Anyone know anything about the MINI Cooper S?

[TomB 0]

Just wondering if anyone on here has one, or knows someone who has. I had a *ahem* spirited drive back from Harrogate last night with one behind me all the way, and the only time he dropped behind was round some of the corners. I'd never buy one, but I'm curious to know what they're like.

Still, Harrogate to York in 17 minutes isn't too bad :oops:

Cheers,

Tom

[godskitchen 0]

IMHO i thought the cooper s would have eaten a 16V!

[seanoVR 0]

They're great little cars mate. One of my flatmates has one and i've driven it a few times. They are pretty nippy and can just about keep up with a vr6 if pushed. They are pretty good round corners too!

[JBOB 0]

All i know is that my mum wants one :lol:

[Shilakadaddy 0]

plus with the supercharger theres high tuning possibilities...

 

I personally hate them, not sure why (might be something to do with an ex having one) and also the amount of people who think they look great driving them! its a posers car imo... but actually a very good car too I'm led to believe

[bcstudent 0]

I got destroyed by one about six months ago on the A1. I thought I was doing ok....then he realised we were racing and buggered off.

 

* EDIT* I just remembered that Tiff Needel reates them very highly too, which is good enough for me.

[billinjah 0]

they dont seem that quick my g60 killed one through MK last week he was on me up to 100 but ran out of steam after. That woul of course be MK my own private road! he didnt seem to have the grunt out of roundabouts either. but i suppose they have 170bhp as std so would be lacking a bit and prob heavier too with all that modern jiggery pokery!

[K-rado 0]

they dont seem that quick my g60 killed one through MK last week he was on me up to 100 but ran out of steam after. That woul of course be MK my own private road! he didnt seem to have the grunt out of roundabouts either. but i suppose they have 170bhp as std so would be lacking a bit and prob heavier too with all that modern jiggery pokery!

 

Agreed Bill. I Found myself in very good company the other morning on the Finmere bypass. Just entred the round-a-bout as normal and this cooper s flashed me and tore off up the hill. as I was about to setoff in hot persuit I cought a glimsp of a T T in my rear view. Needless to say the cooper was shamed with ease as I overtook (ahem) at pace and eased over to let the TT by whilst still flexing her legs. TT stook with me all the way and I let him by. Turned out to be a new 3.2. Had fun all the way to Oxford where we exchanged frindly hand jestures at the lights.

 

Cooper S in certain company might be interesting and wouldnt mind one myself. but for an out and out scooby eater, the VR6 is very hard to fault indeed :wink: . Long Live C

[chrishill 0]

One of my mates has one, they accelerate in low gears very very quickly, but as has already been said at around the 100mph mark they start to loose momentum. I suppose at the end of the day they're still a 1.6 and as the saying goes...theres no replacement for displacement! I've not driven it myself but my mate reckons the handling is superb and it certainly feels well planted on the road from a passengers perspective.

 

I've said this before, i like them, but i wouldnt have one! they're far too 'trendy', much like the TT.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I think the Mini looks great in that anthracite colour with black roof and those chunky 8 spoke (?) 18s...but I would never own one, despite it's reputed handling prowess, it just doesn't have the same appeal as the original mini. The current one is a fashion accessory.

I say "handling prowess" but did you see the Skodia Fabia RS v the Mini race on Top Gear? Looking at that I'd say the Skoda handled better tbh....the Mini seemed to understeer more than the Fab and it was beaten by a diesel Skoda! Who'd have thought that would be possible 10 years ago?!!

[tug 0]

One of my mates has a Cooper S Works in said anthracite grey with a black roof and some rather nice 17" BBS alloys!

 

Its a 2002 model with 200bhp. Feels strong in the gears, but I don't know how it would fare against the VR! :)

 

I think the new ones have 210...got some new-fangled electronically actuated flap in the airbox that's supposed to increase air flow above 4000rpm...

[chrishill 0]

didnt they do a test of all the tuned cooper s's on top gear a while back? IIRC one was up near the 300bhp mark!!

[tug 0]

Yeah, they had the official John Cooper Works one then a couple of efforts from different tuning companies.

 

I remember Clarkson saying the MINI was capable of handling extra power, but 300bhp was taking it a bit too far!

[corradophil 3]

A mate has a Cooper which handles very well. You feel involved in the driving similar to a C.

I had a blast with a Cooper S and kept with it, seemed pretty evenly matched to my C.

[RadoAds 0]

I hate to say it but id have a cooper S, theres a black one knocking around our village with anthracite wheels on and some form of performance zortst and i have to admit it sounds gorgeous, very very fruity......and my wife likes em too.....just have to find 15k or whatever they are :(

[tug 0]

The Cooper S Works exhaust sounds really fruity, you can hear the exhaust gases rushing out of it when you're sitting in the back! :)

[TomB 0]

Well, I had a look at the MINI website, and they're pretty quick! 170bhp, 1215kgs unladen weight, and 0-60 is 7.2s. BTW can anyone tell me what the unladen weight of a 1.8 16v is? CCGB website problems still.

I'm in no doubt that I couldn't have kept up with him if he'd been in front, but he didn't seem to have the power to get past me in the first place :scratch: Still, we both had fun and gave each other a friendly wave when we went our seperate ways. :D

Did I mention that I LOVE my car. Ah ha ah ha ha ha. I hadn't had that much fun in ages!

[Jim 2]

From what I remeber, the new Mini's actually weigh about as much as our Corrado's.

[samm_cvr6 0]

I used to work for a Mini mechanics and boy did I have some fun with the older ones, especially the tuned ones! I hate to admit it to myself for all the above mentioned reasons but I do like the MCS, although it's a bit cheeky calling it a Mini when it weighs around 1200kgs! more like a Maxi! I seem to remember that on the tuners test the BBR conversion faired very well, particularly the in gear times. But I would get a Leon 225 over the MCS.

[Shilakadaddy 0]

didnt they do a test of all the tuned cooper s's on top gear a while back? IIRC one was up near the 300bhp mark!!

 

Just downloaded this episode... just here for anyone that wants to see:

 

http://gear.viper007bond.com/downloads. ... 77623d0902

 

the BBR mini was 275bhp! Found it amusing that BMW are charging £3000 extra for a chip and pulley :lol:

 

oddly enough this episode featured a corrado... on their modified car picture thing. It was a photoshop of a corrado with a huge engine :roll:

[tug 0]

You get a different cylinder head and exhaust with the JCW kit, although I agree £3000 is a bit steep! :)

[Funkster 0]

Works kit includes new head, supercharger, intercooler and ecu iirc. You also get to keep all your original equipment - this is why it's so pricey.

 

I had a drive in an S at the weekend as my dad is thinking about changing cars. Not bad, but performance, comfort and style are as nought when compared with my VR6! And they cost 20k! I think I've talked Dad out of buying one

 

--

Olly