What are we talking here, the new or the old mini? The new mini (bmw) is pretty girly but an ok car I guess, I found it quite enjoyable to drive but wasn't even close to the original mini. The old mini is a pocket rocket and is a fantastic piece of kit. I used to have a limited edition John Cooper S pushing out 95bhp in a 800kg car. Seriously good fun, beautiful but quite a handful... all that power through a front wheel drive car prone to bump-steer with low-profile tyres made getting the power down a real joy. Not something for the feint hearted.
Modern cars are so smooth and so much less fun to drive I've found; you can't feel what the car is really up to. I miss having to keep the car straight and to control over/understeer on the wet windy roads. Currently I'm driving a Seat Ibiza which underneath is a VW Polo. It's a nice car: warm, smooth, predictable, but ultimately dull to drive.
didn't go down too well in the US, in fact many people haven't even heard of the old mini, but they really are sweet cars. Down a curvey country road they can really take on and beat a lot of larger cars. Of course, they have the aerodynamics of a fridge and aren't any good for motorways.straight line speed...