800 cars a day for 80 countries? Sounds like it’s time to tell the South American Mini dealers to hold off for a while so production can be shifted to a place where it really matters.

Mini Coopers a ton of car for the money, and in “S” form especially, they are a blast to drive. It’s a shame Volvo couldn’t build a spunkier car with the C30. Not a bad car, just heavy.

The C30 looks way too soft, but the mini in S form and some bodykit looks like what a 18yr old boy would drive and not be ashamed of it. But… i would go with the GTI anyday over the Mini

I love my Coop and bought it for the fun factor of having it not knowing the world would be in a petroleum crunk. Either way it works for me (I think I should keep it now considering demand and fuel cost is so hign).

Got a five-year-old Coop with 52k on the clock and 37mpg on the highway. Surprisingly well-built and still worth about two-thirds of what I paid for it. Tight supply is one big reason why — thanks BMW. Unlike the New Beetle and PT Cruiser, the MINI is one high-style car that wasn’t ruined by volume production.

One hell of a product! I would love to shell out for little diesel number. Has the same torque as turbo in S model. OK it will cost extra and will be a bit slower and noisier, but will have the same passing power as turbo and will deliver over 50 mpg (based on British spec) plus all diesel will come standard with auto shut-off/restart for in traffic driving.

Cool little car, but I also agree that a Golf GTI gives way more bang for the buck and is cheaper too. As much as I hate VW, when you’re looking for a rocket hatch and you don’t want a Mazda3, the GTi is it.

Sorry to say this, but a Mazda3 is far from a rocket hatch unless you mean the Mazdaspeed version, and with that you get the abysmal gas mileage. GTI is in the same price range as the Mini and DOES NOT give you more bang for your buck performance-wise. Just look at SCCA results across the country, the Mini-S owns its class, which also has the GTI in it.

A diesel Mini would be awesome for the US market, even with diesel prices $0.50 more than premium fuel per gallon it would sell like hot cakes.

try 72mpg unreal

they arent particulkarly noisey either

$ 4 a gallon – FFS we would ALL drive muscle cars over this side of the pond at that cost

nuff said

Well I can see a diesel option actually being viable for a car like the Mini Cooper… It already gets great gas mileage on regular gasoline alone, it’ll get better mileage with diesel, and because it’s so small, it won’t cost an arm and a leg to fill up its tank with diesel either…

A Diesel powerplant…YESSS!!! This is sweet music to my ears…Go BMW Go!

Minis are awesome cars

I’d get one over the GTI.

Mini is good, BMW knows what it’s doing (other than Bangle).

Its about time.

SickofGarbageMotors:

Volvo C30 Curb Weight: 2970 lbs
2009 Chevy Cobalt Sedan: 3210 lbs
2008 MINI Cooper: 2723 lbs
2008 Porsche 911: 3494 lbs
2008 Volkswagen GTI Hatch: 3420 lbs

I don’t see the C30 as being particularly or unusually heavy for its class and power/weight ratio.

I don’t understand Minis. For some reason they make me nervous, like I’m scared that Basil Fawlty is going to pop out of every one I see. The company I work for even uses them as fleet vehicles- I could take one for a drive with a phone call- and still I shy away. I like small cars. I have a ‘95 dohc Neon in the garage that probably offers similar levels of performance and claustrophobia, so that’s not it. And even though I know this falls into the ‘too much information’ category, neither does the name of the car imply any deficiency in the non automotive context.

If anyone on this forum understands the underlying cause of my apparent phobia please feel free to dispense any advice, counseling, or even rude or disparaging remarks. I’m reaching out and I need to know. I also have this recurring nightmare about a beer strike, but that’s a subject for another day.

Maybe you’re taking that old limerick to heart:

“it had room for his ass and a gallon of gas, but his balls hung out and he lost ‘em.”

02WRX: I’ve been married 16 years. My balls are safely in the jar on the night table where they belong. I add STA-BIL every season to keep them fresh.

