Did your Mini dealer offer any special activities for its Bloody Original F56 Launch Event, or was it just wine and cheese (or donuts) and MAs milling around? How was the attendance? Did you drive an F56?
This one is going on this Saturday https://www.facebook.com/pages/MINI-of-Allentown/451356001603296?id=451356001603296&sk=events
This is a good topic, I was curious what happens in those things. The one here happens this Saturday but I have other plans.
MAG stepped up with some great food. I really like the seats. I be on the look out for a scrapped one to get them. The inside isn't bad. But it has one of my biggest pet peeves, the steering wheel isn't centered with the seat. It's off to the left.
We had a party on Friday night ...It was a great time ... Plenty of food , plenty of adult beverages....and of course the NEW F56 was the star of the show.
Did anyone go to the one at MAG on Sat? I was thinking about rolling out to it, and donuts of course, but the fiance distracted me, if you know what I mean.
MINI STL put on a nice event for their F56 launch on Saturday, 4/19, very well done. Local classic rock station did an on-site broadcast, and they'd invited several local food vendors to bring in their mobile units to provide lunch/snacks for us. Along with short drives of the new cars, of course! I took out their lightly-optioned Cooper first, with an auto trans. I was really impressed, this car had remarkable zoom compared to a R56 with auto, nice growl. Interior is a major upgrade from the Gen2, I see what everyone has been talking about. Also, the 3-cyl soundtrack is appealing when hustling, I had a blast with it on just the short drive. I thought it had a good balance of bump compliance and handling sharpness, it still felt like a MINI but without the harshness (sport suspension on mine, along with NM springs, so it's a tad stiff). Drove a Cooper S next, also fairly lightly equipped, also an auto. I'd have no complaints driving this car every day ( I commute 75 miles roundtrip, into / out of downtown traffic). Upshifts / manual shifts were pretty much bang-bang like you'd want, the new 4-cyl providing a lot of gusto. If it gives up anything to my JCW-tuned MCS I'd doubt it would be much. The route included a couple of traffic circles, and this car did lean more than mine, but it was standard suspension, not sport, not dynamic dampers. The auto does change behavior with sport/mid/green, I tried a few blocks in "green' and loathed it, like driving through quicksand since it was grabbing the highest gear it could stand as quickly as possible. Both cars felt nimble, quick, "like a MINI" to me. Just a bit more resilient, and much quieter over bumps and irregularities. I'd think they'll sell a lot of Coopers for sure, they're still very distinctive with a MINI feel but the ride is not such a departure from similar-sized choices. Had nice chats with several club members, my Motoring Advisor and his buds, on a 68-degree sunny day. All-in-all, a nice way to spend a couple of hours!
At the MINI of Des Moines event, they cleared all vehicles out of the showroom and served beverages and food from an English pub. At the appointed time, they opened the doors and in drove a '64 Mini Woody Wagon followed by a '14 F56 Cooper S. The salespeople were dressed in clothes from the 60s, and a couple of them talked briefly about the features of the new MINI. About halfway through the event, they asked everyone to put up their hands if they didn't have anything else to do the rest of the night and drew a winner for two tickets to the opening night of a Broadway show - plus being able to drive the Cooper S in the showroom to the event. (I asked the manager if I could enter the drawing, skip the show and just put about 800 miles on the F56, but he didn't think that was a good idea.) :ihih: Instead, I declared myself the Earl of Upshift, so the night ended well. Next time, I'm going for Viscount of Velocity. Being a royal suits me, I think. :biggrin5:
Given the comments about "what event?" I see posted it's no wonder that Mini sales are off. There aren't enough dealerships selling them. Look at all the comments about a dealership being over an hour away. Where I currently live on Long Island I do have two dealerships within an hour's drive (traffic here is a pain!!) but where I plan on retiring in a few years the closest one will be over an hour away at turnpike speeds. Not exactly inspiring, especially since the nearest BMW dealer at that location is about 3 miles away. Gotta wonder about the corporate mind.
I think we had nine cars there on Saturday. Nice event and they were busy. Good time to show off their new building too.
Cool. One of these donut Saturdays, I'm going to drag my ass out of bed early enough to actually join you guys.