Anyone come from a mk7/7.5 Golf R?

This is the wrong car for you, sorry. I have owned 3 MQB cars (2x bolted / tuned Mk7 GTI, and an S3 which is a Mk7 R), all 3 with DSG. Spent the last weekend logging about 100 miles in my friend's tuned mk7 R. We currently still have an Evo as the weekend car and I have owned near 30 tuner / performance / higher end sports cars. I love my Mini SE, and it's perfect for my life but this isn't the car you're looking to replace the R with. I also work for an auto manufacturer and drive around in 800-1,100 whp EVs daily. I've got coilovers on the way for my SE, but it's never going to be more than a quick car that can be fun in the canyons.

Additionally, if you don't have 220v/240v charging at home to charge to 100% every night, doing 100 miles in this car is going to be brutal. You are a traffic jam, hot day with AC going, or cold day away (heck, even one errand) away from having to add a charging stop every day. Yes, fast charging is widely available now. The 800v / 900v architecture cars that can accept 300+kw to charge and add 200+ miles in 30 minutes give me no fear to charge daily if need be. But the SE only can accept 50kw max charging.

Lastly, if you don't like it, you will take a huge resale hit as the used buyer cannot recoup the $7,500 credit and will expect to pay well back from the value of the car.

tl;dr: I love the SE, love EVs, but this seems like the wrong fit for you.

Now there's a different point of view about transitioning from a tuned R to an SE! Have you checked what used MINI Cooper SEs are selling for?
 
This is the wrong car for you, sorry. I have owned 3 MQB cars (2x bolted / tuned Mk7 GTI, and an S3 which is a Mk7 R), all 3 with DSG. Spent the last weekend logging about 100 miles in my friend's tuned mk7 R. We currently still have an Evo as the weekend car and I have owned near 30 tuner / performance / higher end sports cars. I love my Mini SE, and it's perfect for my life but this isn't the car you're looking to replace the R with. I also work for an auto manufacturer and drive around in 800-1,100 whp EVs daily. I've got coilovers on the way for my SE, but it's never going to be more than a quick car that can be fun in the canyons.

Additionally, if you don't have 220v/240v charging at home to charge to 100% every night, doing 100 miles in this car is going to be brutal. You are a traffic jam, hot day with AC going, or cold day away (heck, even one errand) away from having to add a charging stop every day. Yes, fast charging is widely available now. The 800v / 900v architecture cars that can accept 300+kw to charge and add 200+ miles in 30 minutes give me no fear to charge daily if need be. But the SE only can accept 50kw max charging.

Lastly, if you don't like it, you will take a huge resale hit as the used buyer cannot recoup the $7,500 credit and will expect to pay well back from the value of the car.

tl;dr: I love the SE, love EVs, but this seems like the wrong fit for you.
Thanks for your pov, but I'm not replacing the R with the SE, I'm purchasing the SE as it makes sense and works for what I need it for, and contemplating trading the R as it makes sense on paper. I have other vehicles at my disposal and was looking for insights on how the SE stacks up to the R overall, not just a purely performance comparison.

Already have a lvl2 charger ready to go and my "work" is extremely flexible and I'm never more than 10-15 miles away from home so I'm not stressing. ;-)

I disagree with resale values, they are crazy strong right now. Would I lose some money, sure, but it's not like I'd even lose 10-15% at this point. The demand is huge and outweighs supply. Shoot I'm only losing like 5k off sticker on the R for trade in and I've had it 3 years ha!
 
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I have not driven a MK7 R, but I do get a chance to drive a MK7 GTi with the sport package quite often. The VW and the Mini are both great in different ways. Obviously the 4 doors are nice if you need them, and the range is quite different. The Mini handles very well, but canyon driving in the VW with that electronic differential is sublime. VW nailed the cornering. It is seriously better than most any car out there. Don’t get me wrong the Mini does handle excellent, I think it feels a lot like 80’s VW hot hatches, which I’ve driven a lot and love. Good, just different. The VW is a better ride on the freeway. It’s just smooth and soaks up the miles in comfort. Where the mini shines is responsiveness. While DSG is smooth and fast, it’s still a mechanical transmission. After driving electric, waiting for a shift is so archaic. I drive a lot in mountain curves and I won’t ever want to get another car without one pedal driving. It’s very very good. I summary they are both excellent cars, just different in some ways.

I think the best combo would be a Mini SE for 90% of my driving and a GTI or Golf R for road trips.
 
