To save money we didn't plan to go elsewhere during the Christmas week, plus the fact I had a Philosophy paper due on the Christmas Eve. I called AVIS HK on Monday (21st) to ask about the Christmas special discount package on convertible rental. We had planned on a special week in HK with two new convertibles in our ownership. It was the Mini that we wanted for the whole week but AVIS needed the car back for a wedding need from another customer. AVIS counter-offered a almost brand new (2 months old) yellow 2008 VW Beetle Convertible and a slight further discount on the weekly rate. The deal was on! We had planned a lot of places, both places to go and places to eat during the whole week. The weather has been nice in Hong Kong during the time of the year ranging from 15C to 22C, with sunny sky and easy breeze.
When we picked up the Mini, it was an exciting as it were like receiving an ownership of a brand new car. I haven't had this refreshing feeling for many years. And two pseudo-ownership takeover experiences within one week are pretty damned good. The 10-month old 2008 red color Mini was in excellent condition, especially the body work. Quickly we dropped the top and drove away after signing off some papers. We put the Mini (and the Beetle) into good use, we not only drove them into both new places and our favorite places, but also invited our friends and relatives to enjoy the ride and to drive. Utilization level has been extremely high and both convertibles were not spending much time in our parking. Our Max also enjoyed the breeze in the air, sticking its head out of the car to catch the fast moving air with its full light blond hair blowing back.
The Beetle is a mechanically more refined convertible of the two. With the roof up the Beetle is refined and quiet while the Mini reminds you that it is still a convertible with the roof up. In terms of power the 1.6L (120ps) of Mini has more pep than the quiet and restrained 2.0L (115ps) of the Beetle. Mini has the CVT gearbox with 5 "preset" speed ratios while the Beetle has the 6-speed Steptronic. In terms of steering and cornering response the Beetle is always opposite of the Mini. The Beetle has fine damping and ride quality where the 4-wheel-at-the-4-corner Mini has stubborn and overly heavy steering at the slow speed and the damping of the Mini was quite poor in my view. Mini will bottom out if the driver is not being careful. It will crash its front with dips. I am a bit surprised this could happen to one of the best selling hip cars BMW builds.
The Beetle shares over 70% of the touch and feel of a Golf. The chassis is stiff, steering accurate, with moderated steering feel and weight. I think the steering of the Mini was done excessively to show the go-kart feel. Once the Mini is on the move, it will hub the curves at the right speed and very responsive and fun to drive. The 100kg heavier Beetle feels obviously like a bigger and heavier car in comparison, but with its exception refined ride its handling does not pale compared to the Mini.
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