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tommy · Mar 21st, 2001, 06:05 PM

I honestly don't know what the audience will be. Most serious people wouldn't buy the standard Cooper at 115 hp. That will probably be like the Camaro RS, aka, the secretary's car. It won't be fast, AND will come in at $18k, so I have no idea who will buy it. It would probably make a good autox car, but I'd guess it will be bought by the same people who bought the initial bunch of New Beetles.
Now, the Cooper S is a different story. Of course, you're raising the bar to $21k. But, the GTI will be redone for 2002 with 170 hp (more like 180), and the v6 will top 201, and both will be in the MINI's price range. Then there's the new integra, the wrx, and the se-r which will all compete in the same area. What will win people over will be people waxing nostalgic over the old Minis or the MINI's handling/appearance. Though it's such a small car, and there's so much lead time with this car that I'm guessing that many people will bail and buy one of the previously-mentioned options.

Mar 21st, 2001, 06:05 PM	#18
tommy MINI2 Regular Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Westwood, NJ Local Time: 10:52 AM Posts: 59 Offline	I honestly don't know what the audience will be. Most serious people wouldn't buy the standard Cooper at 115 hp. That will probably be like the Camaro RS, aka, the secretary's car. It won't be fast, AND will come in at $18k, so I have no idea who will buy it. It would probably make a good autox car, but I'd guess it will be bought by the same people who bought the initial bunch of New Beetles. Now, the Cooper S is a different story. Of course, you're raising the bar to $21k. But, the GTI will be redone for 2002 with 170 hp (more like 180), and the v6 will top 201, and both will be in the MINI's price range. Then there's the new integra, the wrx, and the se-r which will all compete in the same area. What will win people over will be people waxing nostalgic over the old Minis or the MINI's handling/appearance. Though it's such a small car, and there's so much lead time with this car that I'm guessing that many people will bail and buy one of the previously-mentioned options.