across from old town pasadena, on the opposite side of the highway Trust me, you do not want to be in Switzerland. i'm bored. been here 8 yrs now. have my company here, so hard to leave as work related. But nothing to do here. Cars are nice but too expensive. like i said, in 2007 i bought a new POrsche Boxster S 3.4L and paid $120,000 for it. Bought in 2008 a new Audi S3 (sweet car that i know you guys don't have, but comparable to your R32, but feel nicer to drive hahaha) and paid about $65,000 for it. Economy hit me bad this last year and had to sell the Porsche and buy the Mini cabrio as i love having a cabrio even if i get to open the roof only 4 months out of the year. always worth it! i even have my roof open with the sun out and 9 degrees celsius.

We just got the new Audi RS5 out here. $118,000..but sweet *** car!

i wish i was back in SCal...roof open all the time there and volleyball. miss that too much.

weird on the insurance quotes. really. just doesn't make sense. oh well.. be happy if you got the cheaper one.

 

Ah north Pasadena... looking to buy a house there right now. I'm around the Trader Joe's by the 110 entrance, also by old town. Think I'd still like Switzerland, I love cold weather. My vacation before last was to Iceland in the winter after all! I would miss driving with all the windows down during winter though...

I'm thinking about a Golf R to replace the R32 should they come here, that's basically an Audi S3.

(sorry to thread jack)

 

[quote=thevelourfog;3003114]Ah north Pasadena... looking to buy a house there right now. I'm around the Trader Joe's by the 110 entrance, also by old town. Think I'd still like Switzerland, I love cold weather. My vacation before last was to Iceland in the winter after all! I would miss driving with all the windows down during winter though...

I'm thinking about a Golf R to replace the R32 should they come here, that's basically an Audi S3.

hey velour...the VW R is a sweet car, but the same as an R32 but with engine like the Audi S3. but interior wise, i prefer the Audi over the VW..just a high grade i guess. My colleague at work had 2 VW R32, so i know how they drive and feel inside...and i prefer the Audi S3. I bought one in 2007 for myself and then traded it in for the Porsche. and in 2008 i bought another new Audi S3 for my girlfriend as she loved the car and killed me for getting rid of it. women. You don't have the Scirocco R coming there? the car is a little bit 'ufo' shaped, but quite nice.

 

I'd love to get a Scirocco R, but we're not getting them here! Saw a few Scirocco's in Spain, sooo nice. Guess I'll have to 'settle' for the Golf R.

My wife actually drives the R32 mostly. Got the MINI for her and after I got the R for myself she took it over completely, I only get to drive it on the weekends!

 

hey velour...haha on your wife with the R32 over the Mini. but your Mini is more fun to drive, right? did you get the cabrio as you are in sunny SCali? The best color for the Scirocco R is in white. i have seen other colors here and i test drove one when they first came out with just the Scirocco. nice car..but nothing really special about it. When were you in Spain? where in Spain?

 

The MINI is more fun to drive, but it needs more power, better handling, audio, ect to make it what I really want... So I'm just gonna get a tune and call it a day until the next best thing comes out! White is my favorite color typically for cars and I'm sure I'd like our R32 that much more if it was Candy White, but since we got it slightly used, our only choice was Blue. The Blue is still pretty nice though.

We went to Portugal and Spain; Lisbon, Porto, Salamanca, Madrid, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Granada and Seville in a rental Fiat. Pretty fun trip! Where are you in Switzerland?

 

hey velour...white is nice on all cars. i like the white especially on the Audi A5/S5/RS5. it looks totally sweet.

nice South Europe trip you had with the Fiat. was it a Fiat Punto or Bravo or the little 500 (which is fun to drive also)? i fly down to Valencia, Spain 2 times a month for relaxation on the weekend in the sun and beach. love it down there. in Swiss...i'm in the Neuchatel region...near the capital city of Bern. BORING!!!!

 

Fiat Punto 1.3, not quite as nice to drive as a MINI! Drove through Valencia, it's really nice by the beach. I have relatives in Geneva, but I've never been. Will go someday, though I hear there's not a whole lot to do.

 

I have a 2008 Boxster, and have had a 2000 911 and a 2002 Boxster S. I also had a Cayenne S, but I hardly count that as a sports car.

So yesterday, I drive a buddy of mine down to the MINI dealership after failing to convince him there is only one convertible sports car in the world worthy of his hard earned dollars (well OK, 2 – Boxster and Boxster S). He’s intrigued by the Boxster, but only wants to waste, er, “invest” about $30k all totaled and would rather have new – or newish – instead of carefully used. In this category the MINI is an obvious choice and an admittedly cute option.

