texas911

And amazed at the build quality. How come our $90K cars can't have doors that slam with the same solid feel as a $20K Mini?

Alan Smithee

Minis' doors sound like every other BMW's doors. Don't mistake it for amazing build quality...there are countless compalints on Mini forums about rattles, and BMW quality as a whole is no better than average these days. That said, the Mini's quality isn't bad for a fun $20k car.

phantomias33

Trust me, there's no comparison. I bought a 2005 Conv. Cooper S as my "911 S" place holder....just waiting for any first/second year bugs to work themselves out on the Porsche. The Cooper has issues. Browse any forum and you'll see a list of them. It doesn't mean that it isn't a fun little car (with great resale I might add), but it doesn't approach the attention to detail of my wife's '05 Cay. TT.

Funny you should mention the doors though, it was the tinny, cheap sound of the doors that kept me from a BMW Z3....very glad I didn't buy that car.

MMD

MY 2004 BMW M3 doors shut with a crummy-sounding "kachunk!" When you expect a nice dull thump from a German performance car it sounds like ****. Other than that my copy of car is really solid in many ways (knock on wood).

So door "thump" or "kachunk" doesn't mean much anymore as far as a quality indicator, IMHO.

Seljan

I've never had the opportunity to drive the original Mini,but the MiniS is a car that will make you smile.I know it goes faster around a corner than I have the nerve to drive it.And the brakes are amazing.

MMD

Someone described the Mini as an amazing sports car just as long as you don't go over 40mph. IOW, it does alot of fun things but not on the highway.

Seljan

Mr.Someone is misinformed..

Le Chef

I have two friends (a couple) who own a Cooper and a Cooper S JCW between them. Both handle really well and both have reasonable straightline performance. The JCW with JCW suspension mods really is an amazing car. It certainly performs really well above 40mph, takes corners beautifully, and is happy cruising the highway at 90 mph while listening to a decent stereo linked (gasp!) to an iPod...try that in your 997!

There have been trips recently when I could have taken my car or we could have taken the MCS JCW, and sometimes less is actually more. The MCS stands at 3 trips to 2 for the 997...

MMD

Funny how Mr. Someone says something to you, you're not really interested, but you take what he says as a fact anyway!

It sounded sensible to me because of the go-cart analogy often applied to this car. Incredibly fun to drive around town, but not a real performance car.

capt.zach

I drove a mini s on the track and really liked it.The mini S owner really loved my 997 'for the laps we switched (who wouldn't),but the mini performed very well for me.I like the mini and am considering buying one for track days.I maybe nuts but the mini may force me to improve on the track.The power of the 997 hides my short comings,but If I can drive my 997 like it was ment to,I wouldn't trade down for track days.I love my 997 compaired to my 2 previous 996 coupes.I've only had 3 track days so I'll wait and see.

mooty

mini cooper s jcw may not be all that fast on hwy, but it can corner. put some nice suspenders on it, it might just outcorner the 996... well you do have to countersteer like hell to work through the understeer. but oh it's funnnnnnnnnn

Bill_C4S

"Not a real performance car" - know of a few 996 Turbo's...that have been embarrassed by a well driven Mini at TWS....

Graygoose997

the best part about the cooper is @ $ 19-22K, who gives a rat's a** what happens to it on the track, or with a valet, or in a parking lot
my _options_ on the 997s come to about half the cost of my cooper
I just downgraded my wheels from the stock 17's to a set of 12 lb BBS w/ 16" and I'm having the time of my life.
perry

texas911

Thats why I looked at it, at $22K, it not a bad run around "beater" car.

Graygoose997

<Thats why I looked at it, at $22K, it not a bad run around "beater" car>
spend another 1,200 or so on the aftermarket and add on an air intake , a reduction pulley, h&r lowering springs and some yokohamas instead of the run flats and you've got a quick little puppy
the most fun car bmw has built since the late 90's m3's
perry