Bani new car shopping: 2006 Mini Cooper S

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Bani new car shopping: 2006 Mini Cooper S

Post by bani »

I'm shopping for a new car. To help sort out the decision I'm putting down my test drive notes 'on paper'.

2006 MINI Cooper S

Trim tested

Sport package, Automatic Transmission

First impressions:

That's a *small* car...

Interior

Utterly hilarious.

Just about the only things that are where you expect them are the steering wheel and turn indicator stalk.

Door locks are on the center console in a row of toggle switches with those protective rails between them like you see on military hardware or space shuttle control panel.

Materials and styling are retro-futuristic. Sorta Jetsons-ish or art-deco. Control stalks off the steering wheel have big bulbous ends. Air conditioner vents look like jet engine exhausts. Big white dials with brightly shiny polished plastic around them make them look like giant watch faces.

Door interior latches are all the way forward near the door hinge, styled in a way that they hide amongst all the other trim inside the car, nearly perfectly camoflauged.

Ergonomic it definitely is not :P

And again, someone made the boneheaded decision to design a parking brake that bumps into the center armrest... when audi engineers attack?

The seats have a sporty design but are a bit hard, and not particularly comfortable.

Storage space with seats up is non existent. You could fit a towel and maybe a weinerdog in there, but not much else.

Exterior

Box with wheels at the extreme corners. I don't think they could have put the wheels any further out or they'd fall off...

Exhaust pipe is way oversized, the engine isn't nearly powerful enough to justify it.

Road Test

Steering is very sharp, and the car is very chuckable. It can turn very nimbly at speed, although when trying to corner hard I kept hitting the steering stops. I suspect the car could turn even harder, but they artificially limited the steering angle so people wouldn't flip the car. There is almost no body lean, due to the lowered profile and super stiff suspension (more on that later).

Car has lots of grip, but when it lets go it does so without any advance notice. It is also difficult to recover, with the car tending to shimmy its tail every which way. You definitely have to be very alert when pushing this car to its limits.

When moving slowly (eg parking) the turning circle is much wider than one would expect from such a small car. A bit disappointing.

The suspension is probably the stiffest i've ever driven, even stiffer than my friend's STI. Combined with the ultra lowered suspension, makes this car a nightmare when it comes to even small bumps. You'll scrape this car on almost everything, even travelling at 2mph. Makes one paranoid to even drive down normal city streets, for fear you're going to drive over a pebble and scrape the underside. It also makes for a pretty harsh and noisy ride, even at 30mph.

The engine is utterly hilarious, with a funky growl from the supercharger, and a silly burble on downshifts. It's like a giant chihuahua with a severe case of flatulence was inside the engine.

Acceleration is not particularly hard, and the gearbox like most automatics is an utter disappointment.

Conclusion

This is a total clown car.

Silly in every conceivable way.

Silly engine.
Silly handling.
Silly interior.

When I drive this car I feel like i should be wearing a big red rubber nose, a silly hat, and giant floppy shoes.

It's also a very expensive car for what you get.

It's a total riot to drive, never boring. But I would not buy one in a million years. I'd never diss anyone who drives one though. :D Because I understand why people buy them -- they are utterly unlike any other car on the road.
Last edited by bani on Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Nail »

The original Cooper S was an absolute riot to drive, easy to get BMC race/rally parts, great ice-racing car
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Post by deej »

This is a car you buy with the heart, not with common sense ;-). I see it as a big go-kart. Pure driving fun but not very practical.
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Post by bani »

TBH I found the GTI much more fun to drive. The Cooper S is raw and unrefined and if you arent paying 100% full attention 100% of the time the car will kick you in the head. But then some people like kickbox sparring with their car, and so the Cooper S will appeal to them.
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Re: Bani new car shopping: 2006 Mini Cooper S

Post by ReyalP »

bani wrote: 2006 MINI Cooper S

Trim tested

Sport package, Automatic Transmission
Not that it sounds like it would change the overall conclusion, but this isn't the sort of car I'd choose to equip with a snotomatic :?
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Re: Bani new car shopping: 2006 Mini Cooper S

Post by deej »

ReyalP wrote:Not that it sounds like it would change the overall conclusion, but this isn't the sort of car I'd choose to equip with a snotomatic :?
It's not an old Chrysler 3-gear "my shifting lags" automatic anymore ;).
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Re: Bani new car shopping: 2006 Mini Cooper S

Post by bani »

ReyalP wrote:
bani wrote: 2006 MINI Cooper S

Trim tested

Sport package, Automatic Transmission
Not that it sounds like it would change the overall conclusion, but this isn't the sort of car I'd choose to equip with a snotomatic :?
that's all they had, automatic. wouldnt change the overall conclusion though -- Cooper S owners are insane :P
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Post by Nail »

I'd rather have an original, the new ones just aren't Minis, they just don't have the feel (drove one first time today, ok, but it's a statement, not a car) I feel safer throwing my Volvo around, way more predictable
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