After all they are not too much different: 4 seat, performance oriented, excellent handling, if you full load the Cooper S it can reach the 27K!, less than 0.5 sec apart in 0-60, 6 speed, etc. and they are both neck turning cars. Do not under consider the MCS, it looks funny but is a very serious car.

 

i've never sat in or seen the 8 in person, but there is no way in hell you could fit anything close to four people in the Cooper with two of me in the front seat, unless they were amputees...

 

I've sat in both and the Mini is much smaller in the back. Just because the Firebird or Camaro came w/ back seats didn't mean that they were there for sitting (anybody who has sat back there knows what I'm talking about).
While they may look similar (to you anyways) on paper they will react totally different on the road or track. The Mini is a FF (front engine front - wheel drive) while the 8 is a FR (front engine- rear wheel drive) car. The 8 has more hp (highpower version) and is all around made to handle and do so elegantly. The Mini while it does have a 50-50 weight ratio... I personally don't think that it can anywhere near keep up with the 8.

Strider-

 

I think the Mini Cooper S is ugly, plus its not RWD and the RX8 is more appealing to me because it's RWD. The mini cooper is also not japanese and I need a japanese car because they last longer.

 

Okay, this looks like someone accidentally started a new thread instead of a new post. Closing...

---jps