Biggest Let Down Ever, Test Drove a Mini Options

[SinisterWhisper]

My sister is looking at getting a different car so while we were at Car Max she made me test drive a mini. I have to say after all I have heard I was prepared to be floored, but it was meh. My Celi is dire need of and engine swap (242k org. engine, 4th gear syncros bad), but to be honest I like it more. The Mini was so much smoother and all, but it felt like it had no soul. Anyone else find this driving other cars? Only one I have liked more than the Celi was an 86 MR2.

[m0dd3d1]

My sister is looking at getting a different car so while we were at Car Max she made me test drive a mini. I have to say after all I have heard I was prepared to be floored, but it was meh. My Celi is dire need of and engine swap (242k org. engine, 4th gear syncros bad), but to be honest I like it more. The Mini was so much smoother and all, but it felt like it had no soul. Anyone else find this driving other cars? Only one I have liked more than the Celi was an 86 MR2.

I had a buddy that lived near a carmax, we used to go and test drive cars b/c I "was in the market", pretty much every weekend it was nice! We did an Integra, which wasn't bad, a Prelude SH, which was a heavy beast, an SVT Focus, which was a waste of my time! lol, my Celica of course, which I bought about an hour later, an Eclipse, which my a$$ didn't fit in, b/c it's so damn tight inside, and a few others which I can't remember. Good times.

-Triscuit

[hurley97]

Definitely. A while back I test drove an 07 Civic (EX or something) and an Si and all the things people say about it I thought I would at least be slightly impressed... I actually wasn't too impressed at all. then we went for drive in an RX-8 and I thought that would at least make me resent my car a little... not at all.

new cars now shift and drive so smooth you feel nothing. my ST is slow and all but its just different, maybe its just because I know it better but I can at least get it to do things that make it fun.

and honsestly, if I'm going to spend 20-30k on a car I want to have a hard time driving properly (until I get used to it of course) I like a challenge and these modern cars don't have that


thats why I like older cars (mostly 90s cars). I'm happy with my Celica... until I can afford a Supra

This post has been edited by hurley97: May 2, 2007 - 10:44 PM

[slvr_celica_GT_8...]

ive looked at minis before id never buy one, is carmax im guessing a hudge car dealer?

This post has been edited by slvr_celica_GT_816: May 2, 2007 - 10:47 PM

[goferris]

My sister is looking at getting a different car so while we were at Car Max she made me test drive a mini. I have to say after all I have heard I was prepared to be floored, but it was meh. My Celi is dire need of and engine swap (242k org. engine, 4th gear syncros bad), but to be honest I like it more. The Mini was so much smoother and all, but it felt like it had no soul. Anyone else find this driving other cars? Only one I have liked more than the Celi was an 86 MR2.

was it just a mini or was it the mini S?
i have heard that the S has some balls.
i like them.

[celicaST]

my job is fun because it requires me to drive all kinds of cars. ive driven a lot of different cars, some worth way more than my celica, but to be honest i still would rather have my car. the weird thing is that im really not that attached to my car.

[GTSOwner]

new cars now shift and drive so smooth you feel nothing. my ST is slow and all but its just different, maybe its just because I know it better but I can at least get it to do things that make it fun.

and honsestly, if I'm going to spend 20-30k on a car I want to have a hard time driving properly (until I get used to it of course) I like a challenge and these modern cars don't have that

thats why I like older cars (mostly 90s cars). I'm happy with my Celica... until I can afford a Supra

Amen.

[axelrduvirage]

i still prefer the CeliPig to the BMW 540i. seriously !! more fun to drive. more head-turning action from the sidewalk.

[Sinyk]

I love the fact that when I drive down the street in my Celi, I almost never see another one, heck I maybe see one other one in a week! I couldn't get that feeling with a civic or a sunfire or a prelude or whatever!

It's also nice when you go to a shop and mention what kind of car you have and then you can tell you got their attention. Is that the one with the 4 lights? I like that model better than the new one! You guys know what I'm talkin' about

[hurley97]

actually, I did get a chance to drive an 06 Lotus Elise and for a new car I have to say it kicked my ass pretty good

the seats have close to no padding and your butt is literally about 2" from the ground so you feel every bump in the road.
I liked the two sets of seatbelts, you have the option to choose from a 5 point or a normal 3 point. but if you have any joint pain getting in and out of this car will only make it so much worse.
and there is nothing at all in the interior, theres a shifter and a steering wheel. everything else was compacted as much as possible,
right down to the turn signals, there was only one light for both interior turn signals so if you put your right signal on you'd better remember cause from the inside it would just look like your hazards are on.

its not hard to drive but its still fun, it probably turned a lot more heads than the Celica but I couldn't tell cause I think I was about knee level with everyone ...seriously

This post has been edited by hurley97: May 3, 2007 - 11:48 AM

[SinisterWhisper]

My sister is looking at getting a different car so while we were at Car Max she made me test drive a mini. I have to say after all I have heard I was prepared to be floored, but it was meh. My Celi is dire need of and engine swap (242k org. engine, 4th gear syncros bad), but to be honest I like it more. The Mini was so much smoother and all, but it felt like it had no soul. Anyone else find this driving other cars? Only one I have liked more than the Celi was an 86 MR2.

was it just a mini or was it the mini S?
i have heard that the S has some balls.
i like them.

