MINI2 - MINI Forum - View Single Post

KillerByte · Jan 6th, 2007, 07:42 PM

My 52 plate MINI Cooper was rear-ended before Christmas, and while it has been in for repair after the New Year my insurance company has provided me with a MINI Cooper S (06 so supercharged

) hire car. To be honest, I'd always planned to upgrade to a MINI Cooper S in a few years time so this was the perfect chance for me to test one for a few days.

My initial impressions were good. The extra power you get is great and the sound of the engine, supercharger and exhaust is fantastic. However, the ride is much harder thanks to the stiffer suspension and 17" run-flat tyres (my MC only has Sport Suspension and 15" standard wheels) and this is something I actually dislike. The ride is hard enough in my MC and some of the roads around where I live are a lot less forgiving in the MCS.

Today I took the MCS out for a proper run on a dual carriageway. Once again, the power difference between the two cars is impressive but I did find the MCS a little more skittish than I'd like. It seems at higher speeds I had to make constant corrections to the steering and it made the whole experience a little less fun. I don't know why but my MC seems a lot more stable.

It might be that as a hire car, the MCS I'm currently using has been treated as one (ie. thrashed to death) and therefore isn't truly representative of the model range but at this point in time I wouldn't trade my MC for one. I get my MC back on Monday and to be quite honest I can't wait. It may not be as fast, and it may not make the same sound but in my opinion it's much more fun to drive.

Jan 6th, 2007, 07:42 PM	#17
KillerByte It's coming... Join Date: May 2006 Location: Nottingham Local Time: 05:48 AM Posts: 11,678 Offline	My 52 plate MINI Cooper was rear-ended before Christmas, and while it has been in for repair after the New Year my insurance company has provided me with a MINI Cooper S (06 so supercharged ) hire car. To be honest, I'd always planned to upgrade to a MINI Cooper S in a few years time so this was the perfect chance for me to test one for a few days. My initial impressions were good. The extra power you get is great and the sound of the engine, supercharger and exhaust is fantastic. However, the ride is much harder thanks to the stiffer suspension and 17" run-flat tyres (my MC only has Sport Suspension and 15" standard wheels) and this is something I actually dislike. The ride is hard enough in my MC and some of the roads around where I live are a lot less forgiving in the MCS. Today I took the MCS out for a proper run on a dual carriageway. Once again, the power difference between the two cars is impressive but I did find the MCS a little more skittish than I'd like. It seems at higher speeds I had to make constant corrections to the steering and it made the whole experience a little less fun. I don't know why but my MC seems a lot more stable. It might be that as a hire car, the MCS I'm currently using has been treated as one (ie. thrashed to death) and therefore isn't truly representative of the model range but at this point in time I wouldn't trade my MC for one. I get my MC back on Monday and to be quite honest I can't wait. It may not be as fast, and it may not make the same sound but in my opinion it's much more fun to drive.