We first test drove a base convertible and my test ride from the passenger seat was favorable, but not overwhelmingly positive. The car rode a bit harsher than my Boxster, but was REALLY underpowered in comparison. On the test-drive loop we followed – a 10 mile mix of backroads, main thoroughfares, and highway – however, the car started to put a smile on my face in spite of its apparently missing engine. It felt so light and lively. And just a tiny bit skittish. It made great noises with a spot-on burble upon throttle lift. But still, not in the same league as the Boxster.

Then, we drove a Cooper S – WOW! Night an day difference for the power, and its sport suspension was so tight we could (and did) enjoy testing the various thickness of paint used by the street department to mark the road surface. The tires would reveal the presence of a dime laying in the road (and let you distinguish it from a penny) and the brakes would comply in case you wanted to stop and pick it up. When we crossed rough spots in the pavement, the little Cooper gave me just the slightest impression it was giving more than passing thought to flinging itself off the road or hopping into another lane. This feeling was amplified during a merge onto the freeway upon which the car was faced with a mid-corner road hazard caused by asphalt replacement.

Here was a car that felt, sounded, and handled like it was going much faster than the speedometer indicated. 25 in a 30 felt zippy. 30 in a 30 felt daring. 40 in a 30 felt like abandoning caution to the wind. And 45 felt HEROIC. I arrived back at the dealership lot with a big we-braved-death-and-burned-up-the-roads grin when in reality we barely broke the posted speed limit.

The dealer did not have the exact car my friend wanted on their lot, but had one in an overflow lot about 5 miles away, and volunteered to go get that car. While we waited, I suggested that my pal test drive my 2008 Boxster on that same test route for comparison, and he immediately agreed. It wasn’t a tough sell.

I let him puzzle over the ignition slot for about 30 seconds and only stopped him when he seemed about to try to jam the key into the radio. I told him the story of LeMans racing and why Porsches all have the key on the left.

Pulling out of the parking lot behind the wheel of his first Porsche and hitting the gas immediately produced a loud “Holy Sh**” from his gaping mouth and a completely hooliganized grin as he blasted past 45 in second gear with the Porsche sport exhaust howling in his ear. “A bit faster than the Coop,’ he said somewhat ironically. As we went around the same test route, I noticed the Boxster’s ride was FAR more comfortable than the MINI. Obstacles which seemed just short of aerial bomb damage in the MINI barely registered inside the cabin of the Boxster. And road curves that sent the MINI sniffing toward guardrails and parked cars ruffled the Boxster not at all. The real test was the road hazard mid-curve on the highway onramp which saw the MINI shift about 2 inches to the left as each axle crossed it – the Boxster took it all in stride. “that’s where your suspension dollars go” I said a bit smugly at this point.

25 in a 30 felt like … are we moving? 40 in a 30 felt like 25 in the MINI. 50 in a 30 felt…about right. But as we finished the test drive approached the parking lot, I couldn’t help feeling like the Boxster was heavy. It was serious. It was not about to take any guff from roads at any speeds close to the legal limit. It was comfortable and it was solid and it was…not as much fun?

As we parked the car and walked back toward the dealership, I asked if he was ready to look for a Porsche. He said “its really fast, and it is neat to be seen in it, but I think I’ll stick with the Coop.” Now, he does have 2 young children who fit in the MINI’s back seats much better than they fit into the Boxster’s back seats, but I don’t think that was it. For the kind of around-town driving he will be doing most of the time, the MINI is just more fun. And I couldn’t say I disagreed.

Now, out on the backroads, on the track, or on a long trip the Boxster S would totally overwhelm the MINI with its sophistication and power. Truly, it’s a grown up, serious piece of kit as the Brits might say. But I have to admit that the MINI has a certain joy that IS also present in the Boxster, but only when the Boxster is at much higher speeds.

Around town then, at legal speed limits….could the Boxster be TOO good?

I went back and drove a MINI myself. I have to say, around town the MINI is more fun. It falls into the category of "its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow." Not that the Mini is slow, but it makes the world seem faster than it is. The Boxster is so good it slows the world down. Speeds that wouldn't faze the Boxster seem epic in the Mini. That's kinda fun.

 

bryanmsi, well said, after many years of various BMW's and "P" cars, my 07 MCS is a keeper!

Mark