K27

I was just reading an article in European car about the new Mini Cooper S and they quoted that the supercharger was making 12psi of boost.
The 1.6 engine is said to output 163bhp and 155 lbft torque.
I suspect this boost number may be wrong, roots style superchargers are not usually making that kind of boost, especially driven off such a small engine.
I might be wrong here but does anyone have any reliable info on this ?

Water944t

It was my understanding that a nearly-stock CooperS did fairly well in the OTC.

The engine HP estimates sound reasonable, although 12 HP is a lot for a SC. Maybe it has a very small drive pully.

But the 163 out of a 1.6L sounds right. I cant wait to have a chance to drive one, I will feel just like Austin Powers.


Yeaahh, baby!

I want one with a British flag painted on the roof, in Shaguar blue. Hehe.

<img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

K27

I think I may have the silver one please.
Dealer is like 5 blocks from my work, I went in the showroom a month ago , but no S for test drives at the time.
Maybe they have one now.
I am not a FWD fan at all, but they say this car is very nuteral.

Tabor

I was looking at the Cooper S, but then I realized that the new <a href="http://www.vwvortex.com/news/05_02/05_24/index.shtml" target="_blank">Golf R32</a> is AWD and has 241hp/236 ft/lbs. Also, it is normally aspirated, so you can still supercharge it.



Edit- but no word on whether or not North America will get any.

DanD

For those interested in the New Mini.
Here is the writeup from the OTC. It was stock except for brake pads and tires/wheels. It came in 2nd I believe. 7 tracks in 7 days plus driving to and fro.. I saw this car up close at ButtonWillow. Didn't care for the styling.

<a href="http://www.onelapadventure.com/opentrackmain.html" target="_blank">Mini in the Open Track Challenge</a>

For my money (if I had any), the VW Golf R32 looks mighty fine...

K27

Whoa, the GTi is sweet, but I wonder what the price will be.
Also in the same issue of EC, the GTi 337 special edition for North America is a 180hp 1.8T.
maybe this is all we will get.

mideastmafia

my dad has one on order.. supposed to be in June 12. ill let u guys know how i like it


SHAUN

Dave

[quote]Originally posted by Tabor Kelly:
<strong>Edit- but no word on whether or not North America will get any.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If it were going to be sold here, you'd know it. VW acts and reacts very slowly, nothing gets sold here without a year or two notice.

jim968

I still remember my first ride ~1972 in a _real_ (ie, original) Mini Cooper S... WOW! Freakin' 2-seat go-kart with a roof....

There used to be one here in town that had a "Beam me up, Scottie. There's no intelligent life here!" bumper sticker on it. BRG with the obligatory Union jack on the roof. Fat little donuts on Minlite alloys under white flares.

Now if BMW would just offer the 'S' with AWD...;-)

Jim, dreamin' again...

Michael Stephenson

Not to sound to heretical, but I would trade my S2 for a Cooper S in a heart beat.

I sat in one at a British car show and I loved it – plenty of room for my 6’-4” frame and it has a lot of good safety features to boot.

The S2 is just to much car for the crowded urban streets of Charlotte – and is damn near impossible to enjoy without breaking the law and without feeling like I behaved like a royal a**hole after I have stretched the S2’s legs.

Having had some slow but nimble cars in the past, I find that they can be more enjoyable at lower speeds than a performance car.

K27

I am seriously considering just that, it would be a good every day car for work, town etc, and throw on a set of R1's and maybe some stiffer springs and off to autocross on the weekend.

UDPride

I came within a whisker of ordering a Cooper S. My daily driver 92 Acura GS-R got totaled so I needed a new commuter. I was consumed by the Mini web site and configured at least 6 cars. Ended up opting for the WRX due to AWD and more ponies and more space for a negligable premium although fit and finish is not up to a Mini (BMW). One thing that maybe kept me from getting one is I never had a good feeling for how small the car was. Id see a ton of photos of it, but nothing beside it to compare it to like a landmark or another car. I just couldnt tell if this thing was really small or really really really small. I rarely saw photos of people standing next to it as well -- and even then you didnt know if the person standing next to it was 5'5 or 6'5. Looks like a great car though. If I had money for a second new car Id take the plunge.

Manning

Apparently they had one at Stoddard's this weekend during the swap meet (I think it was an S, it may have only been a Cooper though). A guy I met on Saturday during a PCA Dinner Drive got a chance to drive it and said it scoots and is a blast to drift and drive hard. He indicated he made the saleman a little nervous, especially when the saleman saw the PCA instructor shirt he was wearing.

I am seeing various MINIs around town over the past few weeks, perhaps a half dozen different examples. I am going to see about an S in a while, but I would really like an original Mini. And they are not all called Mini Coopers by the way.

Also, do you really think the US market has even a remote chance of getting the GOlf R32?

Tabor

[quote]Originally posted by Manning:
<strong>Also, do you really think the US market has even a remote chance of getting the GOlf R32?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Some people say yes, some people say no. We got the GTi 337 special edition. VAG is also bringing the Audi RS6 in.

UDPride

I would say no on the Golf if I were a betting man. You look at most high-performance cars coming to the shore and a large chunk of them are either stripped down, detuned, or watered down compared to their overseas equivalent. The US doesnt get an STi (at least yet), no Evo, Skyline, etc. The Lexus GS400/430 was very late arriving as they had it in Europe for quite a while under a name that escapes me at the moment.

I also get aggravated at the car companies showing off these hot new cars that we drool over, then when its time to produce them, they take off the cool rocker panels, spoilers, fat rubber with actually nice looking rims, good suspension, and give us a watered down copy that faintly remsembles the motor show piece. By that time, it looks like every other car on the street again and I thought that was the entire point -- to avoid that.

The spade in the Golfs favor though is VW has reinvented themselves in the last 5-7 years and are taking bold new approaches like the New Beetle and W cars. If they truly are in it to go up against BMW and Audi and MB in the high end segment, perhaps they feel the same in the compact segment as well - albeit with a vehicle other than this particular Golf. I'd like to see a new sport compact from VW reminiscent of the Corrado/Scirroco but with present-day reliability and AWD.