Help, Advice, Suggestions!

[chilipack]

Hi Guys,

Havent posted for a while as I've been too busy driving my lovely R56 Cooper S with a big fat grin!!!

Anyway... I have decided that its time for a change but as i'm so in love with the mini brand..the choice is clear that I want another mini.

The contenders - the R56 John Cooper Works (an upgrade on my current S, mainly in terms of speed and obviously a couple of athestic changes even though my current S has an aero kit and JCW wheels)

OR the new R57 Cooper S Cab (an upgrade in terms of open top driving (have sunroof on my current S) but downgrade on the speed. But how significant is the 0.3secs?)

With regards to spec, both would be highley loaded with options and both would be similar in price.

Now the tough part....I do a lot of motorway driving and thus wouldn't enjoy driving a convertable which was noisy and felt flimsy (from what I've been told a common probem with the R53 convertable) however the new Cooper S convertable is meant to be much better built and thus shouldn't suffer from noise. However things like blind spots and possible roof leakages scare me a bit!

Another important factor for me would be the loss in speed from my current car to an r56 convertable S....the 0-60 figures speak for themselves but how much slower does the convertable feel from the hatch? Obviously if I was getting a works then the speed would be frightengly fast and wouldnt be an issue.

So the ultimatum is what do I do?

A JCW hatch
or
A R56 S cab?

Your advice is greatly appreciated in advance!

Warm Regards

Chilipack

[Paul]

To be honest, it's a choice of what do you really want? If you really want a soft top, go for it. If you've not got a strong desire for the soft top, the JCW seems the best choice.

[chilipack]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul (original)

To be honest, it's a choice of what do you really want? If you really want a soft top, go for it. If you've not got a strong desire for the soft top, the JCW seems the best choice.

Thanks Paul for the quick reply...my issue is...I'm worried about noticing the loss in power from going to a cab from a hatch....do you think that it would be very noticable?


Regards

[Paul]

Check my reviews on theSwitchback "Driven" section... (JCW will be there later this week too). In short, I don't think you'll miss the power so much, but the feel is quite different, handling, overall experience. See if you can get a test drive perhaps?

[iain cooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul (original)

Check my reviews on theSwitchback "Driven" section... (JCW will be there later this week too). In short, I don't think you'll miss the power so much, but the feel is quite different, handling, overall experience. See if you can get a test drive perhaps?

agree with everything Paul has said, and you really need to want a soft top to buy one, as they are so different.

if you want performance and handling go for the JCW.