350z vs MINI, weird conclusion.

[FG!!]

I test drove the 350z and MCS back-to-back yesterday

MINI, all the way, no contest

350z was great. Engine was friggin sweet. Corner speeds were high. In the end the it just feels disconnected compared to the Mini.

Everything about the mini's handling is done right. At highway speeds, at city speeds, in the parking lots. Tow-in, ackerman, chassis stiffness, scrub radius, spring rates, blah blah blah everything. It just likes to hustle.

I came into this test drive with extreme bias in favor of the 350z. I'm a huge Datsun fan and I hate open-diff FWD.

I will never look at a spec sheet the same now. Drive it before you form an opinion.

I hope the suspension doesn't change much for 04.

[scottzg]

I guess you're not very tall. I'm 6'2" 220 and i COULD NOT fit in the mini. My head scraped the roof liner, my knees bashed the steering column getting in, i had to stuff my feet under the pedals to stretch. Horrible. I'm big, but im certainly not freakishly huge. Other than that, yea, the mini is a nice drive. The front wheel skitter exiting a turn is pretty darn good.

[ciper]

Now you should go drive the Miata. I cant wait until the real hard top comes out. They have it in Japan and I dont doubt we will get it too. Perhaps with the turbo! They said its only 10 pounds more than the convertable.

[evolutionmovement]

I've been waiting for a hardtop Miata, too. Ever since they had that show car back in the mid nineties.

I always go for cars that are more fun. My Subarus may not have been too fast, but they've always been fun and that's more important to me than a boring fast car - I don't have johnson issues that I need to compensate for. Of course a fast fun to drive car would be perfect and that's why they have Subaru turbos...

Steve

[FG!!]

I've driven the different iterations of the miata through the years. They're pretty darn good, but not this good.

I 6'2" 220 aswell and it felt spacious to me, but I'm used to sports cars.

[scottzg]

Maybe i got into the mini mini

[91White-T]

scottzg, I just noticed you have a Starion, those things are sweet! My buddy had a 89 Conquest, I think those cars are incredibly nice, and by far the best handling car I've ever driven.

[boostjunkie]

scottzg, I just noticed you have a Starion, those things are sweet! My buddy had a 89 Conquest, I think those cars are incredibly nice, and by far the best handling car I've ever driven.

I see you've also got some headwork going on. Notorious cracked heads on those cars with their jet valves in the heads. I was in the market for a starquest before I got my turbo legacy. Read about a lot of the problems and could never find one that was in somewhat good shape

I love the look of that car tho!

[scottzg]

Yea, they're really purty. My buddy sold me his 2nd one for 40 bucks with a nice body and int, but a blown head gasket. He bought it that way. I pulled the head, had it checked out, changed all the gaskets, and put in some fresh valve springs. I'd do more, but im poor. I've never seen it run on boost. I will on friday.

a coolant passage blew open into cyl #1. Wierd.

One of these days I'll post pics and stuff.