Does anyone else have MINI COOPER fever??? (1 Viewer)

[Ross Williams]

"Our slalom test revealed that the Mini can thread through the cones with moderate understeer and keep a blistering average speed of 67.6 mph, besting any current BMW, any Ferrari, and most Porsches!"

Oh wow! That sounds great. I've got to get out there and test drive one of these babies. That coupled with the great styling and the good gas mileage, this sounds like it's my first new car. Anybody got an extra 20K lying around that they want to give me?

The main problem I see with this car, is that when it breaks down it's gonna be more expensive to get fixed than your standard American or Japanese model. You'll have to take it to a more specialized mechanic. Or am I wrong? Please tell me I am.

 

[Aurel Savin]

Ross:
All the parts are mostly BMW supplied ... and they give you a 3 year Maintenance warranty (includes oil!) and a 4 year/50K warranty ... what more can you ask for?
All you gotta cough up is the low monthly payments for it .. and you are worry free; for the first 3-4 years anyway! By that time ,,, who knows what I want to do with it anyway.
This is what I am thinking ...

 

[Ross Williams]

Damn you Aurel, you've given me MINI COOPER fever!!

 

[Peter Kim]

Damn you both, Ross and Aurel. I've been infected, too! Although I'm still recovering from my Scirocco daze. Anyone remember, because what happened to this car?

 

[Aurel Savin]

As of now ... there is zero ads on the part of MINI for the car. I saw some billboards on the highway here in NY, but they are subtle ads, with no picture of the car at all (stuff like GOLIATH LOSES) ... so there really is no hype for the car.
The local dealer has 50 pre-orders for it and I could get one by mid-May ... totally custom!
The dealer also said and I think this will be true .. that once theyare on the road, the orders will sky-rocket and a possible long waiting time for one.
Do you guys remember what happened to the PT Cruiser 2 years ago?
BTW: Here is a link to kbb.com with all the full specs including MPG ...they must have just uploaded this:
http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.n...ooper&M26M1A2&
Sorry for the fever guys

 

[Lisel]

I think the Mini Cooper S looks sweet! I'm hoping to see it at the NY International Auto Show.
Lisel

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

If the free scheduled maintenance is anything like it was on my '97 M3, they cover oil changes every 10k miles or so. I treated it as some free oil changes between the ones I did myself.

Andrej

 

[Eric Kahn]

wait 3 months then buy a new golf GTI with either the new 180 HP turbo 4 or the new 205 HP VR6, both of which will have a 6 speed manual and fit tall people really well, I am 6 foot 6 inches, 400 Lbs and I fit, have not been able to try a new sortof mini cooper yet though

 

[Shane Martin]

The Mini Cooper S looks like a winner for the price they want. I've got Mini Fever now!
Thanks Aurel

 

[Rob Gillespie]

All the parts are mostly BMW supplied

That's because the car is made by BMW. They inhereted the Mini name while they owned the Rover group in England.
We had a look at the Mini today. My girlfriend is interested in one. Absolutely gorgeous little car, especially the Cooper (the 'S' model, 168bhp, doesn't come out for a couple of months). I was absolutely staggered by the build quality. Close the door or the tailgate and you get a deep 'clunk' that is usually only heard on BMW 5-series and the like. Amazing considering the size of the car. The gear stick felt awesome, so solid and crisp. Make no mistake, this is a BMW.

 

[Francois Caron]

There's been no lack of commercial spots for the Mini here in Canada. It features a series of sequences showing how even the smallest things can overpower huge contenders. David and Goliath. An elephant and a mouse. A guy and a hot pepper. Then they show the car.
This is probably the only car I can comfortably park in my narrow parking spot! The only problem is that I'm now renting it out to someone else at this time.

 

[Richard Cooper]

Mini Cooper:

I think they're hideous.
'nuff said.

 

[Lance Nichols]

The Vibe, isn't that just a slightly reworked version of the Pontiac "But-ugly"? You know, the "segment buster" that the gerneral rushed out to try and compete with the Cruiser from Chrysler?

Still ugly, but not nearly as ugly as sin as the original version.

 

[MikeM]