It was an S. It didn't lack power (although I couldn't push it since the guy was next to me), but it just had no feel. When I turn my car I feel feedback from the road and I like it. That turned tighter then my celi, but I felt like I was guided rather then guiding it.

I am starting to dislike the fact I drove the mini. My car is *dying* and its basically come down to swap an engine (even another 7afe) or get another car. I have heard of people regretting selling a car, but I didn't think I'd wish for mine when compared to a highly rated one.

[dustin15brown]

one of my best friends has a new mini S.... I wasn't impressed at all.... I like the celica a lot better... Drove a 3series BMW... wasn't impressed either... I was impressed with how my little bro's 05 impreza RS... I liked it, but hated the interior feel... only cars I've really liked a lot more than the way the celi drives is the Z and G35.. although they're different also depsite the crazy similarities

[macavely]

i have to disagree with the original post. At my old job one of the guys that worked upstairs bought at mini Cooper S . and since i let him practice drive at 5spd in my celi. He handed me the keys to his new Mini and let me take it for a few spins. and wow i was extr early impressed. the care ripped off the line and took like a pro.

[neoklis]

actually, I did get a chance to drive an 06 Lotus Elise and for a new car I have to say it kicked my ass pretty good

If I am not mistaken, the Lotus Elise has the 1.8l engine from Toyota MR-S. Maybe that's why you liked it.

[Racer_J]

Definitely. A while back I test drove an 07 Civic (EX or something) and an Si and all the things people say about it I thought I would at least be slightly impressed... I actually wasn't too impressed at all. then we went for drive in an RX-8 and I thought that would at least make me resent my car a little... not at all.

new cars now shift and drive so smooth you feel nothing. my ST is slow and all but its just different, maybe its just because I know it better but I can at least get it to do things that make it fun.

and honsestly, if I'm going to spend 20-30k on a car I want to have a hard time driving properly (until I get used to it of course) I like a challenge and these modern cars don't have that


thats why I like older cars (mostly 90s cars). I'm happy with my Celica... until I can afford a Supra

I'll second that! It seems to me that car enthusiasts like us enjoy driving, we enjoy our cars even with all their niggles/faults etc... Everytime I speak to someone who's got a new car, they don't seem to be particularly bothered about enjoying an involving drive, they just want to go from A to B whilst looking as good as possible (I their opinion). I don't know about you guys but I sometimes just fill the tank and drive for the hell of it, just for fun! From my experience of talking to new car owners, they don't.

[bman]

the only recent new cars that impressed me were the 05+ mustang and the mazdaspeed cars.

mini is/was disapointing&over rated

[lagos]

was it just a mini or was it the mini S?
i have heard that the S has some balls.
i like them.

just yesterday, this really hot girl in a mini S decided to have some fun with me on the highway. i pulled a good car length on her and kept pulling, but i was really surprised that the mini kind of hung in there. that little car had some balls to it (but the 3s took care of that ).

[uberschall]

i haven't driven a NEW car that i've really been impressed with lately.

i drove a 350 and was disappointed. it's a great track chassis, but i've never been 100% about it's looks, the interior is miserably inefficient, and the outward visibility is marginal at best. not something i would want to drive everyday, basically.

i was pretty impressed with the handling of the latest gti, but they're so heavy, expensive, and...well, volkswagen that i could never really see myself owning one.

i was pretty impressed with the s4 i drove a while back, but i never got the opportunity to open it up.

like people have agreed, alot of cars just have no soul. newer cars, anyway. as for e30 m3s, mk1 gtis, alfa gtvs, older porsches...not necessarily the most reliable or practical of cars, but at least they have characters.

[dustin15brown]

i drove a 350 and was disappointed. it's a great track chassis, but i've never been 100% about it's looks, the interior is miserably inefficient, and the outward visibility is marginal at best. not something i would want to drive everyday, basically.

I love my 350

[lagos]

so last night i got to drive a mini s. they are pretty darn quick. you would think a car like that would be very underpowered, but its far from it . the handling is exactly what you would expect. you feel like you are driving a square box. lol

This post has been edited by lagos: Jun 2, 2007 - 1:12 PM