[Greenkirby21]

slightly off topic but today I got to test drive a mini cooper coupe s since my dad is thinking about buying a JCW for himself(but they didn't have any in stock to test drive).

It's an awesome car. Felt a bit quicker then the 128i initially mostly due to better throttle response and turbo. Although where it died out(high RPMS) my car would win(higher RPMS).

The biggest issue I found was the torque steer and made me appreciate RWD cars much more. I put the car in first gear and went through first in a corner and the entire time the car was just tugging against me and didn't want to turn. I do that in my car and its able to turn with no problem, and the rear starts to drift a bit :P. However, driving like a normal everyday citizen the mini has no issues, and has the true go kart feeling people talk about. It felt great!

Since they were about the same MSRP, I would still get a 128i. Although I did find the materials in the 2013 JCW to be of higher quality for some places. All of the "soft touch" plastic in our cars is a lot harder and less squishy then the Mini. I also preferred the steering wheel in the mini. The steering wheel was firm but squishy, while ours is hard and firm. Also, I preferred the smaller wheel in the mini. The transmission also seemed to go through gear changes quicker(it was an auto).

I also noticed a few things about the 1 series in general.

Not sure why, but I found the seating position in the mini to be much more comfortable. I am a pretty tall person, and I had more headroom in the mini then the BMW.

Sometimes, my fauhawk scrubs against the roof of my BMW but in the mini it did not do this. With this in mind, the way the mini seats are made the headrest actually covered my entire head. In the BMW, even on the highest position, the headrest does not fully cover my head. Its most likely since I have the electronic seats on the BMW and I heard that they are higher then the non-electronic ones.

Anyways, in the end if I had to buy a car again, I would still pick the 128i because of RWD. I never thought RWD vs FWD was such a big issue until I test drove the mini with my dad.