- Joined
- Sep 15, 1999
- Messages
- 3,319
The Mini Cooper is supposed to be a very fun car to drive. Who has one? Likes? Dislikes? Real world gas mileage?
Scott
Scott
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Who Drives a Mini Cooper
- Thread starter Scott Free
- Start date
Sorry Danbo... you WILL fit! I've a co-worker your size (literally - he's 6' 5" and at least 225 lbs) who loves his... he does admit, however, that visually it sometimes appears he is driving from the back seat! 
But he loves it and actually takes it out on the local race course when his mini club has the track!
But he loves it and actually takes it out on the local race course when his mini club has the track!
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2001
- Messages
- 5,105
With the works package. 200 hP of fun. Imagine a go-kart with a/c. Test drive one. I'm 6 foot and I can put the seat back and down far enough not to be able to drive. Real world mpg..avg 27 in town. 33+ on highway..This is with reserved driving. On the tail of the dragon, 318 turns in 11 miles, route 129 MPG went way down, but grin factor went way up.
Not mine but very similar.
Paul
Not mine but very similar.
Paul
They "had" some issues with stuttering and dying under light acceleration when they came out. I do not know, however, if this is cured. I'd assume that it is... or at the very least is fixable under warranty!
I like the originals, but the new ones... are kind of like the new bug, nostalgic but it just isnt the "same."
I think you'd be pleased power wise with the supercharged version! Small car, decent power... just change the oil!
In the same small car, big grins... the WRX is a nice car.
I'd just as soon look at the GTO if your looking for a 2 door play toy. Plain on the outside... FAST on the insides. Its a euro style car, more handling than straight line... but more straight line than the auzzie version.
Whatever you choose, if its late model... and you sell it before the warranty is out, you'll be pleased.
I like the originals, but the new ones... are kind of like the new bug, nostalgic but it just isnt the "same."
I think you'd be pleased power wise with the supercharged version! Small car, decent power... just change the oil!
In the same small car, big grins... the WRX is a nice car.
I'd just as soon look at the GTO if your looking for a 2 door play toy. Plain on the outside... FAST on the insides. Its a euro style car, more handling than straight line... but more straight line than the auzzie version.
Whatever you choose, if its late model... and you sell it before the warranty is out, you'll be pleased.
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2001
- Messages
- 5,105
I know what you mean. Having been involved with a Triumph TR6 and a friend that has an original mini. I know exactly what I am missing. The wonder if my lights will work, and the ignition, oh the lack of an oil puddle under my car. The greasy bloodied knuckles from the weekends under my car....I had a super bug too, so I know the diff between those two. The new bug is missing that nostalgic no defrosters, puppy's breath heat on your ankles. 300 mile oil changes since there was no oil filter.
Its real easy to be nostalgic when you dont have to rely on that outdated antique as daily transportation. Do I like the original mini better than the new? Styling, yes..THe actual living with it no way. That's the reason why my Kawasaki Zephyr get more miles than my '71 Norton Commando.
WRX? cool, but quirky Subie styling, Air scoop looks like a mail box opening.
GTO? Little bigger than Mini and Subie.
Got cash? Lotus Elise about 49K
Paul
- Joined
- Jun 9, 1999
- Messages
- 4,729
I haven't driven one, but I hear good things and they have an interesting look. I'd think of buying one but I don't know where I'd put my bike.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 1999
- Messages
- 2,277
I have yet to drive one. I have sat in them and while they give me plenty of head space, I'm 5'5" when gravity isn't at it's max, I am right up against the door. Very tight in that aspect.
I have heard it has incredible handling! I'd love to try it out.
Lotus Elise, based on the numbers, is a drivers dream! Less than a ton, around 200hp, mid 4's 0-60, 1.06 on the skid pad!!!!
I have heard it has incredible handling! I'd love to try it out.
Lotus Elise, based on the numbers, is a drivers dream! Less than a ton, around 200hp, mid 4's 0-60, 1.06 on the skid pad!!!!
GarageBoy said:
I've poked around a bit on corvetteforum, but never signed up. I mostly hang around z06vette.com.
No performance mods (yet), only some frame savers out front for those steep inclines...honestly I can barely drive it to its maximum potential - it's a better car than I am a driver...one of these days I'm going to a performance driving school, which several friends of mine have gone to and stepped it up a notch as drivers.
One of these years I'd love to do the Lingenfelter 427 twin-turbo setup, but if I did it now I'd probably kill myself with it
I'll try to remember to post some pics when I get it washed again
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2004
- Messages
- 744
Ok, let me give y'all some info on the MINI...I have had a passion for coopers for years, but I cannot afford one.
First, the MINI was designed to comfortably hold somebody up to 6'7", and of quite a bit of weight. I am 6'4" about 280 lbs and I comfortably fit in a Cooper with plenty of headroom.
