Motors YouTube Videos

NVP said:
This is what I want for a daily! How much fun does it look!!? :D
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I drove one of those recently and it felt leaden, dull, unremarkable and inefficient. It admittedly wasn't the greatest example but I'd advise anyone considering one of those to go in with a very open mind (although my associates tell me that they are very sensitive to care and maintenance, so that's also worth bearing in mind). Had much more fun in a Swift Sport.

Some of the ergonomic issues, in any case, drove me up the wall – for example, in my case at least, my shoe kept clipping the clutch pedal arm and lower steering column.
 
Oh no really?! See, I just drove an R53 for the first time ever, only a 1.6 but I've fallen in love with the little go kart. A suped up S seems like it would be an absolute hoot!
 
NVP said:
Oh no really?! See, I just drove an R53 for the first time ever, only a 1.6 but I've fallen in love with the little go kart. A suped up S seems like it would be an absolute hoot!
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I think there's something to be said for the lower-spec cars – they're lighter. A Cooper S with some options (such as the sunroof, which puts weight up high) feels like it's easily in the 1250kg range. That's about 200kg more than the aforementioned Swift, but let's call it 150kg with some leeway.

The S felt considerably less eager than the car I jumped back into, which was a 170,000-mile Subaru Forester with 175bhp – a car which tips the scales at 1450kg. That alone rang alarm bells for me. Considerably less body roll in the Mini, though. :D

The other thing that puts me off is that they all seem quite needy now and suffer from quite a few common problems. Just blunts their appeal further.

Like I say, though, I wouldn't write them off entirely – but I'd just tread carefully. Ultimately, if you enjoy it, that's all that counts! :)
 
Hmmm it was poverty spec and mad light, I guess I'm gonna have to test drive a fully loaded S in good nick, but a K in tuning should get it moving nicely, no?
 
Jamie_FYD is an absolute moron. The guy who can't tell the difference between wheelspin and clutch slip in his Escort RS Turbo video.

I've driven an R53 Cooper S on many occasions (ex girlfriend had one) and didn't really rate it. The noise was very addictive and it had excellent initial steering turn in but the seats were crap and the overall steering weight and gearbox were too heavy. I drove it 50 miles to work once and had awful backache. Not to mention they are a royal PITA to work on.

I drove my standard Impreza WRX, modified Rover 420 Turbo and the Cooper S back to back and would rate them former to latter in terms of enjoyment. Now, I'm not saying a 20 year old Rover was a better car than the Mini, but it felt a whole lot more planted when pushing on, possibly down to the shorter wheel base of the Mini.

@mrk, really enjoyed your videos. Great to see what are essentially non car people enjoying the experience so much.
 
agw_01 said:
Jamie_FYD is an absolute moron. The guy who can't tell the difference between wheelspin and clutch slip in his Escort RS Turbo video.
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Hahaha oh no! I don't do these Internet people so no idea who he was it just looked like a fun review.
agw_01 said:
I've driven an R53 Cooper S on many occasions (ex girlfriend had one) and didn't really rate it. The noise was very addictive and it had excellent initial steering turn in but the seats were crap and the overall steering weight and gearbox were too heavy. I drove it 50 miles to work once and had awful backache. Not to mention they are a royal PITA to work on.

I drove my standard Impreza WRX, modified Rover 420 Turbo and the Cooper S back to back and would rate them former to latter in terms of enjoyment. Now, I'm not saying a 20 year old Rover was a better car than the Mini, but it felt a whole lot more planted when pushing on, possibly down to the shorter wheel base of the Mini.
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Damn I must have driven some perfect nick dream edition compared with everyone else's experience! Honestly it had great handling and lovely gearing and was an absolute blast.

OK maybe its been too long since I've not been driving a heffer and I need to try a modern hot hatch... Ooo yay! :D
 
agw_01 said:
Jamie_FYD is an absolute moron. The guy who can't tell the difference between wheelspin and clutch slip in his Escort RS Turbo video.

I've driven an R53 Cooper S on many occasions (ex girlfriend had one) and didn't really rate it. The noise was very addictive and it had excellent initial steering turn in but the seats were crap and the overall steering weight and gearbox were too heavy. I drove it 50 miles to work once and had awful backache. Not to mention they are a royal PITA to work on.

I drove my standard Impreza WRX, modified Rover 420 Turbo and the Cooper S back to back and would rate them former to latter in terms of enjoyment. Now, I'm not saying a 20 year old Rover was a better car than the Mini, but it felt a whole lot more planted when pushing on, possibly down to the shorter wheel base of the Mini.

@mrk, really enjoyed your videos. Great to see what are essentially non car people enjoying the experience so much.
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I think these cars should always be shared experiences with non car people. We often forget that non car people can absolutely enjoy enthusiast cars just as much as us :D
 
NVP said:
Hahaha oh no! I don't do these Internet people so no idea who he was it just looked like a fun review.

Damn I must have driven some perfect nick dream edition compared with everyone else's experience! Honestly it had great handling and lovely gearing and was an absolute blast.

OK maybe its been too long since I've not been driving a heffer and I need to try a modern hot hatch... Ooo yay! :D
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They're immense fun to drive but are silly expensive to repair. Top mounts, wishbone bushes, power steering pump and window regulators are common problems.

They're a hoot but come with costs rivalling cars that cost considerably more.
 
Cheaper than anything else I have and to be fair it's just to wrack up the mileage in whilst having some fun either it breaks or lives long enough for a stage 2 remap either way it's a minor cost wise in comparison.

How are they when you're sick crawling in traffic through torrential rain? As long as its not like being in mk1 polo then should be alright... That's my thinking
 
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