My 3-day MINI F56 Justa Cooper Test Drive - The End One of these is faster than the other one, even in the Sport mode. In the interest of science, all of my travels today were in the Green mode. I believe this qualifies me for entrance to Heaven when the time comes. Almost all of the miles were around town at 25-35 mph, with a couple of miles at 55 because I had to. I even ventured downtown at the height of the lunch hour, just to experience extreme stop-and-go traffic. (Crawl…brake…shudder…stop...green circle…release brake...shudder...green flash...crawl...) :frown2: The average mpg today was 33.4, which is about 3 more than I get with my R56 JCW in the same circumstances. I expect that should increase for the F56 as break-in continues. BTW, the average speed was a screamin' 24.7 mph. I guess my bottom line on the F56 Justa is that it's a fine choice for someone who wants an economical new appliance that's cute, gets good gas mileage and has a little bit of fun-to-drive built in. If you value the driving experience, you'll have to consider the sport suspension or the adjustable shocks, along with new tires and sport seats. But then you're pushing into S territory, which sort of defeats the purpose of the Economy First mantra. Other observations: The base seats are flat and not very comfortable for more than a few miles. (The seatback pushed relentlessly on my lower back.) In addition, the leatherette black material quickly heats up and starts sticking to you, even in 70-degree temperatures. So make sure you try a longish drive; I'd go for the cloth option or the sport seats. At the limit, the F56 Justa is pretty neutral and is going to be a safe ride for most owners. I really expected more understeer. However, as with a lot of econo-tires, these let go without much scrubbing or warning (sometimes front end and sometimes rear end) - sort of like hitting a patch of black ice. An unskilled driver who overcooks it on a freeway ramp soon will be looking up at the road from the ditch, wondering, "What's the road doing up there?" OTOH, a stripped F56 Justa set up the right way might be pretty competitive autocrossing in G or H Stock (wherever SCCA classes it). Read the manual. The Auto Start/Stop feature can be defeated in many ways, which I found comforting on the Interstate when the right lane was completely backed up and stopped because of the exit ahead. The center lane (where I was) wasn't moving, because it's more interesting to gape at stopped vehicles than it is to drive - and the traffic in the left lane was tooling by at 65 or so. Sitting "dead" on the Interstate in that situation is a little uncomfortable. I also learned today at a stoplight that hitting the horn (and the resulting slight movement of the steering wheel, I guess) causes the engine to restart when the driver of the car in front of you thinks green means text.:incazzato: Yes, there is a temperature gauge. It knows when the engine is cold (Duh!) and then disappears when the engine reaches normal operating temperature (What?). When you blow a coolant hose, smash the radiator or otherwise cook the engine, another light comes on to tell you something steamy and expensive has just happened. Read the manual. One time I parked the car, turned off the engine, opened the door and the engine restarted. When you start the car, you push the red Start/Stop button with a foot on the brake. When you park the car, you push the Start/Stop button twice - with your foot off the brake. This feels like an unnatural act to me. Did I mention you should read the manual? One time I shut off the car, opened the door and the horn started blowing. Crap. Let's see - Hit the door lock button on the fob? Nope. Hit the door unlock button on the fob? Guess again. Get back in the car and hit the Start/Stop button once? Uh-uh. Hit the Start/Stop button a second time? HONK-HONK-HONK! #?%+! Jiggle the shift lever, foot on the brake and hit the Start/Stop button one more time? Success! All I can figure out is that the shift lever wasn't quite all the way into Park, so the car was telling me LOUDLY that maybe I'm not always as smart as I think I am. A few minutes later at the gas station, it happened again, after the car was shut down and I was several feet away. BEEP...BEEP...BEEP! WTF? Turns out it was a work truck backing in behind me, with the loudest reverse warning beeper I've ever heard. This car is getting to me. :crazy: And that's where I'll leave this tale. An F56 Justa Cooper will not find it's way into my garage. IMHO, it has too many distracting, expensive and potentially dangerous "features" I never could live with. It's time to simplify, MINI - or at least offer some new MINIs without all the silliness. I don't care what you say. A new MINI is still, well, mini.
Nice job Spa! very entertaining writing style you have.... Hope your JCW is ship-shape and ready to go..
Entertaining read..... Could take a while to get used to for sure.... Some vendor is going to make a ton of money reprogramming the F56 at the Dragon..... Lots if opportunities.... Thanks for the post...