The cooper's susupension is the same from the BMW 3-series, in particular the M3. The car handles like a dream.
Remember, the car wasnt meant to be straight line fast, it was built to turn. The wheels are at the fathest corners of the car, so it's almost a street-legal go-kart.
First, the MINI was designed to comfortably hold somebody up to 6'7", and of quite a bit of weight. I am 6'4" about 280 lbs and I comfortably fit in a Cooper with plenty of headroom.
The cooper's susupension is the same from the BMW 3-series, in particular the M3. The car handles like a dream.
Remember, the car wasnt meant to be straight line fast, it was built to turn. The wheels are at the fathest corners of the car, so it's almost a street-legal go-kart.
Thank you, Paul, for reminding us that the originals of these cars were not what nostalgia says that they were. I had a British friend in college in the 1960s who drove a 1275S Mini-Cooper, the best of the bunch. He was happy as a lark with it as long as he stayed on the East Coast. But he tried to drive it across the country one summer and burned out the engine in Wyoming, IIRC. The car was just not made for long high-speed running and crossing the Great Plains was quite an experience for him. He came back to school that fall with a Chevy Impala that had replaced the Mini-Cooper.
I had a TR-4 in college and was a member of the Triumph Sport Owners Association so that I could learn to keep the damned thing running.* If I could have one today as a toy and nothing more, I'd love it, but my Ford Focus ZTS four door sedan would easily out-handle and out-brake it, if not out accelerate it.
* Oh, the joys of adjusting twin SU carburetors!
I had a TR-4 in college and was a member of the Triumph Sport Owners Association so that I could learn to keep the damned thing running.* If I could have one today as a toy and nothing more, I'd love it, but my Ford Focus ZTS four door sedan would easily out-handle and out-brake it, if not out accelerate it.
* Oh, the joys of adjusting twin SU carburetors!
It is entirely possible to use a vintage car as a daily driver.
I have a friend who drives a '66 Ford Ranchero every day, another one who has no vehicle besides a '69 Mustang, and I drive a '77 Lincoln Continental.
Granted, we're all very much "car guys" who can sort out any problems that these cars have but as long as you get a good one to start with and keep up on maintainence they are considerably more reliable (and infinately easier to work on) than a modern "computer on wheels". Little malfunctions and the occasional couple hours spent under the hood are just part of the fun. Really.
We're all college students, so large sums of money aren't required. In fact, in what we're saving on payments, insurance, and repair and maintainence costs it comes out to be significantly cheaper to own a classic than driving a modern econobox.
The benefits in terms of individuality, style, fun, pride of ownership, and sheer driving pleasure are tremendous. Plus chicks dig them.
Regarding the Mini; I have not been terrible impressed by them. They are decent, but the standard version is rather short on power, the interior quality is not at all up to the price level of the car, and there have been more than a few disconcerting reports about their initial reliability. Cargo room is quite poor and I find FWD unbearable (I live in the snow belt, RWD works just fine) but that is more a matter of opinion.
If I were looking for a car in this class I'd be much more inclined to go with the WRX, or possibly even a Crossfire.
If you just want a street-legal go-kart the new blown Mazdaspeed Miata is worth a look.
I have a friend who drives a '66 Ford Ranchero every day, another one who has no vehicle besides a '69 Mustang, and I drive a '77 Lincoln Continental.
Granted, we're all very much "car guys" who can sort out any problems that these cars have but as long as you get a good one to start with and keep up on maintainence they are considerably more reliable (and infinately easier to work on) than a modern "computer on wheels". Little malfunctions and the occasional couple hours spent under the hood are just part of the fun. Really.
We're all college students, so large sums of money aren't required. In fact, in what we're saving on payments, insurance, and repair and maintainence costs it comes out to be significantly cheaper to own a classic than driving a modern econobox.
The benefits in terms of individuality, style, fun, pride of ownership, and sheer driving pleasure are tremendous. Plus chicks dig them.
Regarding the Mini; I have not been terrible impressed by them. They are decent, but the standard version is rather short on power, the interior quality is not at all up to the price level of the car, and there have been more than a few disconcerting reports about their initial reliability. Cargo room is quite poor and I find FWD unbearable (I live in the snow belt, RWD works just fine) but that is more a matter of opinion.
If I were looking for a car in this class I'd be much more inclined to go with the WRX, or possibly even a Crossfire.
If you just want a street-legal go-kart the new blown Mazdaspeed Miata is worth a look.
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2002
- Messages
- 3,411
-I had a 1970 Triumph Spitfire mark III once. Great fun to drive but a nightmare to own. :grumpy:FullerH said:
Old -style Minis, driven a few. I drove a brand-new one around Normandy once, but they're really a city car. Never driven a Cooper, though.
Best car I ever had - MG Maestro 2.0efi.
Andrew.