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Avenue of the Giants Weekend Run - Sat. March 23, 2024

Saturday will be a very full day of cruising from Novato up through the Avenue of the Giants and ending at Eel River Brewing in Fortuna. Sun...

Autoweek's Review Notes On The 2015 MINI Cooper S Hardtop

Autoweek's staff provides their review notes on the 2015 MCS. They include some discouraging comments, such as:
. . . The steering, on the other hand, is heavy without a lot of feel. It’s not super direct, either -- probably better than most cars on the road, but I want a Mini to feel like a go-kart.

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. . . Maybe the price is immaterial because everyone simply leases these things. But for me, this is awfully rich for an admittedly decent front-driving compact that leans heavily on style to make a case for its existence.

. . . Would the Mini be my choice in the mid-$30K price range? Not necessarily, but viewed from the perspective of, say, a single person or empty nester considering a perfectly nice loaded Fusion or even a Mercedes-Benz CLA/Audi A3, it begins to make a lot more sense. The Mini has a ton more personality than any of those options, and it’s a better driver than any of the entry-level German cars (setting aside the fact that the Mini IS an entry-level German car). . . .