carmudgeons.com - More Mini Talk. Finally drove one.

Ironically, while in Montreal, my wife found out there was a Mini dealership just a few miles away from her parents' house and suggested we go check them out/drive one (double irony). So off we went.

Of course, there had to be one with basically the exact specs and colors as my wife would like sitting on the showroom. She liked it a lot. Loved the driving position, and felt the back seat wasn't bad. With me in the front seat, she fit in the back seat fine though leg room would be tight for taller people (she is 5'3"). In the showroom she found nothing wrong with it.

Off to the test drive. The salesguy was incredibly nice and accomodating despite knowing that there was no way we'd be buying one there. Base MSRP for an MCS: $30K CAD. :lol: With a few options, $35K CAD. That car would spec out to about $26K USD.

My wife drove it, and then I did. My wife loved it. My impressions:

-Holy clutch pedal overtravel. Once you get used to it, it isn't bad. This thing needs a clutch-stop much more than the E46 does.
-Wow, this thing pulls evenly from way low, like 2krpm or under. Nice. With ~ 500lbs of passengers (salesman came along), the car still moved around nicely, and impressively did so also at hwy speeds (mid 70-mph) on 5th gear. Cool.
-Brakes were VERY nice. (Note to self: bleed both 330i & V70R promptly).
-Ride was firm (16" RFT's) a la ZHP but felt worse thanks to Montreal's epic ass roads. There was a sharpness on broken pavement that I can tell is thanks to the tires. With summers and particularly softer winter tires on 16" wheels, the car must ride much better.
-Not much of a chance to test handling, but when I took off ramps in a somewhat sporty manner, the car felt great.
-Sunroof is cool, and the car is surprisingly quiet at hwy speeds (but not great).
-It was a funny thing, it clearly wasn't my 330i, yet it felt very familiar. You can see the genes in there.
-Shifter was ok, never missed a shift.
-I never once looked at the large, central speedometer.

Conclusion: I really liked it. It's a nice little car. Optioned up, it makes a great premium compact car. But I don't see me coughing up $10K over my 330i despite it being 5yo old. Not while it remains trouble-free and fresh in our eyes. Also, this car, and any other 2-door is a no-go as a replacement for the 330i until our youngest child is forward-facing (that's anywhere from 5 months to a few years). But if the 330i had to be replaced due to trouble/theft/lotal loss or if MINI offers ED, we would get an MCS.

Now I need to drive lemming's car while this test drive is fresh in my mind to see what the JCW stage 1 is all about. To be fair, the additional ~325lbs worth of passenegers as well as the 6/10ths driving may have not given me an accurate impression of how fun it could be, but I got a decent feel for it. Again, lemming's car may change things.

Oh, there was a Clubman on the showroom floor - my wife wanted nothing to do with it.

It was funny how she kept comparing the MCS to her old Beetle ('00 base, MT) and commenting on how much better/fun the MCS was.