Mini Cooper S vs 318is: Which should I get?

[tjts1]

Why would anyone want a FWD car made in the UK with a dodge neon engine? The mini fails on all levels.

[e30loverSC]

E30 all the way.. why not a 325is or something thats what i have LOVE IT to death

[Julien]

http://www.northamericanmotoring.com...-deposits.html

hmmm.. maybe this is why the mini I seafoamed smoked soo much!! great results though

[gazellebeigem3]

dodge omni

[Julien]

and has the potential to out-handle just about any car on the road (including the Mini).

I think you missed the word "potential." I didn't say it handles better in stock form. But it certainly has the potential to do so. An E30 318is with Turner J-Stock springs, Bilstein Sport dampers custom valved to "Gruppe N" spec (or even "Firehawk" spec), camber plates, M3 control arm bushings, I.E. sways, quality 225/45-R15 tires, and a careful alignment can out-handle just about anything on the track. Certainly much better than a Mini on conventional suspension.

:roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::r oll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::rol l::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll: :roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::r oll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::rol l::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll: :roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll:

[transatlantic0207]

this is a good thread....great points on both sides

I vote go with e30 which is a proven car. If your budget is 13k then I would try to squeeze out another 2 grand and get an M3, e30 of course. 15 grand rule!

[Emre]

:roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::r oll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::rol l::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll: :roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::r oll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::rol l::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll: :roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll:

Any argument besides childish eye rolling? You've posted nothing at all productive so far.

Incidentally, I described my car's suspension. It's served me well for years. Come out to the track one day and I'll show you what an E30 is capable of.

[TDE30]

Incidentally, I described my car's suspension. It's served me well for years. Come out to the track one day and I'll show you what an E30 is capable of.

Come out to the Tall People Convention and joo will show you what tall people are capable of.

:D

[Julien]

Any argument besides childish eye rolling? You've posted nothing at all productive so far.

Incidentally, I described my car's suspension. It's served me well for years. Come out to the track one day and I'll show you what an E30 is capable of.

true.. I've never taken an e30 on track, especially not the nurburgring...
The argument holds that stock for stock and e30 doesn't match up to newer "sporty" cars. Your argument that a J-stock e30 will outhandle just about anything is ridiculous.
I've owned 15+ e30s and have had a great deal of fun with them, and shit when I was at my prime time of e30 ownership I thought the same crap you are regurgitating on this thread. To repeat myself, the e30 is a fun nimble, light, toss able chassis, but it's not and never will be the end all be all in handling.

anyways *yawn*
Julien

[Unearth078]

after reading really hard into minicoopers i got scared about there reliability... when you hear someone having a mcs for 3 months and having the shift linkage fall apart, thats not good. and also hearing that mcs has the e36 interior disease sucks. and i mean i do know a ton of e30's so im very comfortable working on them

if you could find a feasible mcs with documents including recall work, i think i would jump on it. there not much more comfortable but they can be a bit more tame then an older e30 and can be serious fun, and speed, when driven the part.

[kishg]

Come out to the Tall People Convention and joo will show you what tall people are capable of.

:D

careful what you ask for, he just might be taller than you ;)

[Emre]

The argument holds that stock for stock and e30 doesn't match up to newer "sporty" cars. Your argument that a J-stock e30 will outhandle just about anything is ridiculous.

Talk about a straw man argument. I specifically said that the E30 won't hold up well in stock form but that, after mods, it will out-handle an awful lot of cars...including a stock Mini Cooper. The fact that a used Mini Cooper costs $10grand more than a used E30 is the salient feature you seemed to have missed. That's a lot of cash to play with if a fun track car is the goal.

I've owned 15+ e30s and have had a great deal of fun with them, and shit when I was at my prime time of e30 ownership I thought the same crap you are regurgitating on this thread.

We've all got our personal experiences. I've been driving E30s since they were new and tracking them for over 10 years. In that time, I've tracked several other cars, including E36's and Evos. I keep coming back to the E30 because I love the handling. Enough people seem to agree that these cars have developed a cult following, even among people like me (a medical doctor in his 30s) who can afford to run pretty much anything we want...short of a GT3, perhaps :(

To repeat myself, the e30 is a fun nimble, light, toss able chassis, but it's not and never will be the end all be all in handling.

And does a stock Mini qualify as the "be the end all be all in handling?" I'd prefer to track a J-Stock E30 rather than a stock Mini Cooper. I strongly suspect you'd do the same, otherwise you probably wouldn't be on these forums.

[tjts1]

Undeaneath all the MINI marketing BS beats the crapastic heart of a dodge NEON.



All they had to do was change a couple of sticker and suddenly you have a euro hatch with pedigree. Such BS.

[Julien]

Talk about a straw man argument. I specifically said that the E30 won't hold up well in stock form but that, after mods, it will out-handle an awful lot of cars...including a stock Mini Cooper. The fact that a used Mini Cooper costs $10grand more than a used E30 is the salient feature you seemed to have missed. That's a lot of cash to play with if a fun track car is the goal.

We've all got our personal experiences. I've been driving E30s since they were new and tracking them for over 10 years. In that time, I've tracked several other cars, including E36's and Evos. I keep coming back to the E30 because I love the handling. Enough people seem to agree that these cars have developed a cult following, even among people like me (a medical doctor in his 30s) who can afford to run pretty much anything we want...short of a GT3, perhaps :(

And does a stock Mini qualify as the "be the end all be all in handling?" I'd prefer to track a J-Stock E30 rather than a stock Mini Cooper. I strongly suspect you'd do the same, otherwise you probably wouldn't be on these forums.

Never said an e30 wouldn't be more fun on track.. just that it isn't the best "handling" car available (even with jstock suspension..)but guess what? I've stopped caring. ;)

[kishg]

Undeaneath all the MINI marketing BS beats the crapastic heart of a dodge NEON.
All they had to do was change a couple of sticker and suddenly you have a euro hatch with pedigree. Such BS.

slightly more complicated than that.. the engine was developed by Tritec which was a Chrysler/Rover joint venture. BMW ended up owning rover for a short period and inherited the Mini brand along with this motor. It's quite common for manufacturers to use jointly developed powerplants and other tech in modern cars. btw, this motor was only used in first gen mini's the 2nd gen uses a bmw/peugeot co-developed engine. just because something is developed by chrysler does not make it junk btw.