I have the base suspension.
To fend off some more follow-up questions, here's some more detail.
I now have a 2002 Mini Cooper.
I had a brief test drive three weeks ago, and now I have my own, and
had a longer run-in drive tonight through some unfamiliar twisty hilly
roads in the rain. I test drove the S, and the S's better gearing
and power above 50 mph make the S a better highway car. But just as
in 1997 I chose a 138hp 318 over a 240hp m3, in 2002 I choose a
115hp Cooper over a 163 Cooper S.
The interior has a few annoying bits, but looks great, and is
beautiful and easy to read at night. With the seats folded down,
the back held two big suitcases with room for one more, and a few
duffel bags.
The corner brake control is very interesting, and so far it doesn't
feel like excessive idiot-proofing. I've been very gentle on the
engine (run-in) so I can't say much about traction control. I can't
turn any of these systems off, so I'd be a bit worried if these were
calibrated for a hypothetical typical USA market driver. DSC (which I
don't have) can be turned off by a dash toggle.
I have the base wheels, 15 inch, with 175/65/15 all season tires,
and this thing could run circles around a similarly tired Ford Focus
(except Lorin Mueller's -- very nice drive in round 5, Lorin).
The Focus was my second choice of (n+1)th car. No doubt I'll have better
rubber soon, as I want to save the stock tires's tread for winter driving.
This car is operated in St. Louis, MO[*], so I'll be testing the HVAC in
a full spectrum of conditions. So far all I can say is the windscreen
defogger is great, and the half dozen HVAC control buttons are low and
non-unique enough to be a little confusing to read while driving.
Details:
2002 Cooper,
BRG, white roof (aka CHP style)
Premium package:
panorama sunroof, cruise, auto HVAC, OBC
heated leather tan 'cordoba' seats
chrome
fog lights
type-R floor mats (no joke)
The options I wanted and didn't get were:
+1 or +2 wheels
'Sport Plus suspension'
sport seats
Xenon headlamps
but such a car won't be available for quite some time, and I was
racking up an Enterprise rental bill while I waited.
Now I'm motoring.
[*] I was expecting to be working in SoCal, and get an s2000,
but in fact I work in St. Louis. I still live in sf.ba though,
and keep my 3series there.
Comparing the utility of a hatchback to the non-utility of
an s2000, and hoping the Mini is a lot easier to handle on
snow, ice, and randomly sanded roads (long after the snow is gone)
helped me choose the Mini over the s2000. Comparing the
Mini's headbags to the s2000's scissor-frame roof sold me
on the Mini as a daily driver. If I can have some fun and
practise solo2'ing the Mini when I can't get back to SF,
that's a bonus. The Mini has a street price of ~$14,000 less
than the s2000, so that saving will allow me to come back to SF
more often. St. Louis is also relatively close to Topeka, too.
I bet people who ditch their S's sport-plus suspension for tuner
adjustable coil-overs and warez will sell me their near-new
parts cheap.
There, that's more info than you wanted.
squid.
Carl Merritt <CMerritt@luminous.com> writes:
> I would presume the Mini in that picture has the stock "sport" suspension,
> not the "Sport Plus". Which do you have?
>
> -Carl
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Yeoh Yiu [mailto:squid@panix.com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 4:34 PM
> > To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> > Subject: Re: Let's Talk Minis...
> >
> >
> > Minis do roll.
> >
> > http://omor.com/dc/mini/CooperCross.jpg
> > (credits to Helix13)
> >
> > The car is so short, you can't push on the bumper to get the
> > leverage to compress the suspension.
> >
> > I've had my Mini Cooper for 18 hours now. :-)
> >
> > squid@panix.com
> >
> > "Thana, Peter {High~Palo Alto}" <PETER.THANA@ROCHE.COM> writes:
> >
> > > The CRX was such a neat car, and it may well be far better
> > for autox than
> > > the new MINI. I made my comparison just to point out that
> > a light, nimble,
> > > low powered car was such a great idea 10 years ago, I
> > don't see why the
> > > idea can't work today when just about everything has 200hp.
> > Except that now
> > > we're spoiled:)
> > >
> > > Peter
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