I never got asked to vote. Did any of you? I think the only people asked to vote were the assembly line workers, desperate to keep their jobs.
Hopefully MINI will mend their ways and go back to more the styling of the R53/R56...where their real fanbase is. There's nowhere near the love for the F56 as for the R53/56. Gee, I wonder why. MINI? Hello???
You guys are so biased :lol: From reading the whole thread 2 thoughts came to me: 1. MINI growth in recent years has largely been due to the SUV inspired MINI so I can't help but trust that to a degree BMW knows pretty darn well how to do good business and where the demand is. But mini size, while still a brand trade, isn't as critical as what modern drivers are looking in a car. I can't say that personally I need the car to grow any bigger but most buyers feel they do these days. 2. I too have seen the new MINI at the dealer and there's much to like about it. It does look different in real life than on a poster. I can't stand a lot of the funny stuff that's going on on the front BUT I also recognize that at a high level it is still quite a MINI looking car. Most average people won't be making that much of a distinction. And overall it's not a black and white situation (as it never is) where many aspects of the new model is quite contemporary. I just wish that black bumper cross member and brake ducs weren't so bothersome to my eyes :mad2:
Also most new MINI owners are not car enthusiast, they will never go on a rally, join a local MINI club, go on a donut run, or join a forum or mod the car at all. They are looking for a cute, trendy, good gas mileage, car to replace a Ford Expedition or Chevy Suburban.
Sorry, it ain't true. I moved up from another MINI. Been a long time member of two different MINI clubs and before that a couple of other car clubs. Been on numerous runs and I am on 4 different forums including this one. IMHO your statement doesn't add up. Although it is a great flaming on F56 owners.
Well every once in a while we get a few who trade up and stay active but most new 1st time MINI owners don't care. My opinion holds up and in fact you are a rare F56 Unicorn.
This is a good thing. While not a fan of the current car if every one of them sold keeps a big honkin SUV off the road it's great. I hope the new MINI grows on me. I've gone from OMG to meh when I see one. For me that's a positive change in my altitude. Lightwrangler- What is important is you like your MINI, not if others do. I'm glad that you are an enthusiast. It's not how many forums you belong to. M/A is the only one you really need. You can be an ambassador for the F56 here.
Can you be an F56 and a MINI enthusiast? Absolutely. There are many on here, but it is true that the highest percentage of fanatics were in the first generation (if you don't believe that, go back and read NAM from 2002-2005.). It wasn't all good, in fact there was a lot of bad that went along with the uberfanatacism, but it's the truth. The MINI community is large enough that even if the percentage of people who own an F56 who are fanatics is less than earlier generations, it's enough to keep things going, as the number of overall F56's sold will be so high--the percentage doesn't need to be that high to keep the community going. I don't like the F56, would never own one, but that's not important. An F56 owner who gets into the community, tracks, does meets, passionately defends his car, etc. is just as welcome IMHO as us R53 stalwarts. It's a natural progression of any car brand--the back and forth is similar to what's happened with BMW since the beloved E30, Porsche with the 911, etc. The back and forth gets out of hand at times, but believe it or not, it's all part of what keeps everyone active. Nate disagrees, and we have to agree to disagree... Flip side is there are many who bash the R53--not as refined, not as sophisticated an engine, less torque, cheaper interior, etc. I'm fine with that, it doesn't bother me in any way, it doesn't make me want to participate on the boards any more or less, it's simply another opinion (even if it's totally wrong). Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It's just that some of our opinions are better than others.:devil:
Actually I have the utmost respect for anyone's choice of MINI. Enjoy your ride I say. But I feel I must respond to obvious flaming on this "friendly" site. Opinions of models and cars are quite acceptable, but maligning people with sweeping generalizations due to their choice of car should be discouraged. It's not opinion at that point.
I have to admit, I also have a "big honkin SUV" (Tahoe) that my kids ride around in. This is for several reasons. First off, all three of my kids were in car seats at the same time (California has some crazy car seat laws, and I anticipate my children being in some type of car seat until they graduate college), and getting three car seats lined up on a single bench seat and having room for gear is just not going to happen. Also, I live in the land of SUV's, and if I had my way they'd be cruising in an up-armored Humvee just to ensure their safety. Now that that's out of the way, I also want to point out that my SUV gets 23mpg and is only getting better with mods. I am not saying all this to cry foul or whatever...those that know me know I am going to do what I want and not really care as long as no one else is hurt during the process.
Lies! I myself live just south of a double rainbow and saw a unicorn grazing in my neighbor's pasture yesterday (GREAT eating, by the way).
Code3_Mini we can agree to disagree on SUV's. The world went around just fine before the makers of trucks convinced most of the public a gussied up big honkin truck was a must have item.
Please Please Please pretty please add a double rainbow to this picture, remove all the text and replace it with a big "Motor On" down at the bottom. It would be the new MA header.