RE: MINI John Cooper Works

[cocojambo18]

Well done you.

[fergy]

SEFTON1275GT said:

you'll still look like a gay in a bmw mini!

Just in the heads of small minded tts...

...opps..that probably makes you one...

[stew-S160]

i had my first drive of a new mini yesterday. it was an 03 cooper S.
i really didn't see what all the fuss was about. it didn't feel anything special to me.
it had a comfy ride by my standards. power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

glad i never bought one.

[okgo]

stew-S160 said:

i had my first drive of a new mini yesterday. it was an 03 cooper S.
i really didn't see what all the fuss was about. it didn't feel anything special to me.
it had a comfy ride by my standards. power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

glad i never bought one.

Newer ones IMO are preferable to the pre facelift ( 56 )

[stew-S160]

okgo said:

stew-S160 said:

i had my first drive of a new mini yesterday. it was an 03 cooper S.
i really didn't see what all the fuss was about. it didn't feel anything special to me.
it had a comfy ride by my standards. power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

glad i never bought one.

Newer ones IMO are preferable to the pre facelift ( 56 )

well, doubt ill get the chance to drive one, but im really not that keen now anyway. id rather have a proper mini.

[adz740]

118118 said:

okgo said:

118118 said:

okgo said:

Superjuiced said:

I cant see how people are comparing the jcw to the likes of sts meganes and gtis. I have owned a cooper s and sold it after three months it was crap, instead i bought a t-sport corolla which is twice the car. The mini is tiny, impractical, has a bad ride, (which will be even worse in this jcw), overated not fast, and specced up could cost as much as a nissan 350z. Im sorry but in my opinion people are mugs who are paying a 10k premium when buying minis just to say with their limp wrists look at me im in a mini. Isnt this the same car that the engine is built not by bmw but subcontracted out to a Mexican division of GM? Incredible how a little marketing ploy has fooled millions into parting company with too much of their cash. £25k+ mini surely the second hand market must be more appealing where you could pick up something ten times the car

What a sad man indeed. As said above, if a car holds its value better than anything else it kind of doesn't matter if it costs a bit more.

I beg to differ, and say the JCW is a quick car. It is small hence the name ffs, people moan about how they have strayed from the original size, then other people like you moan its too small. Get a grip man.

The engines are very good I thought, they are not too bad on fuel, have enough pull ect.

They are expensive, but then they dont break, they feel well bolted together on the whole, and they have huge demand.

+1

J

I just drove another, there is no way that car can be classed as not fast. 3 up this thing felt very nippy.

+1

J

+1 as well!

Having owned a 350z for a bit now and previously having owned 3 mini's i have to say they are completely different cars and you can't directly compare them at all.

With regards to the gay comment i'm sure gay people drive many different makes and models of cars, not just exclusive to Mini's. Idiot!

[beeej]

stew-S160 said:

power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

Compared to what, a motorbike? A low-slung coupe? An Elise? It's an everyday car that eats corners for breakfast. And you tried to cane it down one junction of the motorway?

[ewenm]

I have to admit I don't get the new Mini-mania either. I drove a fair few miles on one of the early Coopers on lots of different roads and didn't find it comfortable or particularly involving. The comfort thing could just be because I'm the wrong shape for the car. The driving experience was ok, but not amazing, somewhat understeery when pushed (and that bloody powersteering whine!). They are good cars but, to me, not the driving nirvana that some hail them as.

[okgo]

I dont want to feel like I am preaching about them or anything, but I must say the sport versions really are much better than the lesser power ones.

And the facelift version is a vast improvement

If you are in the market get your self into a new cooper-s or works and see what you think

[stew-S160]

beeej said:

stew-S160 said:

power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

Compared to what, a motorbike? A low-slung coupe? An Elise? It's an everyday car that eats corners for breakfast. And you tried to cane it down one junction of the motorway?

compared to many cars ive driven. elise, integra type R, saxo vts, 106 gti, clio cup. all of them eat corners, all of them feel more 'special'.

motorway junction? no. B roads near Mira(the testing facility in the midlands). i later drove my missus 106 gti down the same roads which i know fairly well and had more enjoyment.

