Cooper S - three months on.

suj999 · 17 May 2010 at 19:20

iaind said:
£50 for 120 miles, at 120ppl is 13mpg

nearly.. I fill up the tank every friday, and by sunday night its normally near the end. But I do push it a bit.. too much.. but still only done 24 000 miles on the clock, the car is going to be 5 years old at the end of the year.

eidolon said:
I get a constant 22-23mpg round town and 37mpg on motorways, I think it's great, really economical.

On a R53? ok I probably never do motorways on mine, its mainly A/B roads.. my MPG is often around 19.

iaind · 17 May 2010 at 19:22

You must be driving like an absolute mentalist to get 13mpg from a small car!

suj999 · 17 May 2010 at 19:23

Ev0 said:
Now I don't know your circumstances so apologies if this is all rubbish, but owning a nearly new Ibiza as a day to day car doesn't seem the most cost efficient way of doing things

It's a mini not a 911, surely the costs incurred with owning the Ibiza far outweigh any cost savings on the mini?

Surely sell the Ibiza, keep the mini, happy days

valid point, but I drive to work about 30 miles each way and I did try using the mini but I kept on using silly amount on fuel. Bought the ibiza new, but had an old polo so used the scrappage scheme.. about a year ago..

Participant · 17 May 2010 at 19:25

Gaijin said:
If you did, I'll be forced to join Fox on the next "Robbie G bashing session"

At least that would add some interest to them, although he seems to be avoiding such tactics as of late.

suj999 · 17 May 2010 at 19:28

iaind said:
You must be driving like an absolute mentalist to get 13mpg from a small car!

ok probably a bit more, last friday filled up with 42 pounds or something, but have filled up with up to about 50 in the past.. But do always use super unleaded.

Use to know a mate who was a tuner, and he use to shout at me when I use to use the normal unleaded on my MCS, and said its a must If Im pushing the car a lot and its a supercharged.

iaind · 17 May 2010 at 19:29

Really, running a second car for this is completely nuts.

Sell the Ibiza and just back off a bit in the mini - that way when you get a chance to have a proper hoon you'll enjoy it all the more

eidolon · 17 May 2010 at 19:52

Conanius said:
The absolutely huge issue I found however when taking out a Cooper S Works was a total lack of traction. It was absolutely, 100% impossible to put down the power in 1st or 2nd, and you would constantly get the traction control kicking in for 3rd.

I'm not sure if there is an option of an LSD, or if it even has one, but this was one thing that really put me off. Other than that I really really liked it.

I believe that LSD was an option on earlier cars and standard on later ones from about 2005 onwards. The runflat tyres and heavy wheels probably don't help things much either when it comes to traction, changing to lightweight wheels and non-runflats has made a huge difference. Apparently the lower strut brace is supposed to make a huge difference, I'll tell you what I think if a few days once mine arrives.

eidolon · 17 May 2010 at 19:56

suj999 said:
On a R53? ok I probably never do motorways on mine, its mainly A/B roads.. my MPG is often around 19.

I dunno how you get that low, even when I've done nothing but cold starts and short journeys I still get a minimum of 22mpg. Add one or two A/B road and it's easily in the 30s.

iaind said:
You must be driving like an absolute mentalist to get 13mpg from a small car!

I think I'd suggest getting the car checked over, something doesn't sound right. Even my brother didn't get that low when he used to drive the JCW and he used to floor it everywhere.

EdGey · 17 May 2010 at 20:54

nice upgrades there, looks a lot better.

[ui]ICEMAN · 17 May 2010 at 20:57

Conanius said:
Yours is looking fantastic with those subtle mods, and I do think as you have done Dave having one to acompany your 911 is a pretty good pairing. Granted from a practical point of view some sort of 3 series estate would be better, but it would lack the same go kart fun you get in a cooper s.

I have a 2010 Lexus RX350 for practicality, hence the Mini/911 combo

Eidolon, your car looks 100x better now, I personally love the wheels. I've done the JCW handbrake/shifter as well, IMO makes a huge difference when you're driving.

Ev0 · 17 May 2010 at 21:30

suj999 said:
valid point, but I drive to work about 30 miles each way and I did try using the mini but I kept on using silly amount on fuel. Bought the ibiza new, but had an old polo so used the scrappage scheme.. about a year ago..

Fair dos, still think it's nuts though and it will cost you more in the long run, scrappage scheme or not

30 miles each way is nothing really, I did it everyday in the 172 and only now don't do it every day as I sometimes get a lift in to work. But did it every day for about 5 years.

mjt · 18 May 2010 at 20:47

DreXeL said:
Ahh, the old 'jealous' chestnut

I wasn't being serious, but that without a smily I guess it wasn't obvious

It's down to the girly image.
As I said we're looking to get an R57, and every MINI cabrio I've seen in the last few days bar one had a hawt milf at the wheel..

suj999 · 18 May 2010 at 23:01

I am going to sell one of the two this summer.. the GF don't like the Mini, keeps saying I drive like a idiot when Im in the mini and wants me to sell it.. But I really want to keep both coz Im greedy.. but Im not rich enough.. So have to sell one.. but its nice to have two cars..

mjt · 18 May 2010 at 23:05

Is the HK system in the (R56) Mini worth it?
It's pretty pants in the E46 and it's hardly worth it in the R53..

iaind · 19 May 2010 at 07:59

Why would you want 2 minis? :confused:

Kappa · 19 May 2010 at 08:04

mjt said:
Is the HK system in the (R56) Mini worth it?
It's pretty pants in the E46 and it's hardly worth it in the R53..

I thought Mini used Bose for their high end audio?

oh yes, so it is HK!

eidolon · 19 May 2010 at 12:23

My current Cooper S had the Boost CD (non HK) and it was crap so I changed to Alpine. The old JCW had HK and was better but still a long way short of even a cheap aftermarket system.

Cybershot · 19 May 2010 at 12:30

mjt said:
Is the HK system in the (R56) Mini worth it?
It's pretty pants in the E46 and it's hardly worth it in the R53..

The new HK system in the R56 is superb IMO, I'm considering retro-fitting it to mine which has the previous Hifi pack which was average at best. You're pretty limited what you can do with the audio in the R56 so I think it'd be worth having a listen and seeing what you think.

PS. Mini looks great Eidolon, I am suffering seat envy! My friend had those in his cabrio.

West · 19 May 2010 at 18:56

Cybershot said:
The new HK system in the R56 is superb IMO, I'm considering retro-fitting it to mine which has the previous Hifi pack which was average at best. You're pretty limited what you can do with the audio in the R56 so I think it'd be worth having a listen and seeing what you think.

PS. Mini looks great Eidolon, I am suffering seat envy! My friend had those in his cabrio.

Didn't you do a decent upgrade in yours Nik?

Cybershot · 19 May 2010 at 19:01

West said:
Didn't you do a decent upgrade in yours Nik?

Yeah, I wouldn't mind losing the sub in the boot though, hence the retrofit HK idea.