Cooper V's Alfa
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Ummm, at the risk of being chastised by the "anti-everyothercarexceptMINIbrigade", which particular Model Alfa Romeo, and MG did they put the Cooper up against??.batemano said:Did anyone see the Cooper on Driven last night? I missed it, but I just read on the 4car website that it beat the Alfa and the MG easily on the test track. Nice one Mini!
I'm interested, if no one else is.
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Standard (i.e. non-chili) Cooper compared with 1.6 MGF and 1.6 Alfa 146 (i.e the Focus sized hatchback).
For those in the UK who missed the programme it is repeated on Sunday afternoon.
For those in the UK who missed the programme it is repeated on Sunday afternoon.
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yah, goto http://www.4car.co.uk then go to driven and its got it all there
Hmmm,
The Mini and Alfa left 20 seconds before the MG on the track but then again the MG was driven by Jason Plato, the current British Touring Car Champion.
It was a typical Driven test IMHO. Not subjective but easy to watch. At one point they amazed me by getting more boxes of wine in the Alfa than the Mini or MG!!
I was expecting them to then tell me that the MG only had two seats and a roof that can fold down thus making it less than ideal as a family car.
The Mini and Alfa left 20 seconds before the MG on the track but then again the MG was driven by Jason Plato, the current British Touring Car Champion.
It was a typical Driven test IMHO. Not subjective but easy to watch. At one point they amazed me by getting more boxes of wine in the Alfa than the Mini or MG!!
I was expecting them to then tell me that the MG only had two seats and a roof that can fold down thus making it less than ideal as a family car.
Good one. Thanks for that. Being away from the uk for so long, I miss out on knowing where all the good motoring links are. Never seen this one come up on my search engine, as whatever you might think, search engines from different countries are a little biased.Redhotmini said:yah, goto http://www.4car.co.uk then go to driven and its got it all there
cheers
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I missed the very start of the show, did they do a real life 0-60 test? because at the point when the mini and the alfa sprinted away together the commentator stated that they had an identical 0-60 time of 10.6 seconds! I thought it felt slow when idrove the mini cooper but not that slow.Sirobbo said:
No, they didn`t do a 0-60 test.
I always thought that the Cooper`s 0-60 was about 9.2, however as the acceleration test is not a good indicator of the car`s performance I wasn`t too bothered.
It`s the Mini`s abilty to carry it`s speed that makes it such a good car.
I always thought that the Cooper`s 0-60 was about 9.2, however as the acceleration test is not a good indicator of the car`s performance I wasn`t too bothered.
It`s the Mini`s abilty to carry it`s speed that makes it such a good car.
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The Alfa 147 1.6 definitely feels slower than the Cooper when accelerating from standstill; this was comparing cars which had been run in properly (my own and a dealer demonstrator), though the performance gap feels a bit narrower on the motorway. Autocar magazine has recorded 0-60 times of 10.2 for the Alfa and 9.3 for the Cooper, though the Cooper tested only had something like 300 miles on the odometer so it hadn't been run in yet. The Cooper overall certainly felt much livelier than the Alfa and was well up to keeping up with hot hatches (eg. Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi) on the motorway though I wasn't going to indulge in any racing(!)
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I think the peugeot couldn't have been trying. The Cooper feels quite slow to me-nothing like a hot hatch at all.I am currently driving an mr2 turbo mind you so maybe thats why it feels so slow.However I drove a T sport Yaris which is supposed to have a similar 0-60 but it felt much quicker than the Cooper.I've decided to go for the Cooper s because I don't think I could live with reving the Cooper to 5000 rpm just to get some response out of it. Do'nt get me wrong the car is superb but why tart it up with alloy wheels and go faster stripes when it is clearly not in the performance league of modern hot hatches.MiniMayhem said:
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Re comparison with the Yaris. Both Auto Express and Top Gear Magazine found the Mini Cooper was around a second faster to 60 mph than the Yaris. However, the Yaris has much lower gearing than the Mini, and its in-gear times (e.g. 30-50 in 3rd) are about a second faster than the Cooper. This may account for your impression that the Yaris felt quicker.
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0-60 times
0-60 times are used to sell cars in magazines. They bear no real-world proof of a cars performance. I never take any notice of them. To many variables can change the 0-60 times between the same car, never mind different models!
As for needing more power than a standard Cooper, my journey times in my Cooper are no slower than in the Mondeo ST24 2.5 V6 I drove before (and I'm not a slow driver). And I'm paying a lot less insurance!
0-60 times are used to sell cars in magazines. They bear no real-world proof of a cars performance. I never take any notice of them. To many variables can change the 0-60 times between the same car, never mind different models!
As for needing more power than a standard Cooper, my journey times in my Cooper are no slower than in the Mondeo ST24 2.5 V6 I drove before (and I'm not a slow driver). And I'm paying a lot less insurance!
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Practical Comparison
As it happens, my brother has just bought a new Alfa 147, so we have compared notes. He has a 1.6 with a fairly basic spec. which cost just over £13,000. My MIN cost a grand more, but is "fully loaded".
The Alfa feels and is heavier than the MINI and has a more solid and expensive feel to it. The standard Alfa suspension is much softer than a Chili MINI, but nearly every car in the Universe is softer than a Chili MINI! But the Alfa still manages to crash and jar over bumps and ridges etc.
The Alfa engine feels less torquey than the MINI, especially at lowish rev's.
The Alfa seats are way better than MINI.
The Alfa boot is much bigger and more practical and the rear seat will manage 3 at a pinch.
If you don't have a second "practical" car to fall back on when you have to carry stuff (i.e. baby buggies etc etc..), then the Alfa is a good bet. If you do, then have more fun with a MINI
As it happens, my brother has just bought a new Alfa 147, so we have compared notes. He has a 1.6 with a fairly basic spec. which cost just over £13,000. My MIN cost a grand more, but is "fully loaded".
The Alfa feels and is heavier than the MINI and has a more solid and expensive feel to it. The standard Alfa suspension is much softer than a Chili MINI, but nearly every car in the Universe is softer than a Chili MINI! But the Alfa still manages to crash and jar over bumps and ridges etc.
The Alfa engine feels less torquey than the MINI, especially at lowish rev's.
The Alfa seats are way better than MINI.
The Alfa boot is much bigger and more practical and the rear seat will manage 3 at a pinch.
If you don't have a second "practical" car to fall back on when you have to carry stuff (i.e. baby buggies etc etc..), then the Alfa is a good bet. If you do, then have more fun with a MINI
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