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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences MINI Cooper Prices Paid and Buying Experience
1056 messages, Last post on Jul 03, 2008 at 10:51 PM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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Replying to: bijoubaby05 (Nov 19, 2007 3:10 pm)  . If you live where it gets sunny and hot, you would need to seek out an aftermarket shade for the moonroof - I would think. Or you will need dark sunglasses and extra time to cool off the car. The backseat is about unusable, but even more light/heat gets in back there too. A quick google shows some cloth things you can Velcro up to block all the sun, not sure how well they work or not - but I am positive there is something out there. You do a good deal of complaints out noise with the roof open, probably more so on the MINI with just a large opening - but that is sort of par for the course with most moonroofs. Dennis |
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Replying to: bijoubaby05 (Nov 19, 2007 12:03 am) So this is how I optioned it out, based on my needs. 2007 MINI Cooper S (1.6L 4cyl Turbo 6M) ZSP Sport Package (w/White Web-Spoke Wheels) 226 Sport Suspension 322 Comfort Access 2TA Limited Slip Differential 4BE English Oak Interior Trim 473 Center Arm Rest 384 White Alloy Wheels 327 Bonnet Stripes White 382 Roof/Mirror Caps in White Total with Options $25,659 Color: Chili Red I might rethink the arm rest and the oak interior I'd have to see those in person first. The dealer is just so far away.  Sunroofs can be a problem for all the reasons mentioned. Premium Pkg is ok if you want that. Leatherette is a personal choice but you will cough up a lot for leather which must be maintained with cleaners. For me Leatherette which is vinyl, really wears a lot better IMO. As far as performance enhancing things why buy a Mini if you don't get them? Fuel economy has me looking at the Mini as it also offers good performance. Might have to buy a Prius if gas keeps going up. 
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I had always owned leather until the mini and i love my leatherette. I can get out of the pool/ocean, toss my scuba gear in the back, hop in the front with a wet suit and never worry about hurting anything. Go ette! I get 30 MPG mixed, driving hard with my 07 Cooper S. It's not prius 45 mpg on 87 octane but smiles-per-mile are way higher!
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Replying to: blueguydotcom (Nov 20, 2007 11:19 am) I bet your MINI dealer isn't 1.5 hours away either. That's why I just don't bother because MINI has no interest in expanding their dealership network. So if you have a problem you are screwed. I can't take a day off of work to get my car serviced. The Prius I haven't driven, and yet next month I probably will try one out. Thing is I drive so much highway I wonder if it will really be worth getting and I've had lots of cars on long commutes and once you hit 70mph the fuel economy drops off. The MINI has a tall 6th gear so that really helps. I do tend to actually drive my cars and I get lower mileage as a result. I can't stand hypermilers they might save a few pennies a day but annoying to be stuck behind them unable to pass. They want to save the environment but how much extra fuel is used in passing them?
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Replying to: tiff_c (Nov 20, 2007 12:37 pm) They want to save the environment but how much extra fuel is used in passing them? I am the same way, I drive the cars as intended and the heck with the little extra cost . Someone in the xB mileage forum mentioned they were getting nice mileage but they were shifting at 3k! The xB does not have much power to start with, but shift that early and you are not seeing much of it. I can get 24-25mpg in the S2000 around town with the top down driving it like I stole it and about 28mpg on the highway with the top down. The MINI, I am told, does nicely even if driven with spirit but all require premium fuel. The biggest problem for me is the much more desirable S has way too much torque steer when you mash on the go pedal - they need to make a RWD MINI . As far as the hypermilers go, when they tailgate someone to improve THEIR mileage does that not cause the person dragging them along to have worse mileage? And as you said, when they keep a constant throttle then you have to pass them going up hills and they may coast past on going down. Having to go around them over and over surely does not help your mileage any. Dennis
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Replying to: tiff_c (Nov 20, 2007 12:37 pm) For me to get my car serviced I schedule it weeks in advance and take the car in at the for 7 am on a Saturday and either get a loaner or go for a really, really long walk. I've totally ignored some recall notice regarding a dash storage compartment as I don't keep anything in my car and I'm not blowing 4-5 hours of any day on something I'll never use.
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Replying to: dwynne (Nov 20, 2007 12:46 pm) I don't know what's going on with people that they experience torque steer to such a degree in this car. My wife will attest to the fact I drive my Cooper S like a mad-man and yet never have torque steer issues. 1. Do they press the S button? 2. Do they try to do WOT from a dead stop? 3. Do they not hold the wheel? Accelerate hard with FWD and the weight shifts back, thus you end up with several problems that can be avoided The lack of weight on the front tires/axle causes a loss of traction (with a Mini Cooper S the engine can easily spin the tires, lessen the pressure over the tires and that's even more pronounced). Steering, even with S-button action, will feel lighter in this situation as the contact patch is low and momentum/weight is on the back of the car, giving the illusion of loose steering. Torque steer will feel more pronounced in this situation now as there is so little contact/weight over the front axle, there's less to keep the wheels from moving naturally to the right. Quite simply applying throttle in the wrong way for a light FWD car like this creates torque steer. This isn't some 4k lbs caddy STS. Roll off the light and apply steadily increasing power. You can easily smoke just about every normal person off the line still. By 4k you should be nearing or at WOT. Hit the 1-2 shift, now go ahead with WOT as the weight won't be thrown off - weight over the front tires, good contact patch, zero torque steer, zero wheel spin. I don't even like FWD but all this whining about torque steer from Edmunds.com and others makes me wonder how people are driving any car that's FWD.
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Replying to: blueguydotcom (Nov 20, 2007 3:06 pm) My snow day xB even has some torque steer but with a lot less ponies under the hood not enough to bother me. Cars should be RWD or at least AWD - once you have driven performance RWD cars getting in any FWD is a compromise and it really "glares" in the S with a manual tranny. If you are used to FWD then it just more of the same and may not bother you as much. Good thing I didn't drive the demo with all the JCW stuff on it . Dennis
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Replying to: dwynne (Nov 20, 2007 4:46 pm) I understand the differences - I've gone from two BMW 330is (e46 ZHP 6MT, e90 ZSP 6MT) in a row to a R56 Cooper S 6MT. I didn't experience any torque steer with a Mazdaspeed3 but then again, unlike in a RWD car, I won't punch WOT unless I'm over 15-20 mph because quite frankly WOT in a powerful FWD car is pretty illogical. Heck, even in a cheese Chevy rental with a 4 pot and 4-speed auto WOT from a standstill can attempt to wrench the wheel. I'm not a FWD fan - as I clearly stated in my original post to you - but I don't think it's the least bit difficult to retrain your foot to massage the throttle from a standstill. Hell, you have to enter corners in a totally different way too. Press the S-button, massage the throttle, brake extremely late into corners...part of the R56 driving experience and 180 degrees from pushing an S2000 hard. You can't use the throttle to steer with a FWD...unless you want to end up in a ditch. |
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Replying to: blueguydotcom (Nov 20, 2007 2:54 pm) For me to get my car serviced I schedule it weeks in advance and take the car in at the for 7 am on a Saturday and either get a loaner or go for a really, really long walk. So you are in about the same position I am in, distance wise. Is it worth going through all that for it?
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