white male consumer

Background

Where: Keeler MINI, Latham, NY
When: July 20th, 2005, 4pm-ish
What: 2005 MINI Cooper S, red with white top, manual six-speed, sport package, leather seats, anthracite interior, limited slip differential.

First Impressions

Small. It reminded me of my late 1984 900 Saab – a low vantage point, with the feeling of the windshield ‘wrapping’ around you in the front. The seats (“sport” option, standard with sport package) were firm, well-fitting and provided much support. Way too much lumbar support; however, this was adjusted as such by the sales employee who accompanied me. I didn’t bother adjusting it myself. There was plenty of head space, and I’m 5’11″. I felt comfortable.

The viewpoint out was good, as you would sort of expect from a small car. Blind spots were practically nonexistent. I did not get to drive in too much traffic, but it did feel slightly unsettling pulling up behind large SUVs at stop signs.

Fit and finish seemed superb, but with some oddities. The center console overall seemed a bit cheesy. A lot of shiny plastic. The toggle switches felt solid, but the look overall.. Interior doors, chrome, require you to pull them twice to open. Odd, unnecessary. Another thing I noticed, which isn’t important, but annoyed me to no end: the turn signal stalk. It was short, stubby, and grey. Out of place with the rest of the vehicle, and looked like it would be more at home on a… child’s play thing, rather than a BMW-made mid-$20k hot hatch.

The doors and hatch closed with a solid clunk, again reminding me of my old Saab, and not of the Toyotas and Subarus that I drive today. Despite it’s size, the MINI felt solid, and I wasn’t overly concerned for my safety while driving it. My only worry was visibility for other vehicles. And that’s only because they were all ass-clowns in three-ton SUVs.

Having the speedometer in the middle of the dash was odd, and something that I would pass on.

The steering wheel was pretty damn thick, perhaps a mite too large. Which leads me into the next section…

The Ride

The most startling thing during my test drive? The weight of the steering. It was damn heavy. The steering wheel only goes 2.5 turns from lock to lock, and with the weight coupled with the thickness of the wheel, it was an odd sensation. Unless you’re accustomed to F1 racers, it would take you awhile to get use to the steering.

However, all of this also helped to create the killer handling characteristics, which I barely scratched the surface of during my short drive. No matter if I braked before the turn or in the turn, accelerated into it, during or out of it, the MINI clung to the road with ferocious tenacity. The car stayed level without a hint of body sway, and it was point-and-shoot the entire time. Truly enjoyable and completely secure handling.

Acceleration was adequate, but not quite awe-inspiring. The supercharged engine was slothly at lower revs, but once it got rolling, had usable punch throughout the RPM range. Quite adequate. The gearing was fairly high. I only got up to maybe fifty-five at the most, at which point I put it into sixth gear. And I was absolutely dogging the thing at that speed. First gear had a usable range apart from launching, which was a new experience for me.

The ride, a point of concern after reading through all of the reviews, was firm but not jarring in the least. I could feel each imperfection in the road, but it was not ass-numbing. After driving only beaters and SUVs/trucks, the ride was actually quite nice, an improvement. All of this despite the 17″ rims and the handling I previously mentioned.

Braking was secure and linear. All of the peddles felt correctly placed and weighted.

The clutch was super grippy, and my shifts were entirely too slow – the engine hit idle and stayed there for what seemed eternity while I navigated the shifter. This was not the car’s fault, but mine – I’m not use to such a ride. The shifter was smooth – knotchy but not overly rubbery. It was, what I imagine, the sort of shifting you’d feel right before you die. My launches were heavy on clutch, and I just about died from embarrassment when I prompty stalled it in the parking lot (it was in third, not first. I was worried about putting it into reverse, which is on the left-hand side of the H, instead of the right).

The Experience

I was happy with the test drive, although that was to be expected. More surprising, was Keeler MINI. Doing a limited amount of research, they seemed to be a competent car dealership. But they were still that — a car dealership. I expected to be either bum-rushed off the lot, or pressured into buying something (more likely the former). But I walked around the lot a bit, and wasn’t approached. I eventually had to enter the building and talk to the employee seated at a desk. He was a friendly chap who was more than eager to give a test drive. It was actually a pleasant experience.

Final Thoughts

I need one. Hopefully next spring, a ’06 S, manual, perhaps blue with a white roof and bonnet stripes. Sport package, limited slip differential, and the computer option that moves the speedometer next to the tach, behind the steering wheel (where it belongs).