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MGB Boy · Sep 22nd, 2003, 09:18 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by sjbartnik

Probably for the best all around. IMHO, anyone that would consider a Corolla an alternative to the MINI is probably not into the MINI for the "right" reasons if you know what I mean.

Now if you said she got out of the MINI and into an SVT Focus or something I'd have a different opinion

Sorry, but I have to comment on this one. No, I don't know what you mean. What are the "right" reasons for buying a MINI? Or more specifically, what are the "right" reasons for buying a CVT Cooper?

A person who buys a 115hp CVT Cooper is probably not going to have a 170hp 6 speed manual (i.e. the SVT Focus) as their second choice. Anyone looking for what the SVT offers wouldn't be looking at a CVT Cooper. The SVT Focus offers 0-60 times in the 7s vs 0-60 times over 10 seconds in the CVT Cooper, it offers a stick instead of a "slushbox", it offers harder suspension, it offers 17" rims and other such equipment as standard. If you want to compare the SVT to a MINI, compare it to a Cooper S, that's the sort of car it's meant to compete with, not a CVT.

Sorry if it seems like I'm blowing up a trivial thing, but I just got back from a long weekend and I'm cranky about being back at work. Plus I just get tired of the implication that whatever car someone buys instead of a MINI indicates that they were only interested in the MINI for image reasons or that they weren't real motoring enthusiasts if they "settled" for a Civic, Focus, Corolla, or whatever else. It's a sentiment I've seen many many times here and elsewhere, the whole "if you'd consider a Civic, you should get it, because the sort of person who could consider a Civic shouldn't get a MINI" line. Not everyone who buys a MINI is thinking "hmmm, it'll either be the MINI, the WRX, or the EVO". Not everyone who buys a MINI is concerned about how it corners near the limit. A good many people who buy MINIs (especially the "lower" models) are buying it not because they are an enthusiast who buys into the whole "motorer" ethos, but because they need decent transportation and the MINI fit their budget and needs, just as a Civic, Corolla, Impreza, Focus, etc. might. Those reasons are as "right" as any other. Just my two cents.

-Ricardo (who owns a Works S and wouldn't consider a Civic, Corolla, or Focus, even if it were the SVT...)

P.S. Technomage: Good on you for stepping up to the perfomance of the S. When does the Works kit go in

Sep 22nd, 2003, 09:18 PM	#7
MGB Boy heterochromic & loving it Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: at the rink Local Time: 06:40 PM Posts: 4,245 Offline	Quote: Originally Posted by sjbartnik Probably for the best all around. IMHO, anyone that would consider a Corolla an alternative to the MINI is probably not into the MINI for the "right" reasons if you know what I mean. Now if you said she got out of the MINI and into an SVT Focus or something I'd have a different opinion Sorry, but I have to comment on this one. No, I don't know what you mean. What are the "right" reasons for buying a MINI? Or more specifically, what are the "right" reasons for buying a CVT Cooper? A person who buys a 115hp CVT Cooper is probably not going to have a 170hp 6 speed manual (i.e. the SVT Focus) as their second choice. Anyone looking for what the SVT offers wouldn't be looking at a CVT Cooper. The SVT Focus offers 0-60 times in the 7s vs 0-60 times over 10 seconds in the CVT Cooper, it offers a stick instead of a "slushbox", it offers harder suspension, it offers 17" rims and other such equipment as standard. If you want to compare the SVT to a MINI, compare it to a Cooper S, that's the sort of car it's meant to compete with, not a CVT. Sorry if it seems like I'm blowing up a trivial thing, but I just got back from a long weekend and I'm cranky about being back at work. Plus I just get tired of the implication that whatever car someone buys instead of a MINI indicates that they were only interested in the MINI for image reasons or that they weren't real motoring enthusiasts if they "settled" for a Civic, Focus, Corolla, or whatever else. It's a sentiment I've seen many many times here and elsewhere, the whole "if you'd consider a Civic, you should get it, because the sort of person who could consider a Civic shouldn't get a MINI" line. Not everyone who buys a MINI is thinking "hmmm, it'll either be the MINI, the WRX, or the EVO". Not everyone who buys a MINI is concerned about how it corners near the limit. A good many people who buy MINIs (especially the "lower" models) are buying it not because they are an enthusiast who buys into the whole "motorer" ethos, but because they need decent transportation and the MINI fit their budget and needs, just as a Civic, Corolla, Impreza, Focus, etc. might. Those reasons are as "right" as any other. Just my two cents. -Ricardo (who owns a Works S and wouldn't consider a Civic, Corolla, or Focus, even if it were the SVT...) P.S. Technomage: Good on you for stepping up to the perfomance of the S. When does the Works kit go in 06 MCS-W/77 MGB/69 MGB-GT "2 minutes by yourself and...you feel shame, you know...and then you get free"