Hello there buddies!

Looking in the market for a good , enjoyable little car, I thought of the 2007 Mini cooper S , drove the old one, it was great fun, drove the A3 front wheel drive (i believe it was the 2.0 turbo) - fun car with respect ... and great styling , the mini just makes the driver look really stupid + MINI are known as a girly car (even if it isn't) the looks and 90% who drives them are females...

so whats the best option? thanks for reading

 

Hmm... Chef?

 

Driving dynamics should come first and foremost. Too bad you have to concern yourself about what other's think of you re: "girlie" cars.

I drove two Miatas for 14yearsand loved every second of it. Never cared about what other's thought.

I test drove a '04Mini"S" with 30K miles. The "S"is a 1.6 supercharged car .The interiorrattled way too much for me. Enjoyed the supercharger torque. Very little torquesteer.

The A3 is a step up in every way, but shows it's extra weight, evenslightly so, over the Mini "S". In the end, I'd liked the A3S-Linewith S-tronic (DSG) better.

 

If its not about money, but fun, then I think this thought fits perfectly: "The MINI Cooper S is more about broad smiles than broad loads; and more about fun for two than fun for four."
Personally I think of the two fun cars the A3 is more practical if you know what I mean. [sm=smiley2.gif]

 

I test drove the Mini S as well, with the JW Cooper aftermarket option. It was very quick and a hell of a lot of fun. It just wasn't big enough for my family. I tested the GTI, and A3 later and it was a no-brainer for me. The build quality, car feel, and space was perfect. Also, with just a little bit of mods, this car will take Mini's all day long without breathing hard. I didn't have the "girlie" perception with buying a Mini, because I don't really care, but might have bought it if I didn't need more space or if I hadn't test driven the A3.

Cheers!

 

Perhaps I'll chime in as well. I always liked the mini and wouldn't mind having one in my college days. However, now being a professional, I needed a car with more space. Its actually nice that I can take 4 people and their luggage comfortably in my car and still have loads of power left over. If your truly confused on which car to get, try renting a Mini for a week. Since its a popular car, I'm sure you can find one easily. The last thing you want when buying a car is regrets.

 

Yeah, I might be kinda biased here, but if it's not about the money, definately go A3. If you want more performance out of the A3 there are definately mods you can do to the A3. Check out APR (exhaust, ecu, intake, possibly K04 turbo). You will love the everyday driveability of the A3. I recently took my A3 on some cross-country trips, and I loved every minute!!

http://www.goapr.com

http://www.corelineracing.com

 

Well, you can't get any better than this. I had an 04 Mini S. Well modded and loads of fun. Two problems, small back seat-so forget about taking full size people with you (why do people buy a car named MINI and expect loads of room?), and most important-it takes alot of money to make one go fast. Mine dynoed stock at 159 at the wheels-after $3500 on the engine alone I was making 210WHP. I now have an A3. I've started to mod it and have only added the APR ECU full upgrade and a Carbonio intake. This car is way quicker than the MINI. There is a definate difference in power delivery between the two, due to the supercharger and turbo dfifferences. The A3 pulls very hard to the rev limiter (I can break traction through the first 4 gears) but drives very comfortably any other time.

 

A3 IMO

 

Guess many of us looked at the same cars. I was pretty sure I was going mini S, but the two large guys I carpool with would have to suffer. Actually I said so what, to that. Then my wife told me she would be driving it because she was turning in her lease, so she suggested I get an automatic. DSG was the only automatic I had heard good things about, so I took an A3 test drive. No doubts after that !!!