Friday, April 11, 2008

MINI Cooper Clubman S Order CANCELLED

Earlier this week I cancelled my aforementioned Clubman S order.  I was getting too wiggy about whether I wanted the S or the base model (horsepower -vs- mileage).

The folks at Northwest MINI were cordial and professional, immediately mailing me a check for the $500 deposit I had left.

Monday, April 7, 2008

MINI Cooper S has 60% Power Advantage

In deliberating between a MINI Cooper and a MINI Cooper S, you might wonder just how much more power the S is really going to deliver. For acceleration, what counts is the torque delivered to the wheels given a particular engine RPM. I figure the sweet spot for every day motoring is in the 2,000-3,000 RPM range, where the S has an advantage that ranges from 70% at the low end to 60% at the high. This is what leads people to say they have to shift their S a lot less. When they find themselves at a lower RPM they can just hit the gas and accelerate up to a higher RPM and so more power.



Next, I need to do the same graph for each gear, expressed as power advantage over speed.