The way all the systems on the car are integrated, it's going to be a real challenge. I mean, really - who thought of putting the oil level function in the radio??? :frown2:
I'm afraid we are going to find this level of nanny in all cars in the very near future. For some reason keeping it simple is no longer the watchword.
The same guy who PRICED the cost of the upgraded stereo!! Now it is impossible to rip it out (without sone serious work) and install an aftermarket system for less than the upgraded OEM... I think they don't want folks messing with the wiring, etc....bet the computers are gonna be MUCH more locked down. Interesting to hear the mpg was such a small increase, even dropping a cylinder and adding a turbo....but nobody ever said a mini was aerodynamic....so I'm guessing it can't get much better without lowering the windshield (make it less vertical)....guess they are saving that for gen4.....
^^^ Zippy, I really don't know how you could install an aftermarket radio and maintain all the functions built into the OEM one. The size of the market is way too small for even a company like Sony or Alpine to go to the trouble of figuring out how to integrate all the MINI systems into their radios. :frown2:
Who cares about replacing the radio..... it just a receiver / controller leave it in the dash. To upgrade any OEM integrated radio is very easy now. You keep the factory radio and use a product like JL Audio makes called the "Clean Sweep". I had one in my old Maxima with a Bose HU ( Head unit / Radio) and speakers. I took the Bose system out and just used the wires into the doors from the HU area. You wire only your speaker output into it and it provides you with a digital DSP and 2 RCA lines for aftermarket amps. Even with the HK system you can upgrade to all the power you want and replace the OEM or HK speakers and quality separates and a sub if you want. The only limit is your wallet. Below is copied from JL Audio site: DSP-based solution that permits almost any factory-installed audio system to serve as the source for a high-performance aftermarket sound system. Unlike primitive line-output converters that only reduce the level of factory audio signals, the CleanSweep® CL441dsp employs a powerful DSP (Digital Signal Processor) to automatically analyze the frequency response of a full-range factory audio signal and then applies 30 bands of powerful equalization to each channel. This counteracts any factory equalization and provides a clean, flat signal for your aftermarket amplifiers and speaker systems to sound their best. You can use your factory volume control(s) or the included Master Volume control when listening to the factory source unit. Oh and yes it has an iPod input also. :devil: Read more below but its a great product and not just a cheap a$$ line converter. Car Audio - OEM Interface - OEM Integration
A lot of people do, and that's why it's such a big part of the aftermarket industry. The output (amplification/speakers etc) is only one part of the system. People may want a higher quality audio source, or better smartphone integration, or a slideout screen with GPS, etc.
Heard a radio add for then gen3 cooper.... They are running lease deals for $239 a months... Guess there must be a few on the lots unsold...
Just buy the car with Navi in the radio because after all it's just an audio source. No Aftermarket radio has a good signal source period. Don't believe the marketing hype as I have competed in IASCA for years and the output voltage is what matters. Every radio even Alpine, Kenwood and all the others including the Pre-amp only Eclipse with 4.3 volts I had all need line drivers to up the voltage to lower the noise floor and DSP to clean and balance the signal. Not to mention nobody will want to breaking and steal your radio because it's stock. Also nobody will be able to tell you have a system unless you stick the silly "steal me" audio advertising stickers all over your car. I had well over 6G's in a system and my car looked stock. My current system is nice but not 6g's, maybe half that. As for Smart phone integration personally I think people should put them in the glovebox and concentrate on driving. I don't care if it's hands free and all that crap because people on the phone cause accidents so any argument saying they don't is complete BS. I hope they pass a law and make the phone manufactures disable cell service if the GPS in the phone detects the phone moving faster than a human can.
One more thing about making it impossible to change a head unit.... Now that some versions of the mini use the speakers to add engine sound to "enhance" the driving experience....bet you would loose that with any change.... So adding a basic function to it makes one think REALLY HARD before ripping it out.... Still... I cannot wait for the first thread on NAM.... I YANKED MY RADIO OUT...installed xxxxxxx....how can I check my oil?!...or rather...my motor blew up..the dealer says I had no oil?!
Over my life I've ordered 3 cars with factory radio delete option, then installed medium high line audio systems. Never got the money back out of them at resale, and one car was broken into for part of a system. Doubt any manufacturer offers an order option for factory radio delete any more. Since my hearing isn't what it used to be, factory system sounds pretty good to me now, and with the IPod hook up, there's more music than I can listen too on any trip.
Me too - but having to use a ridiculously priced cable to make it happen every time you want to listen to music or a podcast in a MINI is a pain, although with an iPhone you still can make and receive calls through the radio via Bluetooth.