Hey, I test drove a Mini Cooper yesterday!
The Cooper-S should be available for a test drive by the end of the week, but here are my first impressions of the standard Cooper (kind of LONG):
The Good News: This is a FUN car! The engine is extremely quiet. The 5 speed manual transmission literally locks smoothly into place when driving. Very tight. Accelleration is very nice. I quickly took it up to 90MPH without even noticing by the ride. Very good fuel economy too at 27MPG/37MPG HWY!
The exterior styling looks very clean, and it's interior is much larger than I expected. It really can accomidate a driver of 6'7". I'm 6'3" and had a ton of headroom to spare. I even moved the seat back so far that I had to move it up a bit while driving. (The bad news is that if I'm driving, there's no way in hell someone's going to be able to sit behind me, so it instanly becomes a "3 seater".) I also never felt like this was a "Death Trap" at all. In fact, I drove there in a Miata and that feels much smaller than the Cooper. The Cooper is actually nice and wide, and feels taller than expected. I was next to an Excursion at a red light, and didn't feel like I was an accident waiting to happen at all.
An interesting little feature I noticed was closing the doors. When I closed the door, I saw that the window actually automatically raises up when closed to form more of a "vaccum" in the cabin. Interesting feature. That must help to yield the quieter ride.
Cornering is also excellent as well. There just so happened to be an abandoned Montgomery Wards parking lot nearby, so during the test drive, I really slammed it around rally style, and it felt great. (The Cooper-S is supposed to corner even better).
The Bad News: To me, the interior styling of the standard Cooper is bizarre. Some may love it, others like me will not. Everything is overly rounded and makes it looks like a Japanese "Hello Kitty Mobile" or something. The Speedometer in the center of the dash is HUGE. I know they were going for the vintage rally style, but it looks way too big for this car. It almost looks like a BIG version of the clock that Flava Flav wears around his neck in Public Enemy. The face is also cheap plastic as well, and with its size, looks like it will attract scratches like a magnet. It gives it a very unprofessional look and comes off looking very childish in my opinion.
I have to disagree with Rob. The interior parts are very cheap. The internal door handles are a joke. They are semi-circles of round plastic, painted to look chrome. These look like they'll break or get loose in a matter of weeks. When pulled out, the door opens. When pulled out and slightly downward, the damn thing could break right off! Since this is a vital part you'll use daily, this is not the part to skimp on.
Also, the internal doors have what appear to be chrome beams for added styling. They look great, but they too are plastic and very flimsy. The worst was the interior sponge roof. It feels like styrafome with a linen cover. I gently pushed into with my thumb, and afterwards there was an impression! I was extremely gentle but it left a lot to be desired.
The glove compartment door was also just a big piece of thin plastic that was virtually impossible to open if a passenger was actually sitting in their seat. This was both cheap and an odd design to me as well.
Summary? The zip to the engine, excellent fuel economy and tight cornering make it FUN to drive! However, the interior styling, and cheap interior parts are a big drawback and only make me wonder at the quality of the engine parts under the hood (or....umm..."bonnet"). So I really have to wonder at the reliability of this car.
I hope to know more when I can get behind the wheel of a Cooper-S. We'll see.

 

[Aurel Savin]

MikeM:
Great review ... I finally got around to take a look at the Cooper on Saturday as well. Didn't get to drive it as the dealer didn't get it's dealers license as of yet.
The fit is great, I am 6'7" and I fit in no problem with room to spare, although like Mike said, the back seat behind the driver has only room for some grocery bags
The car is very airy especially the one with the dual pane moonroof. It actually feels huge inside!!!
The doors and rear hatch close with an authority that most American cars cannot duplicate at any price range. The body feels and looks solid!
I do agree with Mike on the interior. I did not find it childish but rather different, much better than the cookie cutter interiors of other cars though ... I do agree on the door handle (interior one) being flimsy. It looks like it was done this way to enhance design not practicality or durability.
I think for the money though the car look unbeatable ... this thing will be everywhere in a few years ... mark my words!
There is definettely one in my future

 

[Jay H]

Hey Mike, nice review, I happen to see one out on the road on Saturday while I was biking. I agree that it isn't as small as it kind of looks like in pictures. Made me smile and give a thumbs up to the guy as I rode by. How much was the MSRP on the model that you drove? I guess the one I saw wasn't an 'S' but I couldn't tell as I saw the Cooper out the side of my eye as I sped on going by the other way.

Jay

 

[MikeM]

The Cooper I drove was the Standard edition (not the "S") with an MSRP of $17k.
Oh, and if you head into your Mini Dealer, pickup the brochure on the Mini. Very cool pics and such, but I have no idea if they were trying to be funny/alternative with the copy inside, but man, was that ever written poorly. Here's an example of one of the safety features (as written in the brochure):
"Massive side-impact door beams are massive and protect against side impact."
Wow, that's re-redundant.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I have to disagree with Rob. The interior parts are very cheap.

Well, to be fair I was talking about the mechanical and exterior build rather than the interior - which I agree to a certaint extent does have a rather plasticky feel. But hey, if you want Audi TT interior you've got to pay for it.

The problem with the Mini (at least in this country) is that the price soon starts mounting up when you add in the extras. The Mini One for example, doesn't come with a rev counter as standard, nor air-con, nor alloys. This is what eventually turned my girlfriend off this car. She loved driving it (very smooth indeed and the gear box feels amazing), but with the extra bits she wanted a £10,000 car was suddenly £12,000.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

However, the interior styling, and cheap interior parts are a big drawback and only make me wonder at the quality of the engine parts under the hood (or....umm..."bonnet"). So I really have to wonder at the reliability of this car.

The money has gone into the styling and mechanical integrity. 'BMW' and 'unreliable' just don't mix.

 

[MikeM]

The money has gone into the styling and mechanical integrity. 'BMW' and 'unreliable' just don't mix.

Ron, I hear ya, but as you essentially said in the previous post, you get what you pay for. As with any new line of cars, the first run is usually the worst in terms of reliability.

Plus, this is not a standard BMW "luxury car". If they wanted to bank on the BMW image, you'd see a BMW logo on it. The fact that they want to have an alternative economy car that challenges the VW Bug, etc, is what gives me pause for any luxury car maker like BMW. They can't have it both ways. If it's a "true" BMW, and marketed with more expensive interior parts and such, then most likely they'd be alienating the exact audience they're trying to appeal to.

Which is why until they're out and about for years to come, the reliability cannot be compared to a true $30k+ BMW. We'll have to wait and see, and I'm rooting for the Mini to do very well here in the states.