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Mini Cooper S

  • 22-09-2012 5:15pm
    #1
    WIZE
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭


    Hi All,

    I was wondering if any of ye have one and how do you rate it .

    I thinking of getting one in the next few months .


Comments

  • #2
    Vanbis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,724 ✭✭✭Vanbis


    WIZE wrote: »
    Hi All,

    I was wondering if any of ye have one and how do you rate it .

    I thinking of getting one in the next few months .

    Similar thread started yesterday, have a read > here


  • #3
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,857 ✭✭✭langdang


    New or Secondhand? Turbocharged or supercharged?


  • #4
    WIZE
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    I will be going Secondhand with a budget of around €10,000

    I guess with the SC or TC will be depending on the year as I believe the TC came out 2006 onwards


  • #5
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,857 ✭✭✭langdang


    Depending which one you go for there will be different checks to do, although they look the same outside there is very little common between the SC and the TC. Try miniclub.ie, plenty Cooper S drivers there. They are a lovely car to drive, herself has the standard Cooper - it's crying out for the extra horsepower of the Cooper S! There is a boards.ie user (Owen), who would be an authority on the Cooper S, especially the R53 but he's not around as often as he used to be.
    Happy hunting!


  • #6
    iggyclarke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9 ✭iggyclarke


    I've a cooper and I love it, though i only do about 3k a year. The gearbox is known to give problems at about 100k is all. Otherwise a great car. I have the leather seat option which is really nice.


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  • #7
    Neilw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,795 ✭✭✭Neilw


    iggyclarke wrote: »
    I've a cooper and I love it, though i only do about 3k a year. The gearbox is known to give problems at about 100k is all. Otherwise a great car. I have the leather seat option which is really nice.

    A popular fix for the gearbox issue is to retrofit the 6 speed box from the cooper s.


  • #8
    WIZE
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    Neilw wrote: »
    A popular fix for the gearbox issue is to retrofit the 6 speed box from the cooper s.

    How do you find the mpg on your car


  • #9
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,857 ✭✭✭langdang


    The R53 Cooper and Cooper S gearboxes are different.
    You have no chance of encountering the "leftover Rover gearbox" in the Cooper S. They did change gear ratios for the S after 04, for the better.

    Edit - if MPG is a big factor, then the supercharged engine is thirstier than the turbo.


  • #10
    Neilw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,795 ✭✭✭Neilw


    WIZE wrote: »
    How do you find the mpg on your car

    20ish mpg


  • #11
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,857 ✭✭✭langdang


    Jebus... I thought they were 25ish mpg.


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  • #12
    Neilw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,795 ✭✭✭Neilw


    langdang wrote: »
    Jebus... I thought they were 25ish mpg.

    Jcw version is a bit harder on petrol.


  • #13
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,857 ✭✭✭langdang


    ah, that would explain it alright! Fair play, great craic I'd say -I love the backfire/burble from the exhaust


  • #14
    flynnlives
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 739 ✭✭✭flynnlives


    girlfriend has one which i occasionally drive, really fun car to drive
    great around town and at 6 foot one its grand inside for me.

    very underpowered tho so i would get one with a turbo, then it would be epic.


  • #15
    tossy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,594 ✭✭✭tossy


    I've driven both variants the SC and the TC both are an absolute hoot to drive,the sound from the Supercharger when you are flooring it is great but the sound of the turbo one as it takes off away from you is even better.

    The are great little car even with 3 up there was still bags of pull in the last turbo i drove.


  • #16
    Marcusm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,632 ✭✭✭✭Marcusm


    I've just swapped one Cooper S for another (Convertible replacing Clubman). Great fun car, plenty of acceleration, great driver space, beautiful bursts of noise under heavy acceleration. Tight gearbox makes a pleasure to shift through the gears. Only thing I didn't like on initial car was run flat tyres which are painful on poor road surfaces. I swapped them out when due for normal ones. The Clubman has space for a space saver spare tyre but I didn't bother just kept tyre weld in The car.


  • #17
    iggyclarke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9 ✭iggyclarke


    flynnlives wrote: »
    girlfriend has one which i occasionally drive, really fun car to drive
    great around town and at 6 foot one its grand inside for me.

    very underpowered tho so i would get one with a turbo, then it would be epic.
    Ya I'm six foot one and have plenty of room. it doesn't feel small inside. The Bose sound system is great in it as well. For me it is like the golf used be. It is a car that says nothing about you. About retrofitting the six speed gear box, mine is a 2002, it was one of the first of the new breed of mini. It has never given an instant of trouble but the gearbox needs changing now.( It was my ma's and she wanted a new one and they only offered her trade in what she paid for the leather seat upgrade in the first place, so she gave it to me). I haven't been able to use second gear for a year so tis time to get it changed. Can you put a six speed box into what was originally a five speed? This may be the most inane question but I know nothing about it.


  • #18
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,857 ✭✭✭langdang


    iggyclarke wrote: »
    Ya I'm six foot one and have plenty of room. it doesn't feel small inside. The Bose sound system is great in it as well. For me it is like the golf used be. It is a car that says nothing about you. About retrofitting the six speed gear box, mine is a 2002, it was one of the first of the new breed of mini. It has never given an instant of trouble but the gearbox needs changing now.( It was my ma's and she wanted a new one and they only offered her trade in what she paid for the leather seat upgrade in the first place, so she gave it to me). I haven't been able to use second gear for a year so tis time to get it changed. Can you put a six speed box into what was originally a five speed? This may be the most inane question but I know nothing about it.

    Ya, you can, AFAIK it's the 6 speed from the later R50 Cooper. That may or may not be the same box as the Cooper S. You need to change driveshafts as well and maybe a few other bits. You could get a reconditioned "Midlands" (the same type as what you have) box, should be good for a few more years.


  • #19
    Zascar
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 12,781 Mod ✭✭✭✭Zascar


    I'm in the market for a Copper S at the moment too OP. I've been thinking about it for ages but I'm now sure I want one. I want something small engined but fairly quick, cool, fun to drive and nice inside - its the best choice I think. I'm going for an older one though, only want to spend about 5k, maybe 6k max.

    They seem fairly reliable etc but here are some buying guides
    http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/
    http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/19/buying-guide-mini-2001-2007/

    For MPG stats have a look at this: http://www.fuelly.com/car/mini/cooper%20s - 25mpg for the older ones, slightly more for the newer turbos - but it depends on how you drive it. My mate had one which he used to thrash around the place like a gocart and got as little as 17mpg.

    Re the comments on the other thread about being girly etc - I really could not give a crap what anyone else thinks. I'm buying the car for me - not because of other people's opinions. The fact is though for me that pretty much everyone who's opinion about cars that I actually respect - likes the Cooper S :)


  • #20
    heartofwhite
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 526 ✭✭✭heartofwhite


    My girlfriend had one up until last year. It was a 2006 cooper s convertible, 1.6 petrol. 170bhp and six speed gearbox. Pulled like a train and it did 200kmh no bother! Not that I tried.... :)


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