Test drive: 2012 MINI Coupe

I think I commented in your poll that the only two places I see this car I see this car residing are either in the garages of rich peoples summer homes, or in the garages of racing teams. This car could probably be decent competition against a Miata coupe in a race series. I think I have to change that to just racing teams.

I love Mini’s, and think that overall, their offerings have been pretty decent. I happen to be one of the handful of people left in the U.S. who actually like retro styling, and Mini captures that very will with their hatch. Since original Mini’s came in several styles, the offshoots (Countryman, etc) are still pretty faithful to the original cars in a modern kind of way.

This coupe is the first of the new Mini’s ventures that just doesn’t cut it. Although it may be fun to drive, it’s styling is awkward at best, and short of a handful of folks who will buy one simply because it’s different, I don’t see many of these selling, nor do I see it surviving past it’s initial production run. Time will tell, I guess. The convertible will probably do much better.

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to drive a Mini Cooper for a week. while it did drive like a go kart, it rode like one too. Through ina complete lack of acceleration and kirky auto-manual shifting, … I was greatly disappointed

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to drive a Mini Cooper for a week. while it did drive like a go kart, it rode like one too. Through in a complete lack of acceleration and kirky auto-manual shifting, … I was greatly disappointed. Double the horse power and through in a real manual trany and you would have a winner.

The Mini Cooper S is a car I love to drive, but other than being fun to drive it’s overpriced and has some of the poorest quality ratings on the market and I don’t see anything about the new coupe to change that. There are to many other more reliable, useful and more affordable cars on the market that simply make more sense to own that are just as much fun.

I think I mentioned before that my oldest son had a Mini for about 3 years. He absolutely loved driving it (I did too), but he soon got tired pouring money into it for repairs – it was in the shop nearly as much as it was out of it. He recently traded it for a VW GTI, and he’s getting 95% of the fun, while hopefully stemming the flow of dollars out the door for repairs. He can also take his wife and 2 daughters on a weekend trip in it, something the Mini would not allow. I’ve driven both cars, and I’ll take the GTI every time.

You list Germany as the place of manufacturing. Isn’t it made at Oxford in Oxfordshire, UK?

Having seen one on the road (although only in passing while it was sitting at a red light) since I took the poll and made my comment, I stand by my previous sentiments. All I remember was how terrible that silver roof looked, to the point of not being able to tell you what color the rest of the car was. I agree, this seems to answer a question that not only wasn’t asked, but should be used as an example of what constitutes a stupid question. I can see the Roadster’s purpose, and it might make a decent competitor to the Miata. But I can see no reason, other than wanting something different (looks aside, since some do like it) to even consider this.

Unfortunately, that roof looks like the car got caught in a rainstorm and someone simply glued something on in a hurry and took off!

So Aaron I have to ask? Pine or Oak
” MINI does plan a convertible version of the Coupe (the MINI Roadster), which makes a log more sense.”
Sorry but I just couldn’t help myself.

Gary and Lwatcdr: Good catches! Both fixed. Although you lose your bonus points for not catching another typo… “pozazizing.” (Which I think ought to be a word.) — Aaron