MSP for GTI? MSP for Mini? What am I THINKING??!

[ping]

I love my MSP. I'm not even bored with it. It's been faithful, except for that persistent alarm "thing", which was fixed, and that clunk thing, which was fixed and improved (thanks Dave), and the crunch sound from the front swaybar (which was greased), and now it's perfect. Great sound system, handling like it's connected to my synapses, and *just* enough power for me. Snug seat, nice interior, flat cornering..

Why do I want a Mini or (egads) GTI so bad? The VW and Mini communities? The "cool" factor? The observation that 80% of folks don't know what a Protege is, and 99% don't recognize Mazdaspeed? Why? The MSP is a great car, and I finally have it where I want it (on the floor of the garage, naturally!), with the hitch for the bike rack and the shift knob and the 035 wheels and the snows and...

Why?

 

[noclue119]

i'd take a Mini over MSP

this kind as least.
http://www.gomini.com/

 

[RX]

LOL, I wouldn't trade my MSP for the world...and I'm a GTI convert.
They are fun to drive but the car is too damn small!

 

[spike blue]

LOL, I wouldn't trade my MSP for the world...and I'm a GTI convert.
They are fun to drive but the car is too damn small!

Im so hapy with my msp i will never trade it for a GTI knowing that this car has a lot of problems

 

[unwound]

i was considering a mini before i bought my msp, they are i little cramped and the only dealer in my area wouldn't budge on the $$; the msp was better suited for my needs at least.

they are coming out with a turbocharged version of the mini sometime this year.

 

[chillinmcmillan]

I sat in a mini at the autoshow this year and had a ton of room, and I'm 6'3" 210

i was considering a mini before i bought my msp, they are i little cramped and the only dealer in my area wouldn't budge on the $$; the msp was better suited for my needs at least.

they are coming out with a turbocharged version of the mini sometime this year.

 

[mspeed101]

I could never see my self driving a mini

 

[ND4MSP]

If my speed were totalled today I'd take a serious look at both of those cars. And yes they have a coolness factor. Gti been one of the coolest compacts of all time, and the new mini for its timeless design. I like the msp for its rarity and only a enthusiast knows whats going on with the chassis and under the hood. Thats got its own little pimp factor. In my opinion neither one of them do anything marginally better if anything better at all than the speed.

 

[ONRAILS]

I've always loved the GTI. And I love the R32.. but I like my msp too much. I don't think I would even get a Evo or Sti instead. Probably just trade it in for a Aston Martin Db9 or Ferrari 430.

 

[Saban]

Get some new fun mods for your MSP, and you will fall in love with your car all over again.

 

[mspeed101]

Get some new fun mods for your MSP, and you will fall in love with your car all over again.

(mswerd)

 

[Stormtrooper77]

Nice cars but the VW is renowned for problems and the Mini won't allow me to carry my hockey gear. Although it would be a blast to drive.

 

[ping]

Get some new fun mods for your MSP, and you will fall in love with your car all over again.

You may be on the right track there... some Sparcos perhaps, yeah, that's it... already have the old HSM straight pipe for sound in the spring, and the 17's in the shed, maybe that's it - my MSP's all bundled up for winter and I'm comparing it to cars that are, relatively speaking, in bikinis...

There IS this one white A2 GTI with a VR6 in it though, with a/c, in white... I'd actually prefer that to the A4 GTIs...

WADR (with all due respect), VW's aren't known for any more (or less) problems than our MSPs though - and they're better supported (there are more of 'em) -

Good cars, both the VW and Mini, and the Mini IS small inside. What I noticed most was the roof intrusion - the roofline seems to go way in front of your head - the top of the windshield (oh, sorry, "windscreen" in those cars) is further away from your forehead than the MSP, making the cabin darker and overhead traffic signals harder to see.

Yep- that's it. More mods, and maybe even a paintjob and I'll bump out all the hail pings (hence the s/n) and paint her white.

Or I'll get that old GTI.

Still open to opinions...

 

[Swerny]

Ping, I don't really love my car in it's winter running gear either.
Come spring, the mods go back on, you rll the windows down, and I love the car again.
Do some minor mods and it will be like having a new car all over again.
SMIC, EBC, downpipe, there's plenty of more power and fun to be had.
I had the HSM as well, trust me, put on a downpipe and stock catback and the car is transformed.
I have driven numerous Mini's, and I'll stick with my MSP.
VW reliability is horrible. My first car was a Mk1 (Rabbit) GTI.

 

[AlexTheBum]

If i had a small penis i'd drive a mini and say its not the size that matters its how you use it jk..

 

[mspdfreak]

Do what I did and buy another car. I just ordered a 2005 Mustang GT. Just waiting for them to build it! (Oh, I'm keeping the MSP, though!)

 

[LASERBLUE135]

I sat in a mini at the autoshow this year and had a ton of room, and I'm 6'3" 210

I'm 6'2" 185 and have really looked at Mini's very hard, not for me, for my wife. Our plan was to get the mini first (she wanted the auto, only comes on the none S) and then I would drive a s*** box until I could afford an EVO. But this car is just too small to be a reasonable family car. I don't fit in the drivers seat, the passengers seat, and my 6 year old son doesn't even fit in the back seats! Mini has everyone saying this has great interior room for its size, that my be, but people really still dont fit!

Plus I paid $5000 less (MINIMUM depending on Mini options) for my MSP. You can have a hellova lot done for that coin. Most cooper S models will run 24k to 30k new, so about $10K more than a new MSP.

 

[KySpeed]

Twincharged mini... MM MMM GOOD

 

[Hughes412]

A friend of ours has a Mini, when we tailgate he puts his 32in tv and satelite dish in it. Looks cool when people drive by and see our Mini intertainment system.

 

[mspdfreak]

How does he power it?