What's wrong with the Cooper S?

 

My whole family's big into Minis. My dad's got my old 1980 Mini 1000, which he's currently rebuilding to put in a 1380cc engine. My brother's got a 76 Cooper w/ Sunroof, and a 2004 Cooper S.

He went test driving with me to check out the Mini and RX-8, and he loved the 8. My dad drove my 8 today coming back from downtown (he tagged along when I went in for a CT Scan), and he really liked it.

I picked the 8 over the Cooper S because I love the styling of the 8, the easy access to the rear seats, and it's handling over the cooper, although the cooper's a hell of a lot of fun.

 

The MINI was a blast. It was my second choice after thr RX-8. Of all the cars, that I consider legitimate sport cars, that have a back seat (Mini S , Rx-8 etc ....) it was the least expensive. So I gave it a try. It never realy grew on my, until I started beating on it. I enjoyed the performance. When pushed they are actualy a great handling and decent performance car.
The engine, suspension and brakes were awesome for the price point. The interior looks realy cool, especially at night imo. Unfourtanetly something had to give to meet the price point and that would appear to be the materials used to create the interior or at least join the surfaces. That thing squeaked and creaked constantly. In the end my decision to get out of it came down to simple interior space. When using a child seat in the back, the passenger was to close to the dash to be confortable. Short rides were ok, but that's it. No big suprise, kinda like buying a a H2 and compalining about gas mileage. :p
Leaving in one hour to pick up the 8 !!! Getting pretty geaked !! I must admit.

When I get back, I need to search the forum for the proper way to change my login name.

 

Yeah, the child seat access in the rear was a big consideration for me as well... a hell of a lot easier to get the kids seat into the RX-8 than the Cooper S. With our Rear Facing seat (which we first tried out yesterday) my wife had plenty of room in the front.

 

I got it !!!!

It seems to want to pull to the left though.
I guess I need to do a search !!! :D

I waited around at the dealer for 3 hours to have the alignment checked. The tech showed me all the numbers and they are well within spec. They checked the tires first so it's not pressure either.

All in all, way different than what I am used too, but a very cool car. I have next 60,000 miles to relearn all my shifting and breaking points. :D