[trackbird]

My wife has been looking at Mini Cooper's lately. Unfortunately, the Mini dealer didn't want her VW very badly (50% depreciation in 1.5 years and 25k miles?).

It was wet out and I kept the test drive short, but I really liked it (Cooper S). Actually, I liked it more than I thought I really would. It could use a bit more power, but it wasn't a pig (it's not a Camaro either). The handling was reasonably crisp and it was a bit go cart like. I found myself thinking that I could possibly live with one of those as a daily driver. And, tires and such for autocross will be considerably cheaper than my current ride. I'm really thinking that I should take another look at these. It's small, and really rather fun to drive.

She won't be buying one for a while, but....I could probably sell the Z at this point..... :leaving:

[marka]

Howdy,

Brian, if you think that sounds good, look for regular C5's. :-)

I think there's a big difference between a mini/cobalt/civic/whatever and a miata/solstice though... And its called "seating for four". :-)

For me, for a daily driver I want a car with four doors first. That dq's the mini, the civic si, and (I think) the cobalt right there. We don't have kids or anything like that, its just that having four doors makes groceries, hauling friends or the dog or whatever so much easier.

We ended up getting a new civic LX sedan (with an automatic even! :-) and I've been pretty happy with it for a daily driver. If I wanted something a little more sporty/"drivery" I think I'd look at one of the "economy" four doors with a manual... Civic, Corolla, Cobalt, Neon, etc. If those didn't have it enough, I'd probably look at a mini and get over the four door thing. For the mini though, I'd take a look at an HS one vs. the GS, just on the "rowing the gears & having fun without going insanely fast" criteria.

Of course, the only mini I've ever driven has been an SM one with more boost & suspension... It was fun and pretty neutral, but I understand it has a decent bit more power than stock.

Mark