Mini Cooper S

[pdxjim]

We traded in my wife's '16 CX-5 for a '19 Rav4 Hybrid back in December.

This left my wife driving my broke-ass '05 Prius, which she was not at all stoked about.

So, we picked up this '18 Mini Cooper S for her.



Holy shit, I love it!  It's like a 200hp gokart.

In fact, I love it so much, I'm gonna drive it on our annual Gold Rush ride out to eastern Oregon.  350mi each way of high desert twisties.  It'll be high 90's/low 100's, so I'll be sitting pretty with the AC and a cooler of beer.

I've done the ride at least 10 times on a 2T 250.  This year'll be a little different.   Specs say 146mph top speed.  We'll see about that.

[DesmoDrew]

   Very cool!  I have looked at those since they first re-released the Mini.  I have taken 4-wheels on 2-wheeled rides before.  When it's hot-as-balls or pouring rain.  My mantra is, 'I'm not afraid to be comfortable!'. 

[m in sc]

BMWs are nice to drive, ive driven a few z3 and z4's.

But that not a real mini, only in name. Nice cars over all though.   

[EE]

Yep I love my mini :)

[pdxjim]

BMWs are nice to drive, ive driven a few z3 and z4's.

But that not a real mini, only in name. Nice cars over all though.   

It's true.

Newest gen F55-59 are all BMW and assembled in England.  2L turbo B48 engine is used in many other bimmers including the Z4 and newest gen Toyota Supra.

Kinda reminds me of an RD.  Small, light, nimble and easily underestimated.

Tons of aftermarket support as well.

[pdxjim]

Wow.

Put 700mi on the Mini this weekend. 90% twisty rural two lane hwy.  Lots of fun bashing corners and dicing it up with the bikes ... saw 135mph a couple of times.

It really is an amazing little car.  Handles so nice and the dual clutch tiptronic trans is smooth as butter.

[sav0r]

I've had a few modern Mini's now. So much fun, but they have been maintenance nightmares. That said, we've been looking at getting another one.

[rodneya]

Wow.

Put 700mi on the Mini this weekend. 90% rural two lane hwy.  Lots of fun dicing it up with the bikes and saw 135mph a couple of times.

It really is an amazing little car.  Handles so nice and the dual clutch tiptronic trans is smooth as butter.

Ive had quite a few of the original Mini's, and their transmission was anything but smooth. Straight cut gears sitting basically sitting in the engines oil pan gave a nice notchy wine. In the late 80's a shop in the UK came out with a fifth gear conversion for the trans that was described as a volume control.

[pdxjim]

I've had a few modern Mini's now. So much fun, but they have been maintenance nightmares. That said, we've been looking at getting another one.

Supposedly the 2015+ F models are lightyears ahead of the rest. 

My only regret is I didn't talk the wife into a JCW. 

[sav0r]

I'm not sure if I am into the newest models or not. A nice CPO one might be in my future though.

My father has been a Mini maniac for quite a while now. Modern Mini's not shown.

[sav0r]

We bought a used Clubman S. It's definitely not as good as the proper Mini, but it works well with the family. My wife lost her mind when she saw projector door handle light, and that was that. It doesn't have the navigation package, which is a bummer because the iDrive system is terrible IMO. iDrive is easily the biggest let down of these cars.

[pdxjim]

It's true, the BMW iDrive 4 head unit super sucks.  I just use Waze on my phone.

The HK stereo sounds good and the Sirius XM still works for free, so that's cool.

The Apple CarPlay in our RAV4 is a waaay better interface

[sav0r]

My '13 Sportwagen has CarPlay and we love it. I've seen a few devices around the web that plug into the back of the iDrive setup and provide CarPlay via the knob. I might give one of those a shot. At like $250 it's pricy but probably worth it in the long run.