Serious Mini Competition (Performance-wise)

kabootist · Post by **kabootist** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:33 am

'09 Cobalt SS
260 HP from a 2.0 Turbocharged engine.
Basically the same drivetrain as the Solstice GXP.
Starts at 24k....that's just crazy saying a JCW mini with 208 hp, costs 32 nicely equipped. Granted you pay alot for Mini/BMW badge.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/13/in-t ... -ss-turbo/

It maybe a chevy but dang, thats a really good price for a really fast car. They did mention that the old supercharged ones were not very good.

Post by **MiniManiac** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:04 pm

The 260HP engine is appealing but at the end of the day you are still driving a Chevy Cobalt.

kenshin138 · Post by **kenshin138** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:17 pm

Actually the supercharged ones were pretty good from a pure "fast" standpoint. They could be had for pretty cheap and with small mods could easily hit 13's.

However, for ~23k IMHO you would be better off going with the Mazdaspeed3. Its about the best you can do for the price point.

IMHO the appeal of the JCW is a combination of style and performance. From a 100% performance category there are certainly other cars out there that are better.

The cobalts can be had for 0% financing though, and the new turbo SS is an improvement from the supercharged one. I'm not 100% sold on the style of them, but they aren't bad looking by any means.

kabootist · Post by **kabootist** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:58 pm

Seth couldn't say it any better...its still a chevy cobalt.

saturn · Post by **saturn** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:47 am

MiniManiac wrote:The 260HP engine is appealing but at the end of the day you are still driving a Chevy Cobalt.

I'm glad someone beat me to this!
My last three vehicles were GM products and I've got two words:
NEVER-AGAIN!

monza · Post by **monza** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:05 am

Its just like a WRX, EVO, Civic Si, or Mspeed-3...they are still economy cars tarted up to go fast. Yes they are fun to drive, but the interior of the Cobalt is just plain horrible, and you have to worry about plastic bits breaking off of your Impreza. The Mini is just plain solid, with nice materials used on the inside...worth the extra coin in my book. If I wanted to just go fast, I would pick up a used WRX or SRT4 and tear up the track, but given the choice between those and a Mini, I pick the Mini based on a better daily drive quality...

RojoCohete · Post by **RojoCohete** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:53 pm

kabootist wrote:Seth couldn't say it any better...its still a chevy cobalt.

and it's so fugly