[Dainewb]

Took my r56 s to the dealers for them to look at a few things and got an R56 cooper chilli courtesy car. I am slightly shocked at how much slower it seemed than my s all the way through the revs. Seemed to take so long to get up to speed on the motorway by comparison even though i was reving it hard!

I had a mk1 cooper and don't remember it being so slow (even though mk2 is faster!)

I even had to double check the back of the car that it wasn't a mk2 one!

So glad i got an S! Can't wait to get it back! Think I had just got used to how quick the S is, but having a cooper for a day will make me appreciate it a bit more

Don't mean to offend cooper owners (as I used to be one myself and they are great cars), just shocked at how much faster the S seems

[popey]

I know what you mean, I think its down to the pull of turbo.

[Parc77]

Yep, also had a new Cooper a couple of months back and also found it to be slow in comparisson to my S (R53) I know its not ment to be as quick but just wasnt expecting it to be quite so slow, it had a few thousand miles on it aswell so enough time for it to have loosened off somewhat.

[Avantone]

I'm sure this was the tactic when I went for my initial test drive - they let me loose in the MCS first and then the MC after - wow, did it seem slow in direct comparison.

The MCS vs MC decision was an easy one after that.

If your reading this and want the MC, DON'T drive a MCS!

[djtex]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dainewb (original)

Took my r56 s to the dealers for them to look at a few things and got an R56 cooper chilli courtesy car. I am slightly shocked at how much slower it seemed than my s all the way through the revs. Seemed to take so long to get up to speed on the motorway by comparison even though i was reving it hard!

I had a mk1 cooper and don't remember it being so slow (even though mk2 is faster!)

I even had to double check the back of the car that it wasn't a mk2 one!

So glad i got an S! Can't wait to get it back! Think I had just got used to how quick the S is, but having a cooper for a day will make me appreciate it a bit more

Don't mean to offend cooper owners (as I used to be one myself and they are great cars), just shocked at how much faster the S seems

Totally agree with you mate, I found exactly the same thing.

[Fevs]

Quote: Originally Posted by Avantone (original)

I'm sure this was the tactic when I went for my initial test drive - they let me loose in the MCS first and then the MC after - wow, did it seem slow in direct comparison.

The MCS vs MC decision was an easy one after that.

If your reading this and want the MC, DON'T drive a MCS!

why not i had an S works and now have a cooper i know which i prefer

[Avantone]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fevs (original)

why not i had an S works and now have a cooper i know which i prefer

Horses for courses then I suppose - why do you prefer the Cooper?

[3rdpillar]

Quote: Originally Posted by Avantone (original)

I'm sure this was the tactic when I went for my initial test drive - they let me loose in the MCS first and then the MC after - wow, did it seem slow in direct comparison.

The MCS vs MC decision was an easy one after that.

If your reading this and want the MC, DON'T drive a MCS!

Can voutch for that! HOWEVER once you get your S, you never stop "s"miling

[Fevs]

Quote: Originally Posted by Avantone (original)

Horses for courses then I suppose - why do you prefer the Cooper?

feels better balanced and more of an involving car to drive the S works was easy just put ya foot down and point in any gear the cooper is more fun as you have to plan a lot more

[R60 Mike]

I have got an 07 mini cooper Diesel as a loan car untill mine is fixed,

Peformance is ok but rubbish when you compare it to my R56 MCS

the one thing i do like is the 47 mpg that i am getting, but it makes such a song and dance about it its just far to noisy i have heard much better diesels, but the noise it much nicer than the noise from my MCS.

I am still convinced where all testing a new petrol/diesel hybrid for BMW

[Paul]

If you see my reviews here: http://www.mini2.com/reviews.html you will see my thoughts are much the same, why MINI released it the "wrong" way around this time was puzzling.