Sorry, way more info…

Maybe you’re just the typical American who needs that 3 foot impenetrable bubble in every direction to feel comfortable and doesn’t like rubbing elbows with passengers. The bubble effect is one of the reasons SUVs sold so well in the past. I’ve driven way smaller cars than the Mini and I hated it when it came out, mostly because the speedometer was in the wrong place. The car has grown on me now and I would consider buying one if I wasn’t already happy with my current vehicle.

johnnycanuck – just be happy Mr Bean isn’t coming to get you

So the UK already has a diesel Mini. They show the Mini S as getting 45mpg (how do they come up with that number?) and the diesel as getting 64.2. If the correlation is the same, then since the Mini S is rated at 34 hwy then the diesel will be around 48mpg hwy. The numbers for mpg over in the UK are weird though so they probably don’t translate to US mpg very well.

johnnycanuck, it’s OK not to like Mini. Some of us are neutral toward Neons. I think there is bit less claustrophobia in Mini, ’cause of airier cabin, but air and light affect people differently. If its any cancellation, in next redesign Chris Bangle probably will use his “skill” and will do to Mini what he’ve done to Z3.

Livelyjay, gallons in UK are imperial: they hold 15% more volume then US gallons. Hence a discrepancy on mileage (miles are the same I believe).

Am I the only one that thinks the new Mini is too big? Why do cars always have to get bigger with the new generation? If you want a bigger car… get the next model up.

Gamble away … you might be lucky and avoid getting an ‘S’ with that frightening start-up noise that makes you think the pistons will shoot through the head. And this is a BMW product … Kia Rios don’t have this kind of SHIATTY experience and they’re less than half the price.

impulsive: care to tell us what other cars in this class offer this level of performance? if thats true, I should being seeing this on auto headlines…

It’s not difficult to do comps on performance … you’re on the Internet, no? And when did performance alone become a worthwhile stat on true worth of a vehicle? If you have an IQ of more than 100, you’d know that I only post FACT … I hear the Internet has some kind of search feature where you can find out/corroborate a lot of information that people like me post FACTUALLY … I’m sure you’re quite capable of finding the answers to your questions without needing my help.

@xyunya – You’re right, 1.2 US gallons is equal to 1.0 UK gallons. So with the conversion the UK Mini S gets 37.5mpg and the diesel would get 53.5mpg in US gallons. Current Mini S gets 34 according to EPA, which is 9% less than in the UK, so diesel here should expect 48.5mpg.

ding ding ding ding ding!

Yup, chimp, or should I say pooch, my FACTS are ringing the bell of truth AGAIN for you to come running … good dumb dog, yes you are.

you’re pretty funny. thats really not going to stop me from getting one. its better than having a VW in the workshop for a turbo problem…

or let alone having any VW in any dealer.

yep you sure win, but at least I’d have something that can be agile and handle well. not something big and lazy. OOOOO, starter problems………

‘Htay’, I’m not in any way trying to make anyone do anything. If you want the car, get it … but if you happen to experience the SHIAT others are going through, don’t ever say you didn’t know what might happen. As for your VW references, I’m not a fan of VWs so I wouldn’t advocate getting one of them either. In fact, they are lower on my list than a MINI. Good luck.

Implusive: ignition problems can be either solved with a ecu reflash or a tune-up. they better to deal with than the crap electronics and random engine fires that plague most VWs and the horrible dealers. not to mention their entertaining owners who are more show than go. and they are also lower on my book as well.

‘Htay’, I wasn’t referring to ignition problems. Go to YouTube and search for “MINI S engine start-up noise” or something similar. You can witness the scary noise that many people are necountering which is more than an ignition problem.

they sound like a broken diesel engine. it could probably be a loose piston knocking. it shoulld be checked but at least it didn’t blow up or catch on fire like a vw.

Again, VWs stink but I woouldn’t my $30k car, any make/model, to make that sound at start-up. Good luck.

… that should have read “I wouldn’t want my $30k car”.