Is the Mini Cooper a sharper drive than the Porsche 911 ?

I have been driving my wife's Mini Cooper, base model non-turbo, and even though the engine is pure garbage, the chassis and steering are fantastic. Compared to my 7 years old 996, the Mini steering is much sharper, plenty of feedback, and the chassis is very playful. The suspension are not punishing and still they give so much control. I still think that the engine of the 996 make up for all those things, but still I wish I could get a lighter sharper steering and suspension as well. I bet I could improve the suspension with sway bar and a set of coil over, but I don't feel like adding $5k to my car. I'd rather add a little more and go for a gt3. Anybody experience the same kind of feeling ? I have seen a couple of 911 owners switching to the mini cooper, no ?

Huh? Have you driven both at the limit? When you do, come back and update your post.

We have an R50 MINI Cooper, too, with the sport suspension and 16" wheels. The flaw in the comparison is speed: A MINI Cooper is just as much fun at 60 kph as a 911 is at 120 kph. As an urban assault vehicle for car enthusiasts, a MINI is hard to beat, and other motorists just don't seem to get pissed at you no matter what you do. That's not what a 911 is really supposed to excel at.

Out of the box, one of the most fun test drive I ever has was in a 2005 Mini Cooper S. A BLAST on a highway cloverleaf. On demand under OR oversteer.. I was grinning the entire time. Very communicative steering. And that car, (168(?) hp, and 2600lb is nearly a dead match for a US spec 911SC (180hp, 2700lb) The key is its relative light weight (300-400lb lighter than the 911), its short wheelbase and, as you know, very quick steering.

I'll bet the size of the car (i.e., mini in size) has a lot to do with the "feeling" of what the car can/cannot do. In cruising around town speeds, I'm sure it's a blast. Just not at those higher speeds compared with a Carrera.

im sorry, i have to disagree with you, i drive minis all day long and they are terrible cars...

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BMW went to a lot of trouble to give that car its personality. Things like brake pedal feel and throttle response were made way touchier than would normally survive an automotive focus group. Between that and the quick steering ratio and the light weight (as mentioned), it "feels" like a go-kart. One of those rare cars that is both great marketing and a great product... for its intended audience and purpose.

It is a lot more fun to drive a slow car fast then to drive a fast car slow.

its not that they dont have response, cause they do. there just very cheaply made and are falling apart quickly (not aging well). i like the way they look, and i know there is always exceptions as i know someone will come out and say "mines in perfect condion". im talking about normal ppl that just use there cars as a point A-B. its unfortunate that they arnt as good quality as the BMW's are made.

They are built to a price point ($22-28K for a Mini Cooper S) that the 996 is not ($65-100K). I'd guess overall quality of a similar year 996 might be similar

There was a Mini in one of my DE's this year. Passed him a few times in one session....he was an instructor.

My wife adores hers. I won it at a golf game and gave it to her, and it still makes her light up like a teenager when she drives it. That's some inarguably amazing performance right there.

Minis are cool cars.... wound up with a 328xi instead. The more I drove it, the more I thought about the mods I needed to have done to her in order to have the connection with the road... front wheel drive just doesnt do it with this car. I already got that mod problem with one car..... dont need two.

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Free cars always put a smile on your face.

I owned an R53 MINI Cooper S for about 3.5 years (right up until it was totaled). It was a great car for the money and a lot of fun to drive, but I would have to agree with the apples to oranges poster above. I would not be interested in trading my Carrera 4 for a MINI Cooper S, but I wouldn't mind having both of them in the garage. The MINI being front wheel drive doesn't bother me because I have owned at least one FWD VW consistently since 1984. I'm pretty used to FWD handling characteristics by now.

Define "sharper drive". They're both great cars, but they do different things.

For the suburban brawl from home to big box store and perhaps in heavy traffic, the Mini is perhaps more "fun" in my opinion. For open road, curving, hilly stuff...I prefer the 911....but in reality, it is pretty hard (in the US) to find places to exploit the 911 without risking your driver's license. J

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Is your other car a Koennnniiiiseeeggggg and you drove "Flat Out" ?

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+1

I own an 04 Carrera and an 03 R53 JCW Mini Cooper S. They are both fantastic cars. Different, but fantastic each in their own way. I have a hard time deciding which car to drive each day.

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A man with a choice will pick the fast car going slow every time......till he floors it

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Buy a rear sway bar. I just installed the H&R rear bar and it made a HUGE difference in making the stock 996 feel more nimble.

My Mom had one for about 6 years (She purchased it when it first came out), standard cooper with sport package and the car was a hoot to drive around town. Unfortunately, without the supercharger the car was a dog but handling at low speeds was really good up until the limit. Sadly that car suffered from the dreaded CVT chain snap and my mom promptly got rid of the car after it was repaired. 10k for a re-man trans was sort of a smack in the face considering the cars value at the time. I got another chance to drive the new turbo charged S as a buddy was a service adviser for a local mini dealership in my area. Great car, they soften up the suspension so response and turn-in where muted and slower comparatively to my mom's car. Car pushed quite a bit if you went into a corner hot. Also the lack of an LSD made the car somewhat of a let down given the power increase it gained. Fun on the highway in a straight line but not as entertaining or engaging as the older cars. I had a friend that built his S to STX class rules when they first came out (equipped with PSS9, camber and a quaife differential. I was constantly battling him in my 323is (BMW) but he usually got me. In my current (Stock 11 year old suspension) 996 blew his doors off at an open autoX last year (we battled for FTD and I took him by around a second and we where both on streets, he had azenis and me on PS2). Very different cars by comparison. The 996's steering is arguably more communicative and it's steering is almost as quick as the Mini. The mini feels quicker around a corner because of it's size and wheelbase. The limits of the mini are much lower than the 996 and at the limit, the 996 is much more entertaining and engaging a car to drive where the Mini's FWD just don't offer the fun and balance of a RWD car can. Let alone the corner exit speed that can be achieved in the 996 due to the rear engine. Awesome for what it is, inexpensive, crisp and fun at lower speeds. A sports car? Not really.

The problem for us was that the S was actually no fun in the city, where it would get most of its use. With a 19hp parasitic drag from the supercharger before it made manifold pressure, it was a pig off the line and hard to get a smooth launch with. They are not without their problems, that's for sure. For example, there is a chronic issue with carbon buildup, which MINI does not acknowledge. In our case, the dealer tried to convince my wife that she'd somehow warped the head and wanted three grand for a new one. My indie bore scoped it, saw the carbon, and fixed it with a motorvac for a third of that price. I was very disappointed both in MINI and the dealership, which I won't be going back to.