Perfect Red light Sleeper?

Most Porsche drivers are posers who have never felt their accelerator pedal touch the floor. The other day, a Subaru WRX STI gave me a bit of a head start, but then demonstrated I needed more electrons--or less weight. I doubt there are many Subaru WRX STI drivers who don't feel their accelerator pedal touch the floor every time they go for a drive.

 

I still marvel at how I can be a quarter mile past the intersection before ICE cars get through it.

 

Yep, I may get my first ticket at age 78. So much fun!!!!!

 

I'm positive the acceleration is conservatively limited by software too, particularly from 0-20 mph. They did this to the i3 when the plastic motor mounts started snapping. Once someone figures out how to hack the SE software we'll have even more fun.

 

The Porsche owners I hang with may be posers, but their pedal hits the medal on a regular basis. Same for the BMW folks I hang with. It's not the cars, it's the people.

 

Then they're definitely not posers.

 

My previous daily driver was an 2013 GR WRX STI. My STI always had to be wound to about 3000 rpm to extract that 300lbs feet of torque which made it feel slower than the SE even through on paper and in reality it was faster. The Mini is feeding my new-found love of driving a slow car fast even though from 0-40 its as fast as cars with double the power. Its an interesting dichotomy. It leaves me dreaming of a EV MX-5, S2000 or MR2. If Mazda, Honda, (exclude Toyota) were to build a "light weight" RWD EV for about 40k it would redefine the sports car.

 

My thoughts echo yours exactly. I was very excited when Honda showed off their RWD Sports EV Concept a few years ago. Sadly, "The Power of Dreams" couldn't find an EVSE to keep going.

 

I think it is quite fair to consider the SE to be the first true electric hot hatch. Right now MINI has a lock on this new market sub-segment. Will others enter?

Right now in the ICE hot hatch segment there are few players beyond VW and MINI, worldwide. I’m content with MINI being the only BEV hot hatch for now. I’m just concerned that the new China made SE may favor range over hotness. Time will tell…


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If people were clamoring for hot hatches instead of pickups, SUVs, and crossovers, there would be more hot hatches. No manufacturer with a presence in the U.S. market has even hinted they might consider making a new hot hatch, much less a hot EV hatch.

The one possible upcoming hot EV hatch is the rumored Tesla Model 2 (which will definitely NOT be called the "Model 2," according to Elon). Here are a few renderings from people who would love to work for Tesla:



Would MINI dare release a new Chinese SE that's less hot than our SE's? It would be a disaster--especially for those holding their breath (and pocketbooks) waiting for the next-gen SE.

 

I prefer to think that all of those people clamoring for pickups, (so-called) SUVs, crossovers, and giant sedans are looking for something to soothe their inadequacies, and it's not about the vehicle. Those of us who select reasonably sized cars don't have to project a fake image. Mini's are just right.

http://1revorg.org/mini.html

 

Volkswagen's ID.3 GTX could be the first. Whether or not it comes to North America remains to be seen, but that trim would be more likely to sell here than the "regular" ID.3. (They stopped selling the "regular" Golf here, but we can still get the GTI and R.)

A less hot "Justa" Cooper makes sense as an affordable entry-level model to help round out MINI's lineup. Agree that the Ora Cat's specs don't seem up to par for the "S" trim. I suspect the electric John Cooper Works trim is the MINI that many of us will eventually trade in our SE's for.

 

VW likes to get peoples hopes up--remember the ID.Buggy? They're again raising hopes not only with the ID.3 GTX, but with this electric ID.3 convertible:

 

I'm not excited about ID.3 GTX. The current versions weight 3900-4250 pounds.

 

There was hype about VW selling the gte over here in the states (plugin hybrid version of the gti). I loved my egolf, so I eagerly awaited for it, but it never happened.

I considered buying a recent egolf with low miles, but I'm glad I got the se instead.

 

Totally agree. I've got a post from a couple of years ago pining for an electric Subaru BRZ.

For a little thread drift, who would opt for a MINI SE with no rear seats, but RWD and 200 miles of range? I think there's plenty of room for an aft motor and more batteries under the hood without the useless rear seats, and I've grown to love my permanently flat hatch area.

 

I would! Although I'd keep the front motor and make it AWD. For years I've been dreaming about a dual motor AWD EV with driver selectable power bias... RWD fun but AWD when you need it! Rimac had the same idea but I wanted to convert the clutch pedal rather than a knob:



I'd also probably keep the seats... my mostly useless rear seats have been used more than I thought they would by family wanting to ride in the "fun car"

 

Sounds a lot like what a MINI GP EV would be, since GPs don't have rear seats. Except MINI is unlikely to do RWD. They do All4 on the Countryman and Clubman so I could see that. On the other hand, electric motors don't need drivetrains so it wouldn't be a major redesign to hook them up to rear wheels.

That poses a philosophical question: does FWD make sense in an EV world? FWD was created for smaller drivetrain and less weight. But those constraints don't apply to BEVs.