3rd Gen F56 Cooper S My thoughts on the F56

AAAH...the Dragon. This year I WILL be prepared. I am planning on taking at least 2 dz pr of underwear...

 

When (like what year, century) will the bitchin' about the F56 stop. I'm just wondering because after a year of it I thought it would have slowed down by now. I've finally become immune to it just like I did being fat and old.

 

Remember folks take your meds. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. This helps me a lot..... :yesnod:

 

I'm with ya there Chuck. The Beemer driver on the other end of the minor prang we were in yesterday could stand to swallow one of those cool look'n pills. Yah, hells bells, we suffered that minor flesh wound, pounded the front bumper and brackets back to respectable and won today.

All that crapola and not even a thought of how that new MINI looks..... :lol:

 

Fun thread, I read it almost twice. :beer

What each successive generation of Mini and MINI seems to come down to is acceptance of diversity. If you're a myopic idealist with no tolerance for others opinions that differ from your own, the car you don't own will intrinsically offend your "deeply held religious beliefs" and you'll create a bubble of authenticity around your experiences to reinforce your position without regard for logic, compassion, or perspective.

That sort of foaming-at-the-mouth insanity definitely makes you "right" in your own mind, and a total lunatic to the rest of the community.

When I hear people comment that the R53 is the "most hardcore", they're absolutely correct with regards to specific metrics. Is that all that matters; are we reduced to a rooster comparing contest just like at a muscle-car meet? How about what matters to each as individuals? Some of us need our ears bleeding to feel alive, others want maximum lateral grip, others want the most Powahhhh, and maybe some of us have a modicum of modesty and want a civilized package that also delivers the well-rounded goods. Who's "wins"? If you're that foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic, everyone loses.



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That is a great analogy Ryephile! I can't resist adding this... It has very little to do with the evolution of the Mini, rather it pertains more to the evolution of a Mini owner.

I've been a loyal BMW owner since I bought my '71 2002 back in 1975. I completely enjoyed that car for 12 years, have missed it terribly since I sold it, and have owned at least six more Beemers since (again loving every one of them). I became a MINI owner about six years ago and Mini owner a couple years after that. Now, all that said, after having entered the British car arena, I maintained my love for the BMW, owning one until just two months ago when we opted to replace our 5-Series with a new Jaguar XF. Why you ask...? I'm not sure, other than to say I loved what I saw in the lines and amenities the Jag had to offer, while the new 5-Series appeared to be relatively unchanged, thereby rendering it undesirable. The Jag is a great car and we love this new chapter in our car ownership lives.

Now, back to the MINI/Mini side of things. Remember I do have a pretty profound BMW allegiance. Mostly that is, until most recently, as I've struggled to maintain my love for the 2002 because of my current devotion to the competitive nature found in the Vintage Racing world. We very often find ourselves matched with these 2002 guys, who quite often have modified their cars by lightening an already more powerful machine with all the fiberglass parts to be found, all the while punching the motors out to at least 2300cc. Given that there is at least a 1000cc advantage for them, I find it odd that we can still beat a few of them (and they have serious issues with that). Those guys are a funny bunch that don't like racing us much and I'm guessing the sanctioning body we run with on occasion will figure out how to best appease them. I've attached a picture from two years ago that kind'a speaks for itself.

Thanks for the hijack... Now, back to Roger's thread.

 

Who'da thunk it? Two weeks after I posted this I was driving/owning one. So far I'm mostly happy with it. I still don't like the window switches on the doors though. Love the interior, but am still confused by that big round computer thingy where the speedo's supposed to be. I really liked the xenon headlights on my R56, but I Love the LED headlights on my F56. Already started modding it so it remains to be seen how bad I can screw it up.:cornut:

 

I'm really tempted to sell the Danger and pick up a F56 Justa as a daily driver.

Maybe after the new year.

