Which Mini?

[Blue62]

Want to pick the model that gives the best combination of fun and frugality, at the moment I'm thinking a manual cooper, but would the S be the better choice? It's not the daily driver, more of a fun car and for short local trips.

[Luke.]

Whats your budget? New or S/H?

Edited by Luke. on Friday 25th January 16:23

[MX-5 Lazza]

And do you care about fuel economy?

[Blue62]

Luke. said:

Whats your budget? New or S/H?

Edited by Luke. on Friday 25th January 16:23

It would be new or newish, there is no budget to speak of but as it would be a cross between a run about and a bit of fun I care about running costs, but its not the over riding issue. Would a 'works' be a handful on that basis? I've guessed it would be.

[ging84]

if running costs are not that important and you are not limited on budget why would you want anything less than an S or a JCW ?
why would a JCW be a handful, it's a production car that is sold in it's thousands, it's fwd and comes with DSC/ESP, half the people i see driving them are grandmothers

[Pints]

For a balance between fun and frugality, I opted for the Cooper D Hatchback.
If I wanted more fun than frugality, I'd have taken the SD.
Or the One D if I wanted more frugality than fun.

Drop the D from the options above if your mileage is not high to warrant it.

[Miglia 888]

The sweet spot for driving fun with lowest running costs is a MINI Cooper SD, imho.

0-60mph around 8s, with 60mpg+ if required, plus low insurance & £30 road tax etc. etc.
Torquier than JCW, and gains speed through the gears rapidly.
As quick as anything from A to B over our badly surfaced roads, as long as you avoid the horrible optional run flat tyres.
And still manages 30mpg while hooning. A hoot.

But if budget & running costs are really no object, order a GP2?

[Blue62]

Thanks for the responses, I guess what I'm trying to find out is which is the sweetest drive, I know from experience that it's not always the top end model, or the quickest that delivers the smiles.

[eybic]

I'd say a Diesel Cooper will be more fun than petrol, my current demo is a Cooper D clubman, I drove a cooper petrol and didn't like it due to lack of torque. SD would be better too.

Another option as has been suggested if costs aren't too much of an issue would be an S or JCW, S is more refined and JCW is what I would describe as more of a petrolhead's car.

[PeterV]

I would (and did) go for the Cooper S, not the JCW.
Spend what you saved on goodies like a proper LSD, Coilovers, Camberplates & Powerflex or Whiteline bushings.
OK, that will cost you more than the difference between the S and the JCW, but it handles far better.
I only replaced the brakepads, a BBK is for road use not really necessary and only adds unsprung weight.
Good luck with your choice

[0llie]

The sweetest drive will be the last of the first gen Cooper S hatch, last of which were registered in November 2006.

They still have the electro-hydraulic steering, which provides brilliant feedback, and that supercharged engine sounds incredible. Get a JCW 1st Gen with the factory LSD, and you will have a great fun and seriously rapid little hatch on your hands.

The only thing is fuel economy, and because of their age, things will need replacing, but they are now good value, even low mileage high spec cars. And they will depreciate far less.

I bought a 2007 R56 Cooper S, which while it was fun and quite quick for such a car, wasn't as fun to drive as my 11 year old Cooper. That you could drive the wheels off of it and still be 'within the law' is even better.