New Wheels: 2006 Mini Cooper S
February 28th, 2007Winter had been unkind to our old Honda Civic, so it was time for us to get a new vehicle. We considered a lot of very practical and responsible options, but thankfully poor impulse control and a lack of better judgment won out (again). So a couple of weeks ago I became the proud owner of a 2006 Mini Cooper S.
Check out my Mini Cooper photo gallery at Flickr.
Words fail to capture how much I love this vehicle. The last car I loved was a dark red Nissan 240SX, affectionately referred to as the “red rocket” (named for a Reverend Horton Heat song). It was a great car, but it was rear-wheel drive. And I felt I had to sell it when moving to Chicago because of the winters. Since then I’ve driven a number of very responsible looking vehicles.
Getting behind the wheel of the Mini is a entirely more pleasurable experience than driving any of those cars. The mini is part dune buggy, part fighter plane cockpit. And I got a little wild with the options. Here’s a quick rundown of a few of the things I love about this vehicle.
S = Bigger and Faster Engine
Getting a Cooper S instead of a base model means this thing is fast as hell. It’s got a lot of pickup for a tiny car. I’m not a particularly aggressive driver so I thought the S might be wasted on me. But once I drove it there was no going back. The S makes all the difference.
British Racing Green
The Mini was available in a lot of colors and I liked most of them. But I’m not flashy enough for a red car, I’m not plain enough for a gray car, and there’s no way I’m keeping a white or black car clean all the time. And green is my favorite color. Plus, it’s fun to say “British Racing Green”.
Chrome and More Chrome
It’s got chrome everywhere in this thing. It has chrome rings around the interior instruments, on the shifter, on the rear-view mirrors and more. It’s like I’m driving a Wurlitzer jukebox with a BMW engine in it.
Navigation System
I sprung for the navigation system because a) I have no natural sense of direction and b) it makes the car into a big gadget. You can get maps are close as 400 meters all the way out to 25 miles. You can also input a destination and choose the specifics of the route you’d like to take. And it talks to you. Apparently there’s a mod out there for the system so it can talk with a British accent.
Heated Seats and a Moonroof
Heated seats sound unnecessary until you’ve tried them on a cold winter morning in Chicago. And I’m really looking forward to opening the moonroof on evening drives this summer.
The Best Thing About the Mini
Is everything I’m going to do to it. It has a fairly decent head unit (it plays mp3 CDs at least), but I’m looking to add an iPod connection, a 4-channel power amp, replace all the speakers and install a subwoofer. I’ll also definitely be adding a Bluetooth kit for connecting my Treo in the car as well. And maybe a mod that allows me to play DVD videos on the navigation screen (for longer trips).