Another New Wife Vehicle Thread

[Cascadia]

Well since Subaru so graciously decided to warranty our STI's blown motor we decided it'd be best to sell the car once it is repaired and get something a little more family friendly. As much as I love hear my barely 2 year old say "fassst" and "fuun" I'd rather my wife be comfortable and have a little more room for trips. On top of that, anything that gets better mpg than the sti will help.

We we didn't want to go into debt or get a loan for our next car. But a few of the necessities were AWD, 4 doors, good mpg and quiet inside. We found something that filled all those needs and more.

We we ended up with a 2011 Mini Countryman S. It's got AWD, it's got the leather upgrade from their normal leather, Harmon Kardan stereo, heated seats, navigation, panoramic sunroof, and gets awesome mpg. We got 31 mpg heading down to St. George averaging 79 mph. It is very quiet inside and there's plenty of room.

Another plus is it is turbo. It is not super fast but since it is already turbo'd it allows me to upgrade the turbo sometime in the near future. Upgrading to a k04 will get me close to the sti power. Combined with the 6 speed manual and it'll be a blast.

It also has better ground clearance than pretty much any other car. An awesome departure angle and the front not too shabby. I realize this car isn't everyone's cup of tea but it fits the bill for our small family.

 

[Cascadia]

Here are a few pics from today down in Washington driving around with my little boy. Took the 10" rock ledges and off camber washes just fine.

 

[bryson]

Didn't know they were available in AWD. Cute.

 

[ChestonScout]

good wife car!

 

[Cascadia]

Yep, it's cute. It's a wife car. Although I kinda like it.

 

[blznnp]

Some of you guys get fun wife cars. If I drive my wife's car, I am sporting the mini-van. I drove a Mini Cooper s when they first came out in 2002? Fun little cars to drive. I am sure this one feels like a little longer go kart

 

[STAG]

Bumpers, sliders and a RTT

 

[Cascadia]

Haha! I thought about some 1.5" sliders earlier. But pretty sure they'll never be needed. Maybe mount an atv winch behind the grill.

 

[roverrocks]

THIS is the Mini Cooper I want!!

 

[glockman]

After reading the title of this thread, I thought you had become a polygamist and were looking for a car for your new wife

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Caleb]

I like it. I actually tried to get my wife to look at one of these but she refused to even go look. I'm not sure on the countryman models but on the cooper s, you can do all the same mods that have been done on the Jcw model. I bet you could do the same on this and really make it a screamer

 

[Cascadia]

Yep. You can do all the same mods as the jcw model. I stayed up pretty late the night before we got it doing some research. These are also quite detuned from the factory. You can give them a mildly better tune with stock parts that can gain you about 35 hp. Only problem is I don't want to spend my fun money on my wife's car.

 

[GAR]

You do realize what car has been dominating Dakar the last few years, right? lots of potential

 

[bryson]

You do realize what car has been dominating Dakar the last few years, right? lots of potential

That is damn cool, but I'm sure my Excursion has almost as many stock Mini parts as that car.

 

[Cascadia]

I kinda mighta known some of that.

 

[GAR]

I think I read somewhere the only original parts are the windshield and the tail lights, so you have a lot of work to do

 

[Cascadia]

Haha. Don't think it'll ever make it to that point. It'll take long enough to get it where I want it. If we even have it long enough for that. Our track record doesn't look too good.