Well, we finally picked it up this weekend in Kansas City from Baron MINI. We ordered on January 10th and picked it up on February 17th. Not bad for a car that had to be built as well as shipped over from Oxford England.

Before I get into the details here's our Build information.

+2006 Mini Cooper S
+Pepper White/Black top/Black Bonnet Stripes
+Sport Package (Dynamic Stability Control, Front foglamps, Bonnet Stripes, 17" S-lite wheels, Xenon headlamps with headlamp washers)
+Limited Slip Differential (Best $500 to spend on these cars)
+Multi-function steering wheel
+Rear Foglamp
+Black leatherette interior with Anthricite paneling.

+Aero Kit with foglight blackout panels.
+35% tint all around

And Now for the Pix:











This is my wife's car so I haven't driven the car a whole lot yet and its still in the break in period but I can tell you that I absolutely love the way these things drive. It corners incredibly well and is just as quick as the Integra Type R in the straight line due to the new gearing and extra ponies added for the 2005-2006 model year (Motor Trend 0-60 (6.4s) 1/4 (14.8)). I would think that on a roadcourse a Type R vs. an 05-06 Mini Cooper S would be a drivers race. If a MCS had the JCW (John Cooper Works) package, I'd have to say the ITR would have trouble keeping up assuming equal drivers. The most significant shortcoming that the MINI Cooper S has to the Integra Type R is Braking, but there is a JCW Brake kit that could easily change that.

The interior is quite nice and after stepping out of the MCS and Into my Integra Type R my interior looks like cheap crap . But hey the ITR is 9 yrs old. Everything about the MINI feels like a BMW. You can definitely tell that they had a hand in the car. For a comparison of a newer similar car, I have driven a 2006 Civic Si and after driving the MINI I feel confident that we made the better choice of the 2 cars (IMO...assuming you don't want the extra hauling space of the large Si). Either car is a steal for what you are getting.

If there is a thing that I like about the MCS over my Integra Type R its the early torque provided by the Supercharger. It has a lot more useable power for around town and it really takes off from a start. The Getrag 6-speed manual transmission also rivals the R in that it feels incredible and shifts with the MINI become an addiction. Oh yeah, and the Xenon headlamps are incredibly nice. Now the R is asking for some

Everything about this car is very well tuned and it is one of the most responsive cars I have ever driven. It will provide more fun than many quicker and more expensive cars for sure. To say the least we feel that we couldn't have bought a better brand new car for the price and I will be trying to get my hands on the wheel every chance that I get.

To having a MCS and ITR in the garage




Modified by Larkin W. at 10:43 AM 2/21/2006

 

Cooper is teh dope. Awesome options combo too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Opie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cooper is teh dope. Awesome options combo too.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks! Its fun to add a new car to the garage. It won't be fun when we start making payments in April

Insurance is great though.

Its $3 more every six months to insure the MINI Cooper S over my Type R

 

Sweet addition to the garage, nice 97R!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Larkin W. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> It won't be fun when we start making payments in August
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why August? Are you that laid back in the MidWest that you even delay car payments?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Opie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Why August? Are you that laid back in the MidWest that you even delay car payments?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oops, I meant April (now edited) I wish August

 

Yeeeeeaaahhhhh, that thing is AWESOME

Congrats on finally getting it. New car = but new payments = .

 

mind if i ask how much she cost you?

 

Looks great. You made an awesome choice right down to the options and color combo.

That whole garage is dying to get on the track now.

 

Nice addition to that 97.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xjohnx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">mind if i ask how much she cost you?</TD></TR></TABLE>

As is it should have cost me about $26,500 only because the Aero Kit is very expensive (about $2150 installed for prepainted colors, $2900 installed painted colors). We wanted the Pepper white color though and this color looked too cute without the aero kit. It kind of has a BMW M-car look now.

However one dealer (Knauz MINI in Chicago) was offering the Aero Kit for $1500 installed any color.

I got Baron MINI down to $1700 installed for the aero-kit. They made a mistake on their paperwork and accidentally discounted the aero kit twice....lol. When we went to pick up the car we had a copy of the buyers orders that we had received and they had to honor them.

We got our for about $25,500 as is.

Without the Aero pkg, tint, 2 sets of floormats, its about a $24,000 car with our options.

Most MCS's seem to go for $23,500-$27,000 depending on what options the buyer wants. There are soo many options that you could easily build one for $30,000 + if you wanted to. They start at around $22,000 right now and you get a great car at that price too.

 

I test drove a MCS and the dealership guy said "try and make the tires squal, go for it" So I did and I couldn't (well aleat on public roads). Great car for the money and I love the little supercharger whine its got

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Erik95LS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks great. You made an awesome choice right down to the options and color combo.

That whole garage is dying to get on the track now. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks, I really like the color (Pepper White). It is an old school looking white. Kind of cool to see something even more Off white than Championship White.

 

I've been out on track with a couple of them (not with the new power level) and they can be very very hard to keep up with sometimes. Theres also a guy who instructs with Porsche Club that has a JC modified one and it is super fast.

Minis

 

nice collection you have there!

 

Wow, normally I am not really a fan of the Coopers, but yours looks really good! I dig it !

And of course, sweet 97 goodness

Best of luck with the Coop!

 

nice

 

how much does a Works edition cost these days if I didn't spell it wrong?

 

Looks great! Mrs. Splat will not be allowed to see this thread, or I'm in trouble


Curious how they get away with the center-mounted rear fog. I thought it was supposed to mark the driver's side of the car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by machgo5go &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how much does a Works edition cost these days if I didn't spell it wrong?</TD></TR></TABLE>

$6300 Factory installed, so it's legal for stock class in autox last i heard.

 

Mini Cooper S = Owns G Stock

Nice addition Larkin!

 

Looks great. I have heard many good things about the new mini. I was not aware of the power upgrades for the 05-06 model, I bet that makes a world of a difference, plus an LSD

Is it availble in yellow?

I look forward to reading more reviews on it.

 

They are nice, but have fun changing the oil on it

 

Funny how last night I was watching the Italian Job on t.v. and I still love the 3 mini's racing throught the last part of the movie. I was thinking to myself "Damn, I would love to own a new mini." for you man, having both those cars is mos def hot.

 

Whoa sweet Cooper S