Nope.
An official 0-60 time in the 7\'s is not good. In today\'s market that\'s pretty sorry for a car positioning itself in the performance category. Especially an unknown entering a crowding hot-compact market.
Fair or not, 0-60 is a critical identifier in many enthusiasts\' minds of a car\'s performance offering-- such a decidedly mediocre showing gives the MINI an immediate handicap in the market, meaning the car will have to be judged on its more sublime assets.
But marketing talk aside, that\'s just too darn slow for me. Fifteen years ago my \'86 Omni GLH Turbo was rated at 0-60 in 7.5. Heck, the new Ford Ranger V6 is posting about an 8-second 0-60! So if we wring it out we\'ll be able to beat a pickup truck.
0-60 in 7.3 is just not keeping pace with today\'s performance cars.
I do apologize for sounding so cynical, its just my frustration with the MINI\'s engine again. I dearly love everything else about the car, am on this site daily, and counting the months until my S arrives, but everytime the powerplant subject comes up I get sour. A car like this should have a little jewel of an engine w/ an inspiring output that makes enthusiasts sit up and take notice, not an iron block oddball requiring a blower to achieve the same power as anything out of Japan.
Compounding this is the likelihood that no Works packages will be available in the US, so anything Works-like that we do will ultimately depreciate the value of the car and void the warranty.
If anything I say here is offbase, please challenge it-- hopefully things are better than I believe and I\'m just cranky from too much caffeine and fluorescent lighting today.
It sure as heck makes a guy loquacious...