Twenty years ago, in the August 1994 issue of Motor Trend, we tested four sports cars whose averaged stats read like this: 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, quarter mile in 13.9 at 102.3 mph, 60-0 in 116 feet, and lateral acceleration of 0.92 g. The cars? Porsche 911 Carrera, Acura NSX, Chevrolet Corvette, and Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. Legendary nameplates, to say the least. For the day, they were heady cars touting heady stats. Today, numbers like theirs are still heady, but are associated with nameplates with a bit less panache and histories not quite as storied (save for the bantam Brit, maybe). I'm referring to the sporty runabouts on these pages: the 2014 Honda Civic Si, 2014 Mini Cooper S Hardtop, 2015 Subaru WRX, and 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Whereas the 1994 icons boasted averaged outputs of 279 hp and 280 lb-ft, these pocket rockets come in at 220 hp and 224 lb-ft. Thus, their numbers aren't as quick, but not far off, either: 0-60 in 5.9 seconds, the quarter mile in 14.4 at 97.4 mph, 60-0 in 106 feet, and lateral accel of 0.90 g. Keep in mind that the average inflation-adjusted price of the "oldies" is $77,559, a big leap from the $27,293 for the youngsters. Full article at - Time Bandits: Four Sporty Ways to Cheat the Clock - Motor Trend All Pages Kudo's to WolfGTI for pointing out the article.
Nice Honest review on the New MINI F 56. Senior features editor Jonny Lieberman, "The front looks like it's trying to spit out a mouthpiece." If you can live with the rough NVH when commuting, the Mini's dividends are there; otherwise, there are three better options.
Not very often that you see MINIs put up against their true US competition (good thing they didn't have the ST siblings or it may have finished 6th). I have always found it strange that MINIs are not included more often in these types of comparisons. All four of those models have been around since 2002, so wouldn't it be interesting to have seen this same comparison with the R53 and R56 when they came out.
"puny tach that was hard to read"....I've been saying that since day one. How in the world can you banzai the twisties without that big tach from the R53/R56 right in your line of sight? I pretty much heel/toe by feel and engine sound, but I want that tach right in front of me just to be sure......I assume MINIs are like all the other manual tranny's I have owned-no rev limiter on down shifts That change alone tells me it's no longer a driver's car.....just so sad...
Doesn't matter if you have a rev limiter on downshifts. If you muff a downshift & slide that lever into 1st instead of 3rd your goose is cooked rev limiter or not. A rev limiter will not stop the inevitable from happening $$$$. I agree with you on all your other points.
Anyone else spend some seat time in a new GTI? I did this weekend and VW really nailed it with this car, it drives smaller than it is and is very fluid in transition between sweepers. It doesn't put a wheel wrong unless you actually force it to and even then the car is very forgiving. Awesome job by VW, hope MINI steps up with the driving dynamics on the JCW / GP.
The Germans pride themselves in driving machines but the new MINI seems to behind a slew of other cars. Playing catch up can't bode well as all the other brands will be trying to improve their cars as well.
I have never seen a comparison including an R53/R56 and a WRX, but I'm sure it's been done. Plenty of comparisons with the R53/R56 and GTI and Civic, and the MINI and GTI usually fight it out for top spot, beauty in the eye of the beholder type thing. The new GTI Golf R and the Civic Type R (if it makes it to the U.S.), as well as the Focus RS (if it makes it to the U.S.), are really going to make it tough on the MINI F56 JCW/GP version, depending on price. If I got rid of the MINI, I'd probably replace it with whichever of the three above I liked the best.
Good article, the cars were placed appropriately. If you compare stats on the engine and trans, the MINI held up well considering the others had some pretty good packages. Don
Don't tell anyone I said this, but I think the results of this test were exactly right - even to the extent that they very accurately described the MINI's handling at the limits. Unless something unexpected happens, even the F56 JCW wouldn't be able to finish higher than third in this group. :frown2: