestly, pick your color first. This may be the deciding factor. At least for us it was. We knew it had to be blue, but we wanted to see Oxygen blue first before we made up our minds. But Laser Blue won out, so it's a 2007 MCS for us. Should be here in the middle of April.

 

Agree with Gokartride. I went Cooper with 6 speed manual. Should be a blast to drive and from all the reviews the new engine is much more responsive throughout the rev range, increasing the enjoyment. 120 hp on a car that weighs less than 2500 lbs will still move down the road, plenty of reviews of 07 MC out there to back that up.

Toyed around with S, but just not me. The MC will do fine and epa estimates of 32/40 sound nice. Surely we'll be back to $3/gallon gas soon.

 

Yes but Skye is getting an automatic. I think the MC is good enough for many as long as you get a manual. If you are getting an automatic, I think you should really consider getting the MCS

 

I'm considering a 07 MC or MCS with a 6 speed manual for replacing my 96 BMW 328i, and I'm struggling with this decision. I'm not particularly cost sensitive, but I am attacted to the idea of owning a car I can drive at 80% like the MC without putting my license in constant danger.

0-60 performance isn't a big issue for me, but I do need a car that will allow me to pass the 60 mph driver on 2 lane roads without spending too much time in the left lane, so I can drive my customary 70-75 mph.

I noticed that while the difference in 0-60 times is 1.8 seconds between the different models, the quarter mile time difference is only 1.5 seconds which suggests to me that passing performance may not be very different.

Unfortunately no 6 speed MC's have been produced to test drive yet according to other posts I have read on this thread.

 

Great thread - thank you!

 

I test drove the MC and MCS last weekend. The MC was an automatic with the punch carbon leather seats and the MCS was a stick with black lounge leather seats. The MC is adequate just as I suspected but I will most likely be going with the MCS in an automatic. The main reason is I like the grill better on the MCS. The next hardest decision is which of the 2 leather seats to get. black lounge or punch carbon. The next difficult decision is when to order one, this year or next year. Oh I should tell you that I was very impressed with the build quality. Much like a BMW. It is such a cool little car!