Sister's Mini Clubman S

[sirwilliam]

Well, my sisters behemoth Yukon finally was showing its age...so she went looking for a jeep (something just for fun) and wound up getting a 2008 Mini Clubman S in a cream color of sorts.

Took it for a spin. Aside from it being an AT and having a cheapo glove box and filler door/cover, it was pretty decent. Have good pep...handling and steering was good, too. Still wouldn't mind grabbing a turbo Mini Cooper S for a fun commuter car.

[Sabre]

Dan's (PGT) was very impressive, both in the corners and on the straights. Now that they are turbo'ed, I'd think about one

[chicken n waffles]

if any of the mini dealers from here to richmond were willing to go below msrp for a turbo'ed s, i might not have purchased the legacy.

[sirwilliam]

My sister got it for $19k with low mileage...and it is loaded on the inside with lots of options that would bump the original price way up. That is one thing about the minis, they get you with options.

[scheherazade]

That is one thing about the BMWs, they get you with options.

-scheherazade

[snaab]

Their CPO prices are reasonable. I thought the sport mode on the auto was wonderful. I could definitely live with that.

[PGT]

I bought my SC'ed one as a stopgap, waiting for the full-tilt-boogie JCW model of the new turbo model. Thing is, by the time it came out, I already had more power to the wheels than the JCW had at the crank, by a longshot.

The old Tritech motor was not polished but it could take a GT28 in a twincharged arrangement on the stock shortblock (it was designed by Daimler-Chrysler and shared architecture with the SRT-4). The new Prince engine done in conjunction with Peugeot?? It's a turd in comparison. Nobody is pushing the boundaries for a couple of reasons: the MINI demographic is about cute graphics and naming your car, not serious performance.

The other thing...the new models don't have the same 'fun to drive' factor....too posh and too polished. Akin to the comparison between a GDB and a GRB I think.

That said, I LOVE the idea of a direct injection, 250hp JCW model that gets 35+ mpg. Thing is, that's not what MINI intends to put on the market.