[Gsink]

I really dont understand why anyone would want to import anything japanese, why not work a little harder and buy a decent car, with prestige which you wont find in anything Japanese.

[Jason_W]

stew-S160 said:

i had my first drive of a new mini yesterday. it was an 03 cooper S.
i really didn't see what all the fuss was about. it didn't feel anything special to me.
it had a comfy ride by my standards. power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

glad i never bought one.

So, let me get this straight. You drove an inferior model that is five years out of date and you thought that would make a useful contribution to this thread?

Staggered, springs to mind.

As someone who's actually experienced this model, the one I drove didn't feel that much quicker than the MCS we have nor did the stoppers feel that special but then it hadn't been run in using my 'special method'. I think some of the testers so far have confused torque steer with bump steer which it certainly suffers from which can largely be eradicated by fitting decent normal tyres in place of the RFTs BMW still insists on fitting. How many cars in their range have been blighted by fitting these abortions and when will they learn?

What they have managed to is release some more power/torque without simply turning up the boost and the engine certainly felt more willing to spin relative to the standard unit but what would have been interesting would have been the sports suspension which combined with the 18s I have may well sort out the steering issue.

The other criticism is the price compared to a MCS. Well, when you consider the engine work (internals), uprated brakes plus the Aero kit which is standard on UK models then it starts to look excellent value especially when you consider residual values. I could get out of the existing MCS which is less than eighteen months old without any penalties which is a hell of a lot more than can be said for my Z4M which has to hold the record for the biggest freefall in history.

Would I buy one? Possibly, if for no other reason than to annoy all the drivers shouting out with all the handbag/poof's car comments but then with prejudices like that they're shutting themselves out of some great cars.

[d8mok]

IMO if u want a drivers car u wouldn't buy a new mini of any description,
Oh and if u wanted a practical car, u wouldnt buy a mini,

And if u wanted a well priced car, u wouldnt buy a mini.

So what exaxtly has it got going for it? apart from all its loyal followers who simply buy the badge??

[SEFTON1275GT]

No it's true you will look gay! lol

no seriously they are the number 1 car of choice for readers of a recent gay magazine (it was in the daily star car section the other friday)

[MK4 Slowride]

stew-S160 said:

it didn't feel anything special to me.
it had a comfy ride by my standards. power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

Are you sure you've actually driven one?

[okgo]

d8mok said:

IMO if u want a drivers car u wouldn't buy a new mini of any description,
Oh and if u wanted a practical car, u wouldnt buy a mini,

And if u wanted a well priced car, u wouldnt buy a mini.

So what exaxtly has it got going for it? apart from all its loyal followers who simply buy the badge??

Something as they are all over the roads, and are not being fazed by recent market problems anywhere near as much as other brands. I should know.

[pbirkett]

Gsink said:

I really dont understand why anyone would want to import anything japanese, why not work a little harder and buy a decent car, with prestige which you wont find in anything Japanese.

I really dont understand why anyone would go to the trouble of writing such a complete load of bks on a public forum.

Its fine if you dont like Japanese cars, but to try and suggest a BMW Mini is in some way "prestiged" in comparison to "anything Japanese" really is horse st. As for the working harder comment, there are an awful lot of Japanese imports that are more expensive than the Mini, and the reason for that is because they are faster and superior, as you would expect a more expensive car to be, really.

[stew-S160]

Jason_W said:

stew-S160 said:

i had my first drive of a new mini yesterday. it was an 03 cooper S.
i really didn't see what all the fuss was about. it didn't feel anything special to me.
it had a comfy ride by my standards. power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

glad i never bought one.

So, let me get this straight. You drove an inferior model that is five years out of date and you thought that would make a useful contribution to this thread?

Staggered, springs to mind.

As someone who's actually experienced this model, the one I drove didn't feel that much quicker than the MCS we have nor did the stoppers feel that special but then it hadn't been run in using my 'special method'. I think some of the testers so far have confused torque steer with bump steer which it certainly suffers from which can largely be eradicated by fitting decent normal tyres in place of the RFTs BMW still insists on fitting. How many cars in their range have been blighted by fitting these abortions and when will they learn?

