Well today was meet your old fart buddy at MAG day. While waiting for him to get there I had a nice chat with Chad the MA. Nice fellow, enjoyable conversation, if you are going to buy a MINI or a countryguy buy it from him. I had not planned to drive a new MINI today, but since Jeff was running a bit late I said to Chad get me some keys. Jeff showed up just in time to experience the 3 cylinders of furry on the test drive. :arf: I really wanted to like it, I really did. :yesnod: For me lots of oddness when compared to my much loved R53 or our R55. The only things that felt correct were the steering wheel & the peddles. Don't understand all the change for the sake of change. Controls that require you to take your eyes off the road are stupid. The car while supposedly larger on the inside did not feel that way. My right arm was against the door & felt like the door was too close. Maybe the door is thicker for side impact protection?? The roof felt lower too, but that is probably due to higher door/window sills. The R53 & R56 feel much airier in the cockpit. The sport seats are very nice & hold on very well. Skinny guys may flop around a bit. :wink: The Cooper I drove was an automagic. It actually felt good & up to the job when in sport mode. I know it is the same box of cogs, clutches, valves & widgets as Babs clubster auto, but the feel was totally different & better. In any mode other than sport mode, the 3 felt under powered to me. I'd say that's because the others are fuel sippers. And no it is not as fast as an R53, but it isn't slow. There is an interesting growl to the exhaust, whether it is the engines sound or a soundtrack played through the radio I don't know. Handling felt rather so so to me. Not terrible by any means, but softer that our justa clubster, which is pretty soft. Does not compare to the R53, although mine is modded a wee bit. I'm sure the after market will have parts to fix this shortcoming pretty soon. The brakes felt pretty good. I'm wondering if they upped the brake size or it is the usual oem pad with loads of initial bite & no staying power. The start stop was enabled & like it says when you stop it stops. It seemed to work OK & I'm sure it saves gas. Unlike old cars I've had with auto stop this one restarted every time when it was time to go. Other than the tach falling to zero & the shudder when it restarts it is pretty seamless. I do wonder how the battery & starter will handle a bunch of start stop driving. May be best to turn that off when stuck in traffic. I'm not going to do a styling critique, but will say yes it is bigger & boy did MINI really screw the pooch with this one. In my eyes it does not look better in person, but it does look better than the construction equipment yellow MCS they had. I could live with an odd quirky looking car, I drive a MINI after all. But I don't like the inside either, so there'd be no joy for me. The personality has been removed by BMW. :frown2: Thumbs up on the drive-train & thumbs down for the rest. I hope to keep my MINI for a long time, but when the time comes I'll be buying another fun car. Could be another used current MINI, but the Bigger Newer New MINI is not on my list. GTI Focus ST Fiesta ST AMC Pacer Racer Now onto more important things. The fried baloney at the G&R was delicious & I had fun driving the back roads. More pictures here>>>> 3-28-2014 F'n56 - crashton
Those are only my opinions & to many they aren't worth shirt. Lots of folks will love them new newer bigger MINIs, no accounting for tastes your know. After all Babs loves me, so what does that say about her? ut:
Ok my review: Look at the top picture then look at the bottom. Do you see the ugly now in picture #1? Now look at picture # 2 the just make you smile. I would take either one the cars below all day long.
That hood was sooo long! Chuck couldn't get over that as he drove. He and I are fairly big guys and we were wearing winter coats. We were squeezed in pretty good. I REALLY think the front snout is butt ugly, and WTF is that black piece of crap even doing there? For a 3 cyl., though, it accelerated well and it IS quick, though not an S...probably due to its being a lot lighter than an S. The one we drove was pretty much loaded but it did not have leather seats. For me, I can find other ways to spend over $29k than on a Justa. I don't even want to think how much a new MCS would cost in that respect...and a JCW? Forget it!!:frown2:
OK, two GOOD reviews and one, half BAD. Still up by two, with one 1/2. Crash had the worst review, but he is a die hard R53 guy, so I only count it has half. I'm keeping score.
Well I could go test drive one with a bunch of other R53 guys and even the score easy. :devil: The only problem is I would want to crash it into a tree just to test the new front end.:ihih::lol:
Good to know. Can't understand why the S needs one. Seems adding an extra cylinder would make it sound good with no need for paux engine sounds. Jim you are tough. I only get 1/2 credit for my essay. :wink:
HUH? Speak English...well, at least write in something understandable!ut: Jim, have you been sampling your family's hooch again as you type on here?
Because that engine is so quiet (or in MotoringFile speak, "refined"). It's what buyers expect from the BMW models that use it.
Thanks for the review I am going to buzz by MAG this weekend to see them in person. The tach reduced to the size of a postage stamp.....I rarely hear people mention that. Perhaps on the surface it seems like a small thing but IMO, it's indicative of where they are taking this car, and who they are building it for now-it's not us driving enthusiasts, that's for sure. Enhanced engine sounds on the S model via speakers? Yes, I know other cars now have this, but that doesn't mean they should. I remember in 1987 when I bought a Mazda RX-7 Turbo II, it had a gigantic tach right in the middle of the cluster, and a much smaller speedo next to it. The sales person said at the time he had no idea why they made such a large gauge just to indicate "what the engine was doing"....... So glad I was able to see the final incarnation of the F56, and was able to choose whether to get an R56 or not before they are history. I had the same experience when the C6 came on the scene and I selected an outgoing C5 instead. In both of these cases I am very pleased with my choice !