after test driving hte mini and the rabbit twice back to back, the mini won me over. it stood out more, had a more fun personality, willing engine, near perfect transmission (was kinda rubbery and reverse takes getting used to) and more features that make you say "it has that?!?! but this car is only $20k".

overall the mini was very impressive. i dont have one yet, but im just going to get the base car with the premium package, and the other package that has the rain sensing wipers. since i build my cars up to my taste performance and handling wise, i wont be getting the sport package, or any performance add ons. the 118 horses seem like enough to keep me entertained for a while, but after 3 months or so ill be looking for upgrades for sure. i dont need a car to rocket me from 0-60 in like 2 seconds, so long as it dosent feel wimpy (which the mini didnt), i need the car to just manhandle the road which this little mini did. even without a sport package its pretty fun and zippy. i love how its compact size allowed me to zip in and out of the monster SUV's. the car just overall felt very playful, and remained responsive in all 6 (i couldnt believe it had 6 gears!!!!!!!) gears.

soon ill be headed off to iraq, so while over there, ill be penny pinching, nickeling and diming, to save up for a hefty down payment (i want to guarantee i get approved, lol) for a mini cooper non-s. ill be getting rid of my PT Cruiser GT turbo. its been a great car for all of the 2 months that ive had it. if you havent figured out, if a car dosent deliver enough fun ill get bored very quickly. the mini looks and feels like ill love it for many years to come! is there anything that i should watch out for like bugs in computers or just weird things since this is a first model year with the new PSA/BMW engine. im so excited and i dont even have it yet! i cannot wait to mod it all out so that i fits my tastes!

 

Welcome to NAM. You'll love driving the MINI on a daily basis. They're so much fun and safe to boot w/ all the airbags and agility. Good Luck on heading to Iraq.

 

WELCOME!!

 

Welcome to NAM. Save up enough to get the S. Reading your post screams "it will have to be an S".
Thanks for your service. Wishing you a good tour. We'll keep you in our prayers. Come safe home.
Drive like you stole it!

 

Hey there and welcome! I love driving my MC every day, so much that I hate having to park and get out of it! Thanks a lot for your service, the MINI will be a great welcome home gift when you get back!

 

Welcome. And to answer your as yet unanswered question: There were several bugs, mostly more annoyance than major concerns, which seem to have been remedied. I have seen a couple of posts concerning manual transmission failure, but not to the extent I would call it a concern, given the number of manual R56's out there. Good luck. You certainly won't miss your PT(ful) Snoozer.

 

Welcome to NAM.

The MINI is a much more fun car than the Rabbit.

Get the "S". You won't be sorry. I think the "S" will give you more smiles per mile.

And thanks for going to Iraq... keep us posted. I salute you and your comrades.

 

ill definitely keep all posted on where the deployment takes me!

do i really need to get an 's' to have fun? i kinda had my heart set on a non-s and heres y... i look at the s for serious power hungry mini owners whereas i just want to goof off with it. im not at all powerhungry i just want it to manhandle the road and look sporty doing it. plus my insurance would jump to a very sky high price. i was quoted at $240 per month for a standard mini, an s model (get ready) $476.89 per month mainly becasue turbo+2-door = sports car!!!!! this is with my insurance company, the cheapest for me. progressive, which was the highest, was $502.40 per month. so hopefully i can squeeze every ounce of "fun" out of a standard cooper. if not... ill look elsewhere