Curious about Mini performance...

[shnailpower]

Hola, I was looking into Mini Coopers and was wondering, what is their performance in regards to the street racing scene? I looked up the price for a 2003 base Mini w/out any frills on KBB and the price came out to 15K. The 0-60 for an '03 Cooper is 8.3 and 16.6 in the quarter-mile ~ Car and Driver. For 15K a serious buyer could find a used car with pretty good quality that would destroy the Mini on a dragstrip (according to these times). Is this all for the Mini or would it make up for it's poor speed w/ better handling? I understand that the Mini would have better reliability and more *luxury* because of it's relatively recent manufacturing but in terms of speeds around say... a track. Would the Mini stand up to a 3000Gt for example. We know the 3000GT would burn a mini at the 'strip, so what would be the outcome? Just wondering.

[JLad10687]

To my understanding, the Mini is one of the best handling and most fun to drive cars availible. It is very light and you will get great gas mileage but however, stock it is not a race car. It doesnt produce much power and the only reason 0-60 is a respectable 8.3 is because it is so ridiculusly light.

Correct me if I'm wrong but that's my understanding.

[JLad10687]

P.S. The Cooper S has some better performance but is a bit more pricey

[kramertron]

Originally Posted by JLad10687

To my understanding, the Mini is one of the best handling and most fun to drive cars availible. It is very light and you will get great gas mileage but however, stock it is not a race car. It doesnt produce much power and the only reason 0-60 is a respectable 8.3 is because it is so ridiculusly light.

Correct me if I'm wrong but that's my understanding.

Yup, he's right. Stock, the MINI is far from a race car, even the S. But to me it is easily the most fun car to drive on the road. There are quite a few after market options to get the car to blow away most any competition, but they are all very expensive, and you may as well go with a cheaper car that is faster stock, if that is what you're after.

[r.j-lo]

Dont get a MINI for the street racing, but try out the autocross or road racing aspects. The Cooper S will turn the quarter in 15.6 which isnt BAD, but isnt that great either. It is an extremely light car so it doesnt take as much power to get the results. The wife is interested in the MINIs now also after seeing them at an auto show this weekend, but a drag car it wont be.

[davewastey]

The mini could be a great car for street racing with enough money put into it, say 5k for a 280hp package from www.lohen.co.uk then it would do around 5-5.5 seconds to 60 combined with it's great handling it could be a match for some of the jap imports.

[pandaphone]

hey tommy...can you guess who i am?

you were hawt at skool 2day. maybe you shud watch ur back, bcus, you never know whos watchin u.

i dont no shit about cars, tho. that 2 bad otwerwise wed be perfectfer eachother. i do like minis tho. there hott lyk u and ur hair and ur woven belt.

[psych0hans]

Originally Posted by pandaphone

hey tommy...can you guess who i am?

you were hawt at skool 2day. maybe you shud watch ur back, bcus, you never know whos watchin u.

i dont no shit about cars, tho. that 2 bad otwerwise wed be perfectfer eachother. i do like minis tho. there hott lyk u and ur hair and ur woven belt.

[E&L]

mini for street racing?

[DottedPanda]

i own a mini s and i absolutely love it. Now to the other peoples comments about it lacking power, mine puts 220 horses to the road which isn't bad in my opinion and since it is so light it does realy well on the street in muy experience. The problem is getting attention cause the jap imports look for a giant wing to designate a fellow racer not a mini. The mini was originally a rally car and so does have a racing history.

My mini is not exceptional from a dig but off of a roll at 30 in second it really flies. Gear shifts are crisp, the only problem is the stock clutch is made for weak american women who unfortunately also like the minis. This clutch can take very little abuse and i burnt myn out in 3 months. NO JOKE!! That was not due to bad driving, i simply just ran it to hard, an expensive mistake (for my parents) haha.

Hit me back if you have anymore question

P.S. the handling of the little car is honestly the most fun you can have, due to the stiff chassis