Mini Cooper owners?

Wife has a Cooper S and I hate it. Can’t wait to get rid of it.

 

Stick shift? Give ya $5 for it.

 

Haha. Yea, 6 speed manual. Fun to drive here and there, but it’s tight and I’m a small guy.

 

I enjoy my buddy's JCW edition. Im only 5-10/180lbs but have broad shoulders...i feel the fit is perfect.

 

I’m basically the same size 5-9/ 175, I get uncomfortable easy!

 

Mazda Miata? I've never had one, but everything I hear is they're reliable and fun to drive hard. Could get an older hardtop vert, or a newer RF if ragtop is not appealing to you. There's enough of them price should be reasonable, and not rare enough to feel bad for hacking it up later.

 

Also, maybe a celica or lexus sc300, older nissan 300z. I'd love a honda s2000, but it's insane what they go for. Someday I'm going to get a GT86

 

I've been looking at Minis for awhile too, my girlfriend wants a long traveled one, and after looking around concluded they're entire piles and would only be good for a body swap (which is essentially all she wants from it). Good luck with one if you get it haha

 

I have a 2014 F56 2dr Cooper S Hardtop and my wife has a 2014 R60 Countryman S All 4.

I love my car and have had zero issues (knock on wood). It has 220 hp and is a blast to drive. I do 80 and still get 30 mpgs. It's an automatic with paddle shifters.

My wife's car is a manual and is dun to drive as well. Doesn't zip around like mine but it's still fun regardless.

I'm 6'3" 220 lbs and fit in both with no issues. There's no rear seat leg room in mine. You have to be Lt Dan to rude in my back seat.

I believe the one you're looking at is a Gen 2. There are some know issues but there's lots of information out there. Check out the North American Motoring forum.

Mine


Wife's

 

@1UPPER has one that he could almost park under his truck

 

If I went the Mazda route, I'm no doubt getting a late 90s RX7. And at that point, I'd go balls deep in show car status lol.

See I see some folks have enjoyable experiences with Minis! I just have an issue seeing so many used with 100k miles and 5+ owners lol. Like why yall buying and selling it so frequently.

 

300Zs are on my radar too but feel like I'd end up with a 2JZ drift car lol.

 

Definitely will check that out. For what I want long term, I'd prefer the least amount of tech possible in it so a 2002-2007ish for when I want to swap it. I don't mind a barebones scooter car.

 

But racecar scooter go kart go fast man.

 

That's definitely a smart way to go. I bought mine used from Mini dealership and got the extended mx plan/warranty. Well worth it! It just expired though.

 

Yes it does. I took my boss for a ride and took a 90 degree turn at 60 mph and didn't hit the brakes. No issues! He drives a Challenger Hellcat and was very impressed by my Mini.

 

It’s like a German PT Cruiser!

 

My wife has to beat the ladies off of me with a stick because of my truck. Need something to repulse the female crowd.

 

I wasn't interested in this thread until I noticed this pic was posted

OP, German cars in general have a bad reputation for being money pits. That said, I have an 05 GTI and the truth is once I got through the neglected shit that previously owners couldn't bother to do, it became reliable a reliable daily driver. Once in a while some plastic tube breaks or a vacuum leak appears, I find and fix myself and its usually cheap.

If you're cool with working on your own cars, find a well maintained one and go. Do not buy a cheap one that's been neglected or has some problems. I made that mistake and instead of buying go-faster parts I spent 2 years buying un-fun parts like aluminum radiator pipes and power steering pumps and such.

If you take your cars to mechanics, don't buy a German car. I firmly believe that the majority (not all) of the bad reputation German cars have is from people taking them to mechanics and not understanding what is "wrong" when the mechanic says it needs repairs. Those people are better off with a Toyota or Honda.

If you do buy one and plan to work on it yourself, be prepared to buy some exotic tools you've never seen before. Germans love things like triple-square bits, torx bits, tamperproof torx bits, odd allen bits and such. No task is exciting enough without exotic toops according to Ze Germans.

 

I dated a woman with an S, it was wickedly fun to drive.


At night... wearing a hoodie... in cities where I don't live.


Just kidding, they're undeniably fun. My neighbor has one I did some work on and I enjoyed test driving it after.

 

I kinda wanted one so i grabbed a Volvo C30 type R so i would have something more reliable. The Turbo 5 is like 225 hp so its pretty fun to drive as is, only wish i had held out for a stick.

 

Thats the only stipulation. Need a manual, miss it.

 

Any reason you couldn't put that engine in the Camry? Ultimate sleeper? Cannonball Run?

 

As Jernik says,

Miata
Is
Always
The
Answer

Though I think you're legally obligated to swap Viper engines into them, from what I've read on the internet.

 

Good call here. I have a '91 that I absolutely love. The early NA miatas (pop up headlights) are starting to climb for nice ones but there are still deals to be had that the drift bois havent trashed. They are incredibly fun to drive. The community is toxic AF however.

 

I used to have a 2010 Clubman S. It was fun to drive for sure! Loved it! As some other have mentioned, cornered great, easily 80mph, and 30-32 mpg!! I loved the giddy up to 60 mph! It had 3 doors and the double doors in the back that always had a leak. I'm not a small guy but I actually didn't mind sitting in the backseat. It was a bitch to get in and out of the back seat though. I've heard both sides of the coin about reliability and apparently mine had issues! I bought it used, maybe 2-3 years old?! , and only had it 2 years before letting it go. I felt like I was on top of maintenance but it started to have some small issues. I'm fairly mechanically inclined but there is no room to work under the hood! I tired a few times but its too jam packed in there for me. Lol final blow for me was chasing an oil leak that they could never fix. And repairs are not cheap on them. For the money I spent and the time it was in the shop, I could have just bought a new turn key engine with a bigger turbo and it would have been less painful. Ultimately, I went to a Tacoma which I fell in love with for it reliability and low maintenance. I still miss driving the mini though! I always mention it to the wife about getting another one and she reminds me of chasing that oil leak! Touche. Lol

 

Camry is the wife's full time vehicle and she loves that thing so thats a no go. Plus there's something about stuffing a massive engine in a tiny clown car that appeals to me. Maybe a Datsun?

I think first and foremost need reliability for a couple of years before that even becomes a reality.

 

oh forgot to mention, there were lots of issues with that 2010 model, mainly around the turbo. They keep recalling it to add more shielding between it and the exhaust header?! The placement was the issue, it should have been mounted anywhere else but next to the exhaust header, they said it was overheating the turbo. I wanted to try and wrap the exhaust header to see if it would lower the radiant heat but I was 100% sure that would have helped much. I also had some electrical issues too.