Drove an S today. Took it up on the mountain foothill twisties. Some observations:

. This car stays very flat on curves. Driving the twisties is one heck of a lot of fun.

. Before my current Prius, I drove sport oriented turbo driven Saabs and Audis for years. This Getrag transmission and very smooth MCS clutch are by far the best combination I've experienced .. and no notchiness whatsoever.

. I appreciate the graduated steering sensitivity on this car. On some of my previous cars the steering was excellent at some speeds but unnecessarily twitchy and sensitive at others. I didn't notice any of this on this R56 S.

. I love a car that allows me to stay in the highest gear when driving up the mountains (turbo benefit). With this car, even accelerating on those hills brought immediately noticeable speed increase, even at elevation (~6,000 feet). Also, this is the first turbo driven car I've ever owned where there was no noticeable turbo lag. And .. I detected no torque steer.

. Wow! It will take some discipline to leave the sports button alone. I want good mileage though and I suspect I won't get it with that button pressed.

. This is a small car, smaller than anything I've ever owned. But when on the road, to me it feels like I'm driving a BMW. It simply does not feel like a small car, and certainly not like a reasonably decked out BMW like car that can be purchased for under $24,000.

. Immediately on stopping at a forest service parking area I was approached by one of the rangers. I thought he was going to tell me to slow down on those curves leading up to this place. All he wanted to do though was look at and talk about the car. He said he had read about the 2007 Mini Cooper in the Sunday paper and on seeing the car in person he was even more impressed than expected. Nice guy. This car is a real head-turner.

. Again I checked out entering and exiting the rear seat. The back seat will be alright for those with young kids or for riding with a fairly agile adult or two for very short trips, but for the most part the Mini Cooper, in my opinion, should be considered a two seater coupe having 24 cubic feet of luggage area (I'll probably just keep the back seats folded down).

A couple of other points:

. My car won't have a sunroof (don't want one). This one had some wind noise at freeway speeds (not a lot, but some). If I was buying the car I would insist that that be addressed. When I drove Audi's that was often a problem. One solution that worked in most cases was to put silicone grease on the seals. You might try that if you end up with a little wind noise up there.

Some of the controls are different than on other cars (radio, AC, etc). Like, tuning the radio or setting the auto air conditioning weren't as intuitive as I had expected. No big deal though. In no time at all adjustment of these controls will be second nature

 

Very nice... Denver area?

 

Thanks Ken C

 

Hey Ken, what suspension did it have on it? What was your opinion on it?

 

"JohnBLZ Very nice... Denver area?"

Nope: Sandia Mountains in New Mexico.

jmelrose Hey Ken, what suspension did it have on it? What was your opinion on it?

On the drive up toward La Luz Trail the ride seemed a bit more solid than I had expected based on the reviews I had read. So I checked the options listing and saw what I had expected, it had the sport suspension.

 

Hey Ken

Thanks for the VERY nice writeup.

How anemic is the Prius compared to the Mini? Right now these are the two contenders (Prius and Mini) for my next 'driver'. I drive close to 30K miles per year so that's the ONLY reason for considering the Prius. The Mini is much more appealing overall ................ except that it does seem somewhat small and the mileage is unproven at this point. FYI: I always carry my bike in the car and the Mini would be doable for that but just barely. I imagine the Prius would fit a bike .......... no problem.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

JohnG

 

The Prius is a good car that's very reliable and has reasonably decent pickup (0 - 60 in something over 10 seconds). The mileage varies all over the place. My mileage this winter has been around 38 - 39 mpg (now that it's warming up here it's around 43), where this past summer it was closer to 45. People who drive with the proverbial egg between foot and accelerator sometimes get closer to 50.

When I got This Prius it was very unique on the road. Now it's just common. I like driving and often like to take interesting trips. With this car though, that desire seems to have diminished to where I just see it as a means of getting from point A to point B. There's nothing interesting about driving it once you get over the novelty of the technology.

I miss the earlier Saab coupes and current Audis. They begged to be driven. The roads of interesting travel would often beckon. So .. I've decided not to continue with the Prius. Also, now that I've driven the MCS it seems silly to spend the extra bucks on an Audi or BMW (Saab has become less interesting in recent years).

So, if you want the highest possible level of reliability, gas mileage that's a better than the Mini Cooper's, more than decent storage area, and a car that falls in the category of 'good transportation' then I highly recommend the Prius. If you are leaning toward the Prius though I strongly recommend you NOT test drive an MC, especially don't drive the MCS.

 

Hi Ken

Very interesting...................... sort of my expectation from the two cars! My current inclination is the MC although a redesigned 09 Prius would need to be looked at. I will wait and see if the mileage in the MC can be mid 30's for 'normal' driving.

Thanks for the detailed response.
JohnG

JohnG

 

For what is worth, the R56 Cooper automatic is rated at 30MPG city and 37 Highway.

No doubt the 6-speed manual Cooper will easily go past 40MPG highway.

 

I admire your patience. Good luck.