I have not driven a MK7 R, but I do get a chance to drive a MK7 GTi with the sport package quite often. The VW and the Mini are both great in different ways. Obviously the 4 doors are nice if you need them, and the range is quite different. The Mini handles very well, but canyon driving in the VW with that electronic differential is sublime. VW nailed the cornering. It is seriously better than most any car out there. Don’t get me wrong the Mini does handle excellent, I think it feels a lot like 80’s VW hot hatches, which I’ve driven a lot and love. Good, just different. The VW is a better ride on the freeway. It’s just smooth and soaks up the miles in comfort. Where the mini shines is responsiveness. While DSG is smooth and fast, it’s still a mechanical transmission. After driving electric, waiting for a shift is so archaic. I drive a lot in mountain curves and I won’t ever want to get another car without one pedal driving. It’s very very good. I summary they are both excellent cars, just different in some ways.

I think the best combo would be a Mini SE for 90% of my driving and a GTI or Golf R for road trips.

Yea the GTI is a better direct comparison to the SE than the R being fwd as well (still different class, but better comparison) so your insight is great!

I think the one place I'd miss the R the most is the highway, even tho the stoplight acceleration is exhilarating, the highway ride is so refined for a hot hatch it's in another league. It's super comfy and adaptive cruise and lane keep makes the miles disappear. Also getting 400+ miles out of a tank...

I do not plan on taking the SE on any road trips further than it's max range. I don't mind recharging at a destination but I'm not gonna road trip it. If we have a longer destination we'll be taking another vehicle.

But I do feel like I will enjoy the SE more around town overall. The responsiveness and lack of gear changes (even tho the DSG is great) seems like it will be quite zippy.
 
Also getting 400+ miles out of a tank...
But 400 miles on a 13.2-gallon tank at $9.76/gallon = $129! At least with the R you're not sitting around eating donuts while you wait during 3 stops for the MINI Cooper SE to charge.
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Sounds like know the requirements and priorities the SE will fill for you and have realistic expectations of the SE - all good!

I don't have my SE yet, nor have I driven an R, but starting back in the day I did have a couple of WRX's, then a MKV GTI, a couple of S3's, a Macan GTS and currently a Model 3 Performance. We've also had a Cayman S and currently a Boxster S in the garage (both 981's).

As I've said before on the forum, the M3P is ridiculously, hilariously quick - and all you have to do is press the throttle at any time, as there's no launch mode on Model 3's.

However, the more power I've had - and especially with the M3P - the less time you get to use it, particularly on a public road. Before the WRX's, I had a Civic with the B16A2 VTEC engine, which made no torque and the power was of course high up in the RPM range - and that thing was great to wind out through the gears on windy roads without the speeds getting too crazy, too quickly. Sure it was great fun stepping up to a WRX, with literally double the torque at much lower RPM, it made for a much, much better road car - for traffic, etc. But in the M3P, giving the accelerator a good squeeze for more than a couple of seconds is as far as I want to push the "spirit" of the speed limit.

So in my case I'm looking forward to using more of the SE's potential, more of the time. I'm sure it will be quite sufficient for urban/suburban public roads. Instant torque is great for traffic. Sure, won't be embarrassing massive HP muscle cars or super cars off the line, but that's still only maybe 3 seconds of full throttle in the M3P at a time. It's like I've seen frequently, a lot of people say the best non-GT 911's are the base models, because you get to use more of the engine, more of the time.

*Disclaimer: I do have an R1T on order, so that kinda negates the whole more of the potential more of the time thing! But, it could be 18-24 months until it arrives, so in the meantime SE all the way.
 
What coilover brand did you get? I am hoping to have my SE at the end of the month but I ordered KW's, they will be delivered on Monday. The wheels and tires will carry over from my current Mini.
 
It is an interesting demographic that previous sport compact car owners like the SE. I bet most Chevy Bolt owners used to own a Prius. LOL

You may be surprised about Bolt owners. I own both a Bolt and an SE so I hang out in both forums. There are many sport compact enthusiasts who now own (and modify) Bolts. The lead engineer on the Bolt design is an auto cross racer and it shows up in the design.

Of course there are plenty of savvy ex-Prius drivers who now drive a Bolt because it is one of the best values in EVs.

As for me, I enjoyed it before I had the SE but I was happy to hand over the keys to my wife and step into the SE - the closest thing to ideal for me.


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