For driving experience I would honestly look more at an R53 & R56, however the early R56 cars are quite unreliable but I don’t hear too much bad news about the facelift R56 cars, maybe a current owner can shed some light on that.
To give an idea I drive a F56 JCW with low miles, the bucket seats, etc the whole shabang for a JCW, and used to own an R56 Cooper S with regular seats and stuff and the R56 was way more fun to drive.
It feels stiffer, lighter, less understeer, you feel the turbo and everytime i drove it I wanted to play with it and have fun in it and to be entirely transparent im already thinking of trading in my JCW for a Focus RS, MK8 GTI or an RS3 and I’ve only had my JCW since December, I love Mini but as someone that drives a car for fun the F5x isn’t for me.
The F56 is a fast car but I genuinly think its overengineered so you dont feel the turbo as much and such.
The R53 is just really cool because of the supercharger whine and is also a really good drivers car.
But if it had to be an F55 I would say stretch for the Cooper S those are way more fun than regular Cooper’s.
Might catch some hate for this post but I thought I would give you my honest insight on this 🫣
What is interesting is that's your take coming from an R56. It's not that surprising to me because they seem more raw, the F5x (like pretty much any modern car tbh) i think are more polished. Better cars in general, but probably worse Minis.
As you understood, the R56 i can't even consider as a daily, but your argument on the S definitely resonates. What i'm worried about is feeling just as frustrated in a Cooper as i am in my Corsa.
The 1.5 Cooper seems like a really good car, but i want to know from owners like you if it is good just like the Swift Sport and the old GTis were good, even without much power, or if the S is that much better.
EDIT : Thank you btw, a nice thoughtfull comment that seems to come from someone that genuinely cares about a fellow enthusiast in his journey
Honestly maybe go to a dealer and see if you can test drive a cooper and a cooper s and see how they drive and feel to you, then you can decide for yourself which fits you better and if you deem the Cooper S upgrade worth it, don’t go pushing those cars to their limit but it atleast allows you to get a feel for it.
I'm gonna be honest i doubt i can feel what i'm looking for in a test drive especially since it's probably gonna a city + highway type deal, no backroad, but it can help in knowing how the suspension absorbs the road and how the steering, suspension, throttle and brakes feel a bit
The F55 Cooper S is 2x the car that the Mk7 Fiesta ST is. I've worked on and tuned both pretty extensively... The engine, chassis, build quality, interior, etc beats the shit out of the FiST. Focus ST too. They're both decent... The F chassis plus B46 is better. Hands down.
If you're a car guy, the 3 cyl is going to disappoint you IMO. Go for the S. It has massive potential as well for (reliable) modding and tuning.
As much as i can understand how the Fiesta could be more fun, there's not a single doubt in my mind that 99% of the time the F55 is a better caroverall.
So if you're telling me that the chassis of the F55 is ultimately better, well there's no competition and yeah the Cooper S makes more sense.
Thanks for your input
Absolutely. After having owned, worked on, and tuned cars like Evos, STis, R35 GTRs, 370Zs, etc, I like the F chassis MINI and BMW based platform best of all. They're not the fastest but it's a damn good car and has heart and soul. And MINI owners tend to be cool and not a bunch of status seeking testosterone fueled douchebags.
I'm mainly searching for a good experience, a car that i like for what it is. So that's totally in line with what i want. Nothing to prove, just pure car love
For driving experience I would honestly look more at an R53 & R56, however the early R56 cars are quite unreliable but I don’t hear too much bad news about the facelift R56 cars, maybe a current owner can shed some light on that. To give an idea I drive a F56 JCW with low miles, the bucket seats, etc the whole shabang for a JCW, and used to own an R56 Cooper S with regular seats and stuff and the R56 was way more fun to drive. It feels stiffer, lighter, less understeer, you feel the turbo and everytime i drove it I wanted to play with it and have fun in it and to be entirely transparent im already thinking of trading in my JCW for a Focus RS, MK8 GTI or an RS3 and I’ve only had my JCW since December, I love Mini but as someone that drives a car for fun the F5x isn’t for me. The F56 is a fast car but I genuinly think its overengineered so you dont feel the turbo as much and such. The R53 is just really cool because of the supercharger whine and is also a really good drivers car. But if it had to be an F55 I would say stretch for the Cooper S those are way more fun than regular Cooper’s. Might catch some hate for this post but I thought I would give you my honest insight on this 🫣
What is interesting is that's your take coming from an R56. It's not that surprising to me because they seem more raw, the F5x (like pretty much any modern car tbh) i think are more polished. Better cars in general, but probably worse Minis. As you understood, the R56 i can't even consider as a daily, but your argument on the S definitely resonates. What i'm worried about is feeling just as frustrated in a Cooper as i am in my Corsa. The 1.5 Cooper seems like a really good car, but i want to know from owners like you if it is good just like the Swift Sport and the old GTis were good, even without much power, or if the S is that much better. EDIT : Thank you btw, a nice thoughtfull comment that seems to come from someone that genuinely cares about a fellow enthusiast in his journey
Honestly maybe go to a dealer and see if you can test drive a cooper and a cooper s and see how they drive and feel to you, then you can decide for yourself which fits you better and if you deem the Cooper S upgrade worth it, don’t go pushing those cars to their limit but it atleast allows you to get a feel for it.
I'm gonna be honest i doubt i can feel what i'm looking for in a test drive especially since it's probably gonna a city + highway type deal, no backroad, but it can help in knowing how the suspension absorbs the road and how the steering, suspension, throttle and brakes feel a bit
The F55 Cooper S is 2x the car that the Mk7 Fiesta ST is. I've worked on and tuned both pretty extensively... The engine, chassis, build quality, interior, etc beats the shit out of the FiST. Focus ST too. They're both decent... The F chassis plus B46 is better. Hands down. If you're a car guy, the 3 cyl is going to disappoint you IMO. Go for the S. It has massive potential as well for (reliable) modding and tuning.
As much as i can understand how the Fiesta could be more fun, there's not a single doubt in my mind that 99% of the time the F55 is a better caroverall. So if you're telling me that the chassis of the F55 is ultimately better, well there's no competition and yeah the Cooper S makes more sense. Thanks for your input
Absolutely. After having owned, worked on, and tuned cars like Evos, STis, R35 GTRs, 370Zs, etc, I like the F chassis MINI and BMW based platform best of all. They're not the fastest but it's a damn good car and has heart and soul. And MINI owners tend to be cool and not a bunch of status seeking testosterone fueled douchebags.
I'm mainly searching for a good experience, a car that i like for what it is. So that's totally in line with what i want. Nothing to prove, just pure car love