I've been looking at getting a mini cooper for some time. Tomorrow I'm heading to a dealership to finally test drive one and get some info on financing. I guess why I posted here is I got a few questions and was hoping to hear from others wo already have a mini. -How "bad" is the performance if you use low octane gas? -Are there any minis that have a diesel engine? Are there any plans for a diesel engine? -How do these handle on the snow? on long trips? (As I don't drive to work, I walk; when I drive I drive for 4+ hours.) -If I look at purchasing a turned in lease, what do I look for? -Can you put a tweel on them? -Would you recommend getting the extended warranty? -Any tips when looking at a new one? (I've never bought a new car before...) I know these are pretty weird questions, and I don't even own a mini yet. I just wanted to find a few things out before I go shopping tomorrow.

 

For financing, check out other options as well as the dealer. If you're a member of a credit union, they tend to have better deals as well. If you're in college chech with the college credit union.

Our Minis use a knock sensor to keep them running at the best edge of performance. I'm not sure about the new motor, but with the motor in the 02-06 coupe and still in the convertible, you save on gas going in but loose on mileage as well as performance, so you don't really save that much money at all. For my car (modded MCS), I think it actually costs more per mile to drive with crappy gas, so if you do get one, just buy the premium and enjoy it.

There are diesels, but not in the US. Since you didn't post your location, I don't know if this helps or not. The Diesels get much better mileage, but aren't as peppy. If you're in the US, it doesn't matter, as all you can get is a cooper or a cooper S. In other regions, there's the Mini One (detuned cooper) and the diesel as well.

For snow handling, they're OK with the right tires. With the wrong tires they are a bear. Some who live in real crappy areas get a second set of wheels for snow tires, and take off wheels can be had pretty cheap. (These are wheels taken off cars when they upgrade to lighter/flashier wheels as the modification bug hits).

For long trips, the key is the seats. If you like the seats, you'll be fine. If you don't, you won't like it. The short wheel base means the car bounces and bucks a bit more than longer cars, but that's what makes it so fun when it's getting twisty-turny, so you get something for the trade-off. I did a 9 hour drive with my wife and one year old, and it was fine.

What's a tweel?

Yes to the extended warranty if you're gonna keep it stock. If you're gonna modify it a lot, that puts quite a dent in the warranty, and leaves room for them to deny coverage. There are a few major systems that have failed more than one would like to see, but not so much so that I'd tell anyone to stay away from the brand.

For a new car, find what you want, and don't add to many options. If you go crazy with the options, a $20k car can get up to $40k before you know it, and that's just scary! If you're going to get a lease return, that would be an 04-06. The manual trannys on the Cooper aren't as strong as they should be, and the CVT transmission has had issues. For the Cooper S, the supercharger sometimes doesn't live to the 100k mile life, but if you do your homework, that's not nearly as expensive as the trannies.

Now others will have input that's different than mine, so take them all (including mine) With a grain of salt.

Good luck, and I hope you joint the Mini community soon. Let us all know what you decide to do.

Matt

ps, I write technical articles for MC Squared magazine, so I've dug into a bunch of this stuff. If you get a Mini, make sure to subscribe, so the publisher can up the page charges.(what he pays me!)

 

Dr Obnxs, Thanks! That all helped! I'm in the Virginia area; so I'm going to assume no diesel. I'm not looking for pep; I'm looking for better gas mileage. What is a CVT transmission? I'm not looking for one with a super-charger. I'm looking for normal one. As far as options, I just want fog lights and to be able to plug some sort of mp3 player in (so I can listen to my audio books). I was thinking about a 4 door, but since I drive by myself 99.9% o the time, I think a 2rd might work. I just tend to carry a lot of stuff from here to there. You did mention seats, which seats are better, more comfortable?

 

It's a newfangled tire-wheel combo thing. Instead of pneumatic tires, they've got ... well, just check out the pic. They look kinda strange to me. Supposedly they're as sturdy and flexible as pneumatic, but without the worry of failure due to air leak.
If you google 'tweel' you'll come up with tons of articles.

 

Is there that much different between the normal one and the S?

 

Performance wise , yes they are very different I would advise drive both also drive an automatic as well as a manual transmission see which you like better. The cvt trans is a constant velocity transmission it doesn't shift like a normal auto and tend to run higher RPM's for any given speed to keep the engine in its power band, rpm level where it has the best power, some people like some dont so try em out. Also the rear seats fold down so you can get alot of gear in the back end. Good luck

 

Wow! I never knew it could be this difficult.

 

Its really not difficult drive the cars and get the one you like the best, pretty simple. Have fun

 

and your problems will be much easier, as there are no 4 door Minis (yet!)

one other correction, CVT isn't constant velocity, it's continuously variable, with no real fixed gear ratios (other than programmed by software...).

Like the above poster said, drive both, the boosted motor gives you almost 50% more power, but gives a big hit to gas mileage. many, many people are very happy with the base Cooper, and it's weight balance is a bit better.

There are iPod integration gizmos from the dealer (from aux input to so-so integration) to full integration with displays on the nav system from third party suppliers.

Matt