Hi all, I just took ownership of a tuxedo black FiST this weekend after having owned an early build MINI Cooper S (R53) for 9 years... it was an 11 year old car but when I bought it the previous owner had put less than 7500 miles on it so it was for all intents and purposes mine for most of its driving life.
I LOVED that car from the day I bought it to the day I reluctantly let it go. I'm a little sad, actually because I had never loved a car like that one. But MINI doesn't make them like that anymore. I loved the torque (rather than just flat out speed). I loved the gearbox. I loved the nearly bulletproof Tritec engine. I loved the supercharger whine. I loved how I just thought of what I wanted to do and it did it. I loved its quirkiness, particularly those peculiar to the really early builds like the gear ratio. And I made excuses for its less than desirable attributes, like its bone-jarring suspension (the early builds had Super Sport + suspensions as standard) and more often lately, the fact that as things wore out it was spending more time in the shop than out. I can do some repairs myself but not things that require a lift and advanced shop tools.
I didn't like the R56 (second gen MINI) or even the new F56 (brand hew hardtop). Most other MINI owners that I know love everything that comes out of Oxford. But I was a diehard R53 enthusiast. They got it (mostly) right the first time and then began compromising to expand the brand.
I didn't love anything else either besides my car. But it was getting old. I knew I was staring down some major $$$ failures in time including the clutch or the supercharger. And it needed to go to someone who could maintain it all themselves, properly. Who would love the car like I did AND have the means to maintain it.
I wasn't even looking at Ford until I saw a MINI vs. FiST shootout online. So I figured I would test drive one as I had test driven almost everything else in the hot hatch category and nothing was like my R53. Only thing remotely close was the Abarth which has a sweet engine tune but everything else about that car sucks for that price point, especially that sad excuse of a transmission.
Except the FiST. I went on a ridiculously long test drive (partially because the salesperson and I got lost getting back to the dealership). It had the torque of my old R53. I love the gearbox. It made me smile when I drove it. The only thing I felt like I was compromising was how others looked at the car but what's important is how I feel driving it, not how others react to seeing it.
Two weeks after my test drive I TRADED IN my MINI. I actually got a decent price for it because it was pretty much sold the moment I pulled into the lot. The guy who is buying it knows how to maintain it. The price was about what I would have gotten after factoring in the cost of fixing what needed to be fixed next on the car and then selling it (the CV axles were on their way out and that was what caused me to pull the trigger now rather than later). I took one last picture of the car--it was already in the detailing area by the time I left with the FiST--posted it on Facebook and the shock among my friends and family began. But I told them it was OK because I had something different, but just as cool.
OK, so I will be switching out the Recaro headrest as I'm 5'4 and even when I'm sitting properly the angled headrest is about 1'' lower than it needs to be (my husband is comfortable in the passenger seat b/c he's 5'11"). But otherwise I smiled all weekend. I smiled when cruising at highway speeds and had the torque to pass and avoid distracted tractor trailer drivers. I smiled when hearing the engine growl under load (it's not the supercharger whine but it's still cool, even if it's because the sound is piped into the cabin). I smiled when ignoring the shift arrow telling me to shift at 2000 RPM. It's like my R53 updated.
I have to get ready for work now... so I can smile a little more on my 30 mile commute.
I LOVED that car from the day I bought it to the day I reluctantly let it go. I'm a little sad, actually because I had never loved a car like that one. But MINI doesn't make them like that anymore. I loved the torque (rather than just flat out speed). I loved the gearbox. I loved the nearly bulletproof Tritec engine. I loved the supercharger whine. I loved how I just thought of what I wanted to do and it did it. I loved its quirkiness, particularly those peculiar to the really early builds like the gear ratio. And I made excuses for its less than desirable attributes, like its bone-jarring suspension (the early builds had Super Sport + suspensions as standard) and more often lately, the fact that as things wore out it was spending more time in the shop than out. I can do some repairs myself but not things that require a lift and advanced shop tools.
I didn't like the R56 (second gen MINI) or even the new F56 (brand hew hardtop). Most other MINI owners that I know love everything that comes out of Oxford. But I was a diehard R53 enthusiast. They got it (mostly) right the first time and then began compromising to expand the brand.
I didn't love anything else either besides my car. But it was getting old. I knew I was staring down some major $$$ failures in time including the clutch or the supercharger. And it needed to go to someone who could maintain it all themselves, properly. Who would love the car like I did AND have the means to maintain it.
I wasn't even looking at Ford until I saw a MINI vs. FiST shootout online. So I figured I would test drive one as I had test driven almost everything else in the hot hatch category and nothing was like my R53. Only thing remotely close was the Abarth which has a sweet engine tune but everything else about that car sucks for that price point, especially that sad excuse of a transmission.
Except the FiST. I went on a ridiculously long test drive (partially because the salesperson and I got lost getting back to the dealership). It had the torque of my old R53. I love the gearbox. It made me smile when I drove it. The only thing I felt like I was compromising was how others looked at the car but what's important is how I feel driving it, not how others react to seeing it.
Two weeks after my test drive I TRADED IN my MINI. I actually got a decent price for it because it was pretty much sold the moment I pulled into the lot. The guy who is buying it knows how to maintain it. The price was about what I would have gotten after factoring in the cost of fixing what needed to be fixed next on the car and then selling it (the CV axles were on their way out and that was what caused me to pull the trigger now rather than later). I took one last picture of the car--it was already in the detailing area by the time I left with the FiST--posted it on Facebook and the shock among my friends and family began. But I told them it was OK because I had something different, but just as cool.
OK, so I will be switching out the Recaro headrest as I'm 5'4 and even when I'm sitting properly the angled headrest is about 1'' lower than it needs to be (my husband is comfortable in the passenger seat b/c he's 5'11"). But otherwise I smiled all weekend. I smiled when cruising at highway speeds and had the torque to pass and avoid distracted tractor trailer drivers. I smiled when hearing the engine growl under load (it's not the supercharger whine but it's still cool, even if it's because the sound is piped into the cabin). I smiled when ignoring the shift arrow telling me to shift at 2000 RPM. It's like my R53 updated.
I have to get ready for work now... so I can smile a little more on my 30 mile commute.
![[mecry]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_mecry.gif "Me Cry [mecry]"){kind=icon}
FiST pic was taken right before my test ride.![[hihi]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_hihi.gif "Hi Hi [hihi]"){kind=icon}
![[wrenchin]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_wrenchin.gif "Wrenchin [wrenchin]"){kind=icon}
