This car is not about the utmost of its capabilities or hundreths on a racetrack. It is a hot hatch. It is all about the fun of the drive, the driver engagement. That means it NEEDS a manual, at least as an option. Not having one is sacrilege in a JCW Mini, as much as you quitters want to drone on about modern times…

I agree. I have an 06 JCW and without a manual it would be a shadow of itself.

I drove an Abarth 500 on the Amalfi coast. No traffic, and one of the best driving trips of my life. Magic.

Yep - can stay on top of maintenance easily when the weather is not good or in the winter. Lots of downtime to replace rubber bits, fiddle with valve clearances, detail the car to an insane level, etc. I treat my Alfa very well, and in return it has never broken anything.

It is not my daily. That would be stupid. It is my summer car. In Canada. Short summers, short driving season. I still enjoy every mile driven.

No it isnt, just adding some whimsy to the conversation...that reliability issues are often overblown.

Yes, it has had no reliability issues at all. I keep up on its maintenance, which means also preemptively replacing worn rubber bits and hoses. Car has never left me stranded, never broken down. Have had to replace a bunch of parts, but that is out of old age and wear. Not issues with unreliability. Even a Lexus needs…

Defensive rage? Let’s not get all hyperbolic now.

Oh I totally agree. My 2006 Mini Cooper S has been a pile of garbage in terms of reliability. Still love it though. So there you have it.

New platform new engine new entire car. First year production, perhaps one of the first produced for NA. Ragged on by journalists. What do you expect? And the lengthy downtime is due to the horrible dealer/supply network, not really the car.

Give me the old V10 S6 any day of the week. I don’t care if it was slower. I don’t care if less efficient. I dont care if less reliable. It is better once you turn that key.

Yep fire spitting family sedans is what made me buy my Alfa Romeo 155 V6.

Well would be hard for BMW since they barely make any manuals anymore. Of course you are not seeing any. Porsche will always offer a manual, they have high take rates on their sporty models. Surprised you have not seen many. Furthermore, BMW has strayed a long way from their sports car roots...they are heavy rockets…

I drive an Alfa Romeo and a MINI JCW. Both manual. I will drive manual until I can physically no longer do so.

Get over it? No. Manuals belong on sports cars. It is all about engagement, the connection between driver and machine and the joy of driving. Automatics or pushing buttons is not driving a car. End. There is no rebuttal, there is no continuing the conversation...END.

I agree

Yes it should be. You can tell by the different exhaust setup (PRV had twin on one side, Busso was exhausts at the corners)

Alfa Romeo Busso 3.2 GTA. Or an Autodelta 3.7 or OK Tech 3.9.

What tires are these? Almost none of the serious contenders for summer performance tires are part of that pack.

Yes. 11,000times yes. This car is the reason I bought my 155 V6. Just listen to it! Although, if you want to get technical, it was only the early DTM cars (93-94) that had the Busso block, the later ones had the PRV block with Alfa heads etc. Still amazing and totally Alfa Romeo though.