Drove my girlfriends 05 Mini Cooper S today
 

I recently sold my 2001 Mustang GT with vortech supercharger and I am currently looking to buy a new car. My girfrend just picked up her 05 MSC and it really opened my eyes. I am blown away how well this car handles. The strait line acceleration is not nearly as fast as my stang but the performance is balanced for the size of the car.

My stang feels like a brick compared to the mini. After driving this car I find myself more interested in handling performance over strait line acceleration.

I would LOVE to own a new Lotus Elise but live in Canada and they are not legal here yet. I know the Mazda miata is one of the best handling cars but its just not my taste.

Has anybody ever driven something that feels as fun as a MCS?

The cars I am looking into:

06 WRX STi
http://www.dansouliere.com/pictures/2006sti.jpg

Campagna T-Rex
http://www.dansouliere.com/pictures/trex01.jpg

RX-8
http://www.dansouliere.com/pictures/rx8.jpg

Those are some REALLY different cars. I say go for the T-Rex! :D

T-rex!

Yeah I don't need practicality since I can drive the gf's mini anytime. The trex skidpad rating is 1.9g's! So it just dont get much better than that!

The Mini is certainly one of the more fun cars to toss around. The STI and the RX-8 both handle really well but will feel a good bit different from the Mini. Drive them and find out which is best for you, an '05 STi should give you a pretty good idea of what the '06 will feel like. If you want something totally impractical and fun, the T rex, SR3, or Maybe a Westfield Megabusa qouls fit the bill nicely.

The ultimate car for the price is the Arial Atom. I contacted Arial last month and they are trying to import them to Canada the same way as the Shelby Cobra kits are. It might take a few years thou.

the new sti is sooo hot. Man looks WAY better.

the front end is nice but it still has the goofy wing in the back.

Make that two goofy wings in the back.

http://www.tyresmoke.net/attachments...coobySTI02.jpg

if you want something fun and impartical but also a head turner, get a S2000

If only it was a few hundred pounds lighter it would be that much better. I am not much of a convertible type guy so its not my taste. I also would prefer to have more torque.

i say out of all the cars you posted.... go with the rx7 ;)

If its the wing thats your thing ,might try one of these puppys...

How is the T-Rex legal in Canada when the Lotus is not?

Thank you Ike. You said something nice about the 8-I'm going to cry.


:)

I think legally it's a motorcycle, and therefore doesn't have to meet the safety requirements of cars.

man, if you can get the Atom, wait a little and get THAT one instead. You would need a Helmet to drive it but for sheer performance, only the Enzo or the MC-12 can beat it on a track.

I've always been curious of the Mini... looks like oodles of fun to drive.... Perhaps that should be the next car on my test drive hit list.

I dont think I'd buy it as it just doesnt scream "TOD" ... but I would love to get my hands on it

having driven the new elise at 'the gap' i would wait for one of those. all of the cars you mentioned other than the ariel atom and the trex could be used as a normal daily driver. just something to keep in mind if things should fall thru with your girlfriends car. i dont know anything about your life, but if its 2 people and 1 car, there are bound to be problems at some point.

HELL YEAH DUDE!! I can't believe no one else mentioned the black RX-7 in that picture. It's so beautiful it makes me want to cry. :D Is that at a dealership...Where? ;) :D ;)

I was keen on getting a mini cooper s prior to getting my 8. I had narrowed my purchase down to a mini, acura tsx and the 8. The 8 was the balance between fun and functional. Biggest factor for me was the ease of getting a child's car seat into the back of the car. The mini failed in that respect.