ICE vs. EV poll

It would take a big crowbar to pry my fingers off the steering wheel of my SE. However, if you need a small crossover EV, the Countryman SE would be a good choice. The Countryman SE is a lot better looking than its platform-mate BMW iX2 (which isn't coming to NA), and its 230-mile range, actual rear seats, and greater cargo capacity makes it more practical than your MINI Cooper SE. The obvious solution is to go all-MINI SE: Cooper SE and Countryman SE. Get rid of whatever car is currently forcing you to make those odious trips to the gas station.

 

The only gripe I have is that the Mini Takes the States rally is not F56 BEV friendly...

 

Other than MINI, only VW is addressing the market for a hot-hatch BEV. Unfortunately, VW doesn't appear to believe an e-Golf GTI would sell in SUV-crazy North America. I hope my 2021 MINI Cooper SE lasts forever.

 

FWIW the Mini is a perfect daily. I picked up a Honda S2000 as a second car for those spirited drives. Highly recommend one.


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I almost did MINIs At The Glen in '22, but it took place a week after I finally took delivery and I didn't want to suss out how to be a road-tripping EV driver my first week (with just 180 km of range). I started researching for this year, and it's not much better: nearest DCFCs are ~25 miles from the first meeting place, which is another half hour to the track. I think I'd really need to book a hotel with destination chargers and get down there the day before.

 

Lovely!

I've been lusting after one since a co-worker got one in 2006. They keep appreciating though, and it's getting hard to justify spending new-EV money on a 15-year-old summer car. Oh, and up here the vast majority for sale on Marketplace or Kijiji (what used to be called eBay Classifieds in the US) are salvage-titled.

 

Everyone I know who owned an S2000 (even after Honda lowered the redline) loved it--and they all sold for more than they paid.

Honda's teased us with electric sports cars for years now--then they wimp out with a new Prelude that they eventually admit is a hybrid. Where's the S2025 EV Honda should be making to compete with Porsche's EV Boxster? (I'm ignoring the hideous 2024 Honda Saloon EV Concept based on the company's inexplicable new "Honda 0" design language.)

 

No I won't go back to ICE. We live in the city and don't really do long distance driving. Even that 1-2 600km drive a year is manageable in the Mini and soon Fiat 500e. We got our SE in early December of 2023 and it only has 17500km on it in nearly 16 months.. Most of which was tacked on doing 1 day road trips last summer. Locally we do all errands on foot as the grocery store is 300m away and such.

Luckily we are in a position where when we need to travel far we can just hop on a plane.

 

I said "maybe"

Had I won one of those big lottery jackpots recently I had a spending spree on ICE cars in mind:

Ferrari 512 BB, preferable with carbs - still, to me, one of the best looking cars ever
Ferrari 308/328 GTB, note the B, don't need the flex of the Spyder, 2nd best looking car ever
Ferrari F12, modern V12 glory, although JayEmm's one had some rust in it, WTH?
Ferrari 458, probably a Spyder version, last of the F-car NA V8, get some top down vibes
Lambo Huracán, perhaps in a wild color
Mustang GT350, some Voodoo in that V8, 6 speed MT
One of every generation of Miata, all with manual gearboxes
MINIs: an R53 JCW, an R56 JCW from 2013, an F56 JCW, an R59 JCW

Electrics: Probably a Lucid Air, but not the Sapphire, very futuristic looking IMO, A Kia EV9 for practical purposes, and I'd take a very close look at the Countryman EV when it arrives.

That should be a good start but the list could get longer - saw a '47(?) Buick straight 8 convertible in Maine last summer that would have been a hoot to own, $40k.

But sadly it was not to be. In reality, I would like my regular current fleet to be all electric as soon as possible

cheers
MacMini34

PS some of those funds should be set aside for some high performance driving lessons too

 

I love Sparky (22 MINI SE) but still need and want ICE. I currently have a "fleet" of 5 Vehicles.

3 x V8
1 x I4
1 x sparks

I average 5.6 cylinders.

Rob

 

This is a complicated answer based on use case...

Daily driving: The Cooper SE performs this duty perfectly for me and I don't see ever going back, or even getting rid of this car at all for that matter!

Most family commuting/road-tripping: Tesla Y Performance is a perfect fit for us here as well, fun to drive, very practical, charging network no issues driving on 1000 mile road trips. Will likely stick with EV here when we replace, but may be open to non-Tesla here as the open use of their charging network is proven out.

Fun/play car: As other's have stated, it's near impossible for an EV to replicate the experience of a sport or muscle car. This holds true for my 03 Cobra as well. Some of it may be the general nostalgia of the car, but you can't blend the sound, vibrations, gear shifting, fitting my wife and son, and having the top down all in the same package. So this will remain an ICE experience for the foreseeable future.

 

Drove the i4 M50 on Friday and gotta say, I'm smitten. By far the best EV I've driven – and I'd say I've driven most by now – and (subjectively) one of the best overall cars I've driven. I'm likely going to replace the Subaru in a couple or three years, and the market will likely have changed a ton by then, but I expect we will find a nice, smaller CUEV to replace it. But if I had my way, I'd plunk down for the i4 M50 as my EDC.

 

One of the main reasons why I love EVs is the regen braking. It's painful to drive an ICE, knowing that every time you slow, you're losing out on all that momentum (and wearing the brakes, too).

 

I still have a diesel truck that I use for pulling trailers and going on long trips. Until a suitable EV is available that has reasonable towing range, I will keep the diesel. The MINI, as much as I love the car, does not have enough range for a long road trip (500+ miles), so the diesel also fills that need. I drive the MINI 95% of the time.