3rd Gen F56 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Saw my first Traded-in F56

It's unfortunate that the MINI owner looking for competitive performance for the GTI, now has to go up to a JCW. I really love my 2011 MCS. It puts out less HP than the MkVI, but it's as fast in a straight line, and it sounds great doing it. With the JB+, my car is faster than stock JCW's, and is plenty fast for a front driver with open diffs. It also has a suspension tuning that just puts a smile on your face when you hammer it through a curve. The MkVII GTI wipes the floor with the R56 S and JCW, and I since I don't want to "bash" the F56, I can only say it does the same thing to the F56 S - but even more so. The F56 JCW would have to be cheaper, faster, have an LSD, get a nose job, tummy tuck, and lipo before I would ever consider getting an F56 JCW over a GTI. Not to mention the new Golf R is going to be around the price of a very conservatively equipped JCW (if you go by current pricing), but it's going to have nearly 300HP, sub-5sec 0-60, AWD with torque vectoring, and it's an all around more comfortable and well equipped vehicle, while still being able to rip your face off in a curve. It also is going to have the dual injection system - goodbye carbon buildup!

 

The US model has a handbrake lever. In other markets, it gets an electronic parking brake, but it's staying on our models. I absolutely loved the MkVII GTI. It is night and day better than the last generation. I was split between the MkVI and MCS, but decided I liked the MCS' more raw nature. The new GTI has hardly any roll, it's engine is ultra-responsive, it sounds good, it has fantastic steering, and it's so freaking comfy. The interior is well laid out, and finished with high quality materials. I would definitely consider getting one as soon as the performance package is available later this year. The PP has an LSD - which is a must IMO. Between the F56 S and GTI, I couldn't possibly think of ever choosing the MINI over the VW. It has a lot of features too - for a lot less money. For $28K you get 4-doors, REAL leather, backup camera, touchscreen audio, sunroof, fender stereo, and 258lb-ft. You can also independently alter the steering, throttle, suspension - on adjustable damper equipped models, and transmission shift points on DSG models. It's a riot. I would go for the manual, but that's my motto for anything with wheels.

 

The owner pre-ordered it, and when he drove it for the first time he wasn't in love, but thought he would grow to love it. Well, after 3 weeks, he wasn't in love and the new GTI was available. He swapped it out immediately.

 

I'm sure the #1 reason it's not selling at a premium is because so many people are going to be scared to buy a basically brand new car that has already been traded in. I know it would worry me that something was wrong with it. I don't think $34K is cheap though, considering it is used, and it's only an MCS. People don't realize that a lot of expensive extras on their car doesn't increase the value as much as they paid for it. You know the guy that owned this probably paid $36-37K and VW probably only have him around $30K for it.

 

I was told by a VW engineer I spoke to at VWoA, that the Golf R will indeed use dual injection, but the regular GTI will not, at least for now - but these things are always changing. Nobody will know for sure until closer to release. Personally, I don't mind the 4-doors. The weight penalty is so small, and unlike the F54, the GTI actually looks great with 4-doors. I also an glad they dropped cloth from SE models. You now get leather for less money, and don't have to go up to the autobahn for it. The last R with cloth was the MkIV I believe.