good hands

Mini Cooper S. No comparison anywhere for fun, gas mileage, practicality, and price.

Z356

I will defer to JEI-Porsche & others to give us a better comparison since they probably have more miles on both their JCW/Minis and Spyder. I have 700 miles on the Spyder and 3000+ on the JCW. The Spyder is in a different league, period. The latter gives you so much confidence on the road that you go naturally faster at every turn and feel like Fangio while you are doing it! The JCW has other allures. The Challenge racing series-derived turbo engine revs so quickly & effortless that it plants a grin on your face right away! And the over-sized Brembo brakes stop you quicker than the arresting gear wires of an aircraft carrier's flight deck! The problem with a stock John Cooper Works is that it doesn't come from factory with its sportiest suspension package. So on the twists & turns, it doesn't feel any better than a base Justa or Cooper S! The true JCW's suspension is a dealer-install $2K option. The $500 'factory' sport option (which my car doesn't have) does not provide anything close to what the costly true JCW suspension pkg offers. And with only a $500 price tag it should give you a clue as to why it doesn't! Bottom line, you have to go 'after-market' to set up a JCW for optimal handling - e.g. better sway bars (especially larger rears), shocks & springs! The Spyder, on the other hand, comes with a nearly perfect 'sport suspension' out of the box. For the money, the Spyder is probably the best sport value this market has seen in years! At just half the suggested retail price of a Spyder, the JCW Hatch is a fun run-about that serves my DD purposes very well. But I wouldn't ever consider trading the Spyder for it!

Saludos,
Eduardo

PS There is a new factory JCW Countryman model. In general, the Mini purists don't think highly of the Countryman's handling. You will have to test drive it yourself to see if it meets your requirements and purposes.

khooni

thanks for the summary.

It is for the purpose of a daily runabout. The missus will be doing most of the driving. She currently has a merc C63 but for some reason has always fancied a mini and the countryman apparently ticks all her boxes. We'll see when she gets behind the wheel of one in a test drive.

balakris

My work forces me to be on the road 40-45K miles per year. Not interested in depreciating the Spyder. Plus I like driving her after being in the Golf all day. It's like jumping into a cold swimming pool, and then jumping back in to the hot tub again.

mooty

eclipse gray?
here's ours

blake

Nice JCW Mooty! Minis are fun cars.... Kind of feel like a go-kart...

Z356

Very nice John. Where can I get the stuffed animals to lined up on top of my dash? That is a nice touch! Saludos, Eduardo