What they have managed to is release some more power/torque without simply turning up the boost and the engine certainly felt more willing to spin relative to the standard unit but what would have been interesting would have been the sports suspension which combined with the 18s I have may well sort out the steering issue.

The other criticism is the price compared to a MCS. Well, when you consider the engine work (internals), uprated brakes plus the Aero kit which is standard on UK models then it starts to look excellent value especially when you consider residual values. I could get out of the existing MCS which is less than eighteen months old without any penalties which is a hell of a lot more than can be said for my Z4M which has to hold the record for the biggest freefall in history.

Would I buy one? Possibly, if for no other reason than to annoy all the drivers shouting out with all the handbag/poof's car comments but then with prejudices like that they're shutting themselves out of some great cars.

it might be a couple of years old, but its a clear indiction of what they are like now. i cant believe for one second that an 08 Mini is so different from an 03 Mini. despite the numerous changes. but going on the assumption that they are so different, then my comment only counts for the first generation Mini. not the newest model out. but ill stick my assumptions that they ae fairly similar.

MK4 Slowride said:

stew-S160 said:

it didn't feel anything special to me.
it had a comfy ride by my standards. power delivery felt kinda boring, and didn't feel that fast anyway.

Are you sure you've actually driven one?

yes.

[Jason_W]

stew-S160 said:

it might be a couple of years old, but its a clear indiction of what they are like now. i cant believe for one second that an 08 Mini is so different from an 03 Mini. despite the numerous changes. but going on the assumption that they are so different, then my comment only counts for the first generation Mini. not the newest model out. but ill stick my assumptions that they ae fairly similar.

The R53 went through two revisions in that time, was supercharged as opposed to the R56 (current) model's turbocharged engine, had a different engine/suspension/steering/interior/weight etc so to assume they're fairly similar would be a mistake.

My wife had the R53 MCS and I hated it with a passion. Whining engine, blobby ride, naff interior etc, however it was widely considered to be a nippy decent handling car at the time - but not for me.

With that in mind, I was determined to dislike the replacement when it came up for consideration and took it out for a test drive with a chip on my shoulder bigger than Mount Etna but after a few miles realised what an immense improvement it was over its predecessor as every failing of the original model had been addresses bar the steering which I feel is worse.

Choppy ride has gone, an engine that you'd be hard pressed to believe was turbocharged that likes to rev plus plenty of torque. I had a go in another one today (JCW) and this was a bit looser and felt better than the one I tried on Saturday. Try one, suspend your prejudices and you may be surprised.

Edited by Jason_W on Tuesday 29th July 15:40

[urban_alchemist]

Took delivery of ours in Monaco last week, and just got back from a ~2000km blast through Tuscany.

Thoughts?

It's pretty much a case of 'it was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. Darting through the twisties to the south of Siena, the car was simply sensational. There's no lag at all, and it punches in all gears with real gusto. The steering in these situations, though a bit lacking in feel is perfectly weighted, and the car is easy to thread on the narrow streets, and really darts down the road. Though the brakes weren't what you'd call progressive, having minimum stopping power at the top, and needing a pretty hefty shove to stop quickly, they get the job done; although they do suffer from the usual BMW trait of collapsing completely after a few large stops...

The problem comes as soon as you got on anything that looks like a motorway - especially the long sweepers that pass for them in Italy. Suddenly, the JCW falls to bits. The exhaust that sounded so great on the country lanes blares so loudly your head hurts, and that darty steering means that the car simply refuses to settle, darting around its line and neading constant minor adjustments to keep it heading in the right direction. Factor in quick sweepers, and the car's all over the shop - you have to battle it so as not to end up under an articulated lorry to your right, or a concrete island to your left.

I have to say I fell for the car. But would have preferred to be in almost anything else for that long, 6 hour long drive back from Siena to Monaco...

(Oh, and we were stupid enough to pay extra for the "Lounge seats" - hands down THE WORST seats in the world!)

Edited by urban_alchemist on Tuesday 29th July 17:13