[Dainewb]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fevs (original)

feels better balanced and more of an involving car to drive the S works was easy just put ya foot down and point in any gear the cooper is more fun as you have to plan a lot more

I think I know what you mean, although I find I have to think about driving the S more as the speed increases so quickly, and you are not always in the right situation to floor it. I find with the Cooper you can pretty much floor it the whole time (traffic and built up areas aside)

[Dainewb]

I forgot to mention that I went for a drive with the engineer driving and he drove it quite hard! (similar to me!) Seemed even faster from the passenger seat!

I think that is always the case though!

[jamesbeaumont]

55 bhp is always going to make a big difference in a car the size of a MINI. The cooper is still a fast car though! I feel the same way as fevs, the power the S has would be too much on smaller roads, youd always be watching your speed as apposed to concentrating on your line and braking points like you can on a cooper, just depends what you like, I like my small twisty b roads, I think of the S as more of an A road monster. Having said that if I was given the option of a free upgrade to an S, Id take it and work on my skills! The cooper could do with a little more power though, say 145 bhp, that way it would stand out from its rivals and be slightly better value for money instead of having to spend £££'s on engine mods!

[Dainewb]

After my second day of having the cooper, it seems faster than yesterday! Think I am getting used to it (still looking forward to getting my s back though)

To my amusement the car (07 reg) has exactly the same rattle (on the passenger door handle) as mine! Also has the same ruler twang noise from back left when going a speed bump. Perhaps it is not just early build cars that have these issues.

Aside from that have found the standard stereo to be very poor (listening to radio anyway), so glad i got the hifi.

Enjoying having another mini for a few days to do some comparisons

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by jamesbeaumont (original)

55 bhp is always going to make a big difference in a car the size of a MINI. The cooper is still a fast car though! I feel the same way as fevs, the power the S has would be too much on smaller roads, youd always be watching your speed as apposed to concentrating on your line and braking points like you can on a cooper, just depends what you like, I like my small twisty b roads, I think of the S as more of an A road monster.

Personally couldn't disagree more with that, especially as we're talking 2nd gen where I feel the difference between the Cooper and One feels even more pronounced.

The Cooper isn't really a "fast car", and to be honest the S isn't really a "fast car" either in the classic sense. It is quick, and can go fast, but I wouldn't really consider it a true "performance vehicle". It fits the hot hatch, pocket rocket image and grouping well, but isn't some hairy thrill riding, wheel spinning monster of a car, it's not even the fastest of the hot hatches on the market Today.

The S has bags of usable power and is a very involving drive. The Cooper just doesn't have that, and to my mind suffers for it. My regular driving is a combination of very twisty and also pretty quick minor country roads and lanes, and 60/70 mph city roads broken with roundabouts in Milton Keynes, and the S is faster and more fun in every situation for me.

I'm not saying the Cooper is a bad car, or even a slow car, but it's not what I'd call a real fast car, and certainly doesn't have too much power to be controllable, chuckable, and bags of fun on the twisties.

[jamesbeaumont]

each to their own sadly some of us have restrictions suchas young age

[mister.t]

Ours is fast enough round here. And S would have us dead, and licences gone. Nothing wrong with our Cooper. Love it.

[Paul]

Nothing wrong with the Cooper, but the S is less wrong. But they're all good really.

[wiggis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Mullett (original)

Nothing wrong with the Cooper, but the S is less wrong. But they're all good really.

And the GP is even less wronger ...

Having owned an R56 Cooper, I have to say I was quite impressed by its performance. I measured its 0-60 time at 8.1 seconds using a g-tech accelerometer, and the 50-75 mph time was pretty impressive so long as you stayed in 3rd gear to do it (not like the quoted 4th gear numbers).

However, having sold my BMW E39 M5 (which was stupidly fast, doing 0-60 in 4.8 seconds)I now have an R53 S JCW GP. The GP is not nearly as fast as the M5 was in a straight line - there is a good second difference in the 0-60 time, but down a twisty A or B road, or flying round a roundabout, I am totally sure that me in a GP would beat me in an M5, and be far more entertaining and cheaper into the bargain.

R56 Cooper was great. I'm sure R56 Cooper S is greater.