Hi everyone,

I've been lurking for a few weeks, and am seriously considering a mini as a daily driver.

My situation is rather unique, and I have been trying to weigh the pro's and cons of a R53/R56, and to be quite honest, if the MINI is even a good car for me.

I know better to ask R53 or R56? and from what I understand so far:

R53- More Mods avaliable, more direct handeling
R56-More power out of the box, no Sc whine
I know there's more to it than that

But here's the real delima I have. I live at a Ski area (Breckenridge, CO). We have winter 6 months out of the year (meaning you don't see pavement in town for 4 of those months), and my daily commute would include 4 miles of dirt road a day, that can be in fairly bad shape (washboard and ruts), and sometimes it is poorly plowed in the winter.

Of course, whatever I decide on, I will want a S, with JCW, or other mods to give the most power and handeling for when I can drive some of the sweet roads we have out here. I mountain bike, so roof racks are a must

I only have room for one vheicle, and no garage, so just having one for the summer is unfortunatelly not an option. The transfer case in my 4X4 just blew, so I want to do something soon.

I'm going to go down the hill Sat to drive a few mini's new and used. If I go new, I'll custom build one.

So, am I crazy to think a MINI could handle a little abuse, and i'm not talking about the right hand turn out of the left hand lane at 50MPH kind.

Thanks in Advance, and for the wealth of info here.

 

Hi, and welcome to the board!

#1, test drive a Mni (but I think it's safe to guarantee you're gonna like it).

As for R53 vs. R56, I can't say ... the R56's turbo gives it a lot of low-end punch, and really no lag to speak of. I never did drive a R53, so I can't give you any kind of a comparison; all I can tell you is I'm very happy with the performance of the R56. Also, the R56's suspension is a little more compliant than the R53's (without compromising any of the gokartness), which may make it better suited for the abuse you're planning on throwing at it.

Ya got room in the garage for a second set of wheels?

Whichever model you go with, try to get one with limited-slip diff. If the roads are bad year-round, you'll probably want to stay with 16" wheels. And then hit the Tire rack for a set of Blizzak's on a spare set of 16" wheels for the winter. Those tires are phenomenal on snow and ice -- swap the tires twice a year and you'll never miss the 4x4.

 

Living in Breckenridge??? Lucky! I ski there with my family at least twice a year and love it! My top ski resort

From my experience, the MINI does handle incredibly well in the snow. Especially if you spec DSC. Slap on a pair of Blizzak's or other dedicated winter tires and it seems the only thing that can stop it is ground clearance. So as long as you're not having to deal with deep unplowed snow, you should be fine. But anything too treacherous and the MINI can turn itself into a snow plow.

I almost want to tell you to get an AWD vehicle given your location. But if your heart is set on a MINI, I say go for it! Definitely one of the better performing 2WD vehicles out there when it comes to snow.

 

Hi, and welcome.
Let me start off by saying that I'm on my 3rd MINI. I really love these things and usually won't hesitate to sell their virtues. Usually. For your situation (and I'm going to hate myself for saying this) you need to be looking at a Subaru AWD. 3-4 inches of unplowed snow will bring your day to a screeching halt in a MINI. Snow tires or not, once you start pushing snow with the air dam, your forward progress is measured in inches.
Sorry to be so negative, but I'd hate for your experience with the MINI to be soured by getting stuck all of the time.
As to the rough road issue: MINI suspensions, like those from BMW, are designed to do one thing and do it exceedingly well. All sorts of wonderfulness in their element. When you start throwing things at them that they weren't designed for, well, things get all wonky in a big hurry.
8 miles of bad road daily? You can look forward to premature failure of tie rods and control arms, deforming of strut towers and a host of other issues, none of which would be covered by warranty.
Again, sorry to be Negative Ned, but with your unique circumstances, you really need to be thinking AWD with some ground clearance and a stout suspension. Save the MINI for when your circumstances change.

 

To start, I've seen several Minis in Breck, and 2 in telluride, so they can handle snow... one in Telluride was a heavily modded R53... and yes it was winter time.

From personally experience, the car is great in the snow (I have an R53) with a good set of winter tires...

As for bad roads? are we talking holes that will swallow a car bad? or just some broken pavement?

A little broken pavement won't kill the car, but more rattles will show up... but if your talking 6"+ holes, mud roads in May, and more than 7" of unplowed snow... I'd not get a mini, as much as I love mine. If you drive after the roads are cleared, no issue here... I've driven through 4+" on my way home already (with 215/40/17 Hakka's)
"normal" washboard roads of your area should be OK, as long as you don't have the 17 or 18" rims and dump the run-flats ASAP to help with ride... but you will hear more squeaks and rattles (dashboard, sunroof....) over time...

In general, I had a choice between an R56 and an R53 and took the R53... go for a test drive of both...
I love the hatch and can haul more than my wife with her BMW325...
you'll probably need a rack for you skis/board if you plan on carrying anyone in the car with you though.

HTH...

 

Thanks for the input.

I'm going to go to Denver and hopefully drive a R56 and R53.

NMGokart- 4 Miles total of dirt road. And I won't be rally racing them, it's just from my house to the pavement. Of course I'll drive around any holes, etc.

Jakay11-I've seen a few on occasion here too, but I think they are out of towners. The road from town to my house is all dirt, and usually in pretty good shape in the summer, with washboard here and there. There are some huge holes and frost heaves that occur every summer, but easily driven around. 7" of unplowed snow, i'm on the mountain, not in my car! I already know I don't want the runflats, and will get a second set of wheels so I can easily do a winter/summer swap.

Curious, why would you choose the R35 over the R56?

I was just in Morristown over Thanksgiving. My uncle lives on the road that leads to the Great Swamp.

Thanks all for the replys

 

R53 vs R56 - drive both and then decide. The differences in the two appeal to different people for completely different reasons and I honestly don't think there's any way to predict which one anyone would like better.

I wonder if it's possible to put one of those little plows you see on 4-wheelers on a MINI.....?

 

As a former Vermonter, I'd suggest you get an AWD. Even a great front wheel drive car can't compare to 4WD/AWD. How about a BMW 3 series? Or WRX.