JCW Mini and make passengers walk!
As fast as the JCW is, the Mini is still a lasses car with a Fisherprice dashboard. I feel a little less of a girl driving the A1. Wish the missus had got the Polo GTI I was pushing her towards. 
As small as it might appear to chest beating alpha males I'd never label JCW MINIs as girlie girl cars.
Standard MINIs maybe, but the JCW is pretty hardcore and I know a guy (yes, a real man with wife and kids to prove it) who has one with an optional exhaust that's proper loud pure comedy to listen to.
A1s are girls cars, S1s less so and Polo GTIs I'm on the fence about.
JCWs are definitely in petrol head territory, they're a bit too uncompromising for girlie girls.
I've spent a bit of time this last week or so getting up close and personal with a new Merc A180 2.1 Diesel, a Focus (Black Line?) 1.5 petrol, a hired M135i and a colleague's brand new MINI Cooper D.
I appreciate to a Duplo Enthusiast that there might be a bit of brand rivalry with Fisher Price dashboards but all I can say is the new MINI is great with its (optional) head up display and fancy sound system from the Tech pack. The 1.5 Diesel goes really well and sounds quite good too plus it has a turning circle mk7 Golfs can but dream of.
Get in the interior of the Merc (nice tombstone seats aside), Focus and my Golf and they're all much of a muchness. Slightly different plastics and cloth but everything else similar in all three, down to dimensions and colour scheme.
The M135i felt well screwed together but I don't really like the interior.
You can't help but love that engine though.
Get in the MINI and you can't mistake it for anything else. Especially if you have to get in the back!!
But the MINI is fun to drive in ways other modern cars aren't.
The Merc, Focus and my Golf all feel very bland in comparison. The 135i is more interesting to drive but despite the prodigious low speed torque it seems to need to be wound up a bit to make decent progress. Maybe it's the 20 speed auto gearbox that makes it feel that way when you're using low revs despite a really low torque peak? Great fun car though (but I still prefer getting back in my Golf after a stint behind the wheel in the 135i and I can't put my finger on the reason why).
Oh, and what did I do to my Mk7 today?
Wheeled it out of the garage for the first time in over a week and a half, washed it, dried it, and wheeled it back in again. I don't use it anymore because I have a different toy now. A third of the power of the R, but three times as much FUN to drive!
Anyway, I'll leave you all to discuss flipping CSS's and how much money you're going to make and retire to a MINI forum to discuss make-up tips and household cleaning solutions...