 

I think the new Mini is butt ugly. Long snout and a widened rear end. It looks like a vacuum cleaner. The engine may be an "upgrade" to prior mini's but if all the car has going for it is an engine it will be VERY short lived. Even the JCW looks awful... But then again R53 fans say the R56 looks awful.. I disagree but still..
Motor On!

 

The looks are subjective, but I can say that the folks I know who have them like them every bit as much as the early car owners like theirs......and quite a few of my friends who currently own an F56 have owned R50's, R53's and R56's......

My point is, it's still a MINI......

I'm sure back in the day when the MkI and MkII morphed into the later versions there were those who bemoaned the larger square taillights and lack of moustache grill s too.

And no one loved the Clubman! But they still sold a bunch of them and people now have come to like them.

 

Of course the people who buy the F56 love them. They bought them after all. Shouldn't matter what others think, buy & drive what you like. :yesnod: It is sort of a shame F56 owners stay away from here in droves. Yes I am to blame like others. I've been shown the error of my way & now think they are quite interesting. As Minidave says "yes it is still a MINI".

Me thinks it is the internet that makes it so easy to criticize anything & everything. See just like how I'm criticizing the the internet now. :smile5:

 

I'm guessing the look will change, it going to have to, they've made too many fundamental changes to the car and tried to cram it into the original look, and it's just not working anymore. The R56 was the transition point, it was close enough to the R53 that the reality is most people couldn't tell the difference. The F56 is a bridge too far.

I'd love to see a "tiny" MINI that keeps getting hinted at. Otherwise, MINI is going to follow the Porsche and now Lamorghini model of larger vehicles and SUVs to keep the brand profitable. Who'd a thunk 25 years ago Porsche would be making the majority of their profits off of an SUV...

I've come around to Stephenson's wish, that MINI would go for a radical departure from the current design. It's probably the only reasonable way to go at this point.

 

Not just like them, like them as much or more as their old R50, R53 and R56.....

I think F56 owners should get their own forum, then they can criticize those old fogey stuck in the past R50, R53 owners! :biggrin5:

That little blue electric roadster with the fin up the back shows how radical they can go and still have it be recognizable as part of the MINI family.

The thing that bothers me more than the looks is how they keep jacking the price up.......small BMW indeed. In fact, they're knocking on the door of BMW prices already......

 

Dave, on the whole, the F56 crowd is a different one that got on board with the original 2002. Not to say that there isn't overlap, but it's a different crowd with different priorities.

Heck, they should just come here and criticize us, I'm totally fine with that. If they're gonna be wrong, might as well be wrong here.

 

Being relatively new here, I didn't know this was the case.

Is it an unfriendly reception here? (not that I've really picked up on, other than this thread)

Or... has the MINI become so blandly mainstream that some of the owners of newer MINIs don't have any real enthusiasm for their cars as being MINIs?

 

Combination of both. There is a concerted effort to be more friendly to the F56 crowd, it kinda sorta got personal and out of hand.

Nate gets pissed when I say it, it's the car, not the driver that many of us just don't like. I don't like the F56, but it doesn't mean I won't like the owners. Same thing happened with the R56, I'm not a huge fan, I chose a late R53 versus waiting for a new R56 and I'm glad I did, but there are many R56 owners I get along with better than some of the R53 owners. Again, it's the driver, not the car that's most important on MA. If you've got an F56 and love it, it doesn't really matter what I think, and if you're enthusiastic about it, and want to mod it or be part of the community, by all means jump in and enjoy yourself.

The MINI has become more refined and practical, and that's swollen the F56 crowd with refined and practical people, the antithesis of the initial crowd. That's not to say there still aren't F56 owners that are goofballs and illogically passionate like the rest of us, it's just that they're are smaller percentage of the group than say R53 or R56 buyers. But if you're one of the lunatics, join in and knock yourself out!

Given you have an Austin MINI, I'm guessing you're just as disturbed as the rest of us, welcome....