Here are my impressions of my MINI after a week of motoring. Maybe some of you can relate to some of my delights and gripes. And for those taking delivery soon, this may or may not be a little of what you can expect in your shiny new MINI.

Driving

• Even though I have a non-S, my MINI has a definite kick to it. I used to drive a 2002 Civic, just to add a reference. I'm finding it very hard not to go past 90 MPH during the break-in period.
• When I come off a red light, I find the car hesitates to take off at first, followed by a sudden surge of acceleration. It doesn't happen everytime, but often enough for me to notice. Not sure if this is a cause for concern, or just something I need to get used to.
• A similar thing happens when I approach a stop. At a certain speed when I am slowing down, it feels like the brakes just kick in, almost stopping for me. Weird.
• Visibility is definitely something to get used to, but it just takes a little motoring around to become acquainted with blind spots and seeing around pillars. The side mirrors are fine, but the rear view mirror is HUGE. On occaision, I have to duck around to see past it. I little bothersome, but nothing major.

Comfort

• My MINI has sport seats and they took some time to get used to. Tweaking the back rest and seat position took me the entire week to get just right, but I found the sweet spot. And lumbar support is awesome.
• And Lounge Leather is double awesome.
• There's ample room for the two front passengers, both leg room and head room. I'm 6' and with the right seat adjustment, I have an extremely comfortable ride. Can't really say that for the rear passengers.
• My non-auto AC works fine in the 85+ Southern California sunshine. Also the heater warms up the interior pretty fast. The controls for non-auto AC are a bit clunky. I wish the central **** had 5 fixed positions instead of varying degrees. It still works, but I guess I'll go auto AC on my next MINI...
• Mood lighting is sweet. I didn't know non-S Hardtops have mood lighting, so it was a pleasant surprise. It's subtle, but makes night rides super cool.

Audio

• I have an iPhone 3G and I'm quite pleased with its integration using the Y-cable. It's nowhere near perfect: Using the radio controls to navigate your music library is a chore and could've been implemented better. Despite its slowness, I still use the radio ***** to select music. Luckily, I may find a different artist/album while scrolling through the list, giving me a chance to hear something new or something I haven't heard in awhile. Gotta look for that silver lining...
• Charging my iPhone 3G was a problem. But, using the "open-door-method," I am able to charge the phone and use all of its functions while plugged into the Y-cable. Simply have the key FOB in the ignition with the door open and plug in the phone. Let the MINI recognize it and select it from the Audio menu. With the door still open and engine off, you should have a lightning bolt in the battery icon, indicating its being charged. At that point, hit the start button, close the door and motor on. I was able to replicate this everytime I tried, so hopefully this method works for you.
• The Bluetooth option for the MINI is awesome and I couldn't be more pleased. My iPhone instantly connects when I'm in the car, a completely transparent process. Taking and receiving calls is seamless with the driving experience, and the clarity on both ends is just fine (even without moving the BT mic to the driver's side). Also, the voice dialing feature is fantastic, especially with the MFSW. And on that note...
• I have a love/hate thing with the MFSW. I bought it primarily for radio controls and not cruise control. That said, it only does half the job it intends to do in terms of controlling the radio. Volume control and left/right navigation are fine and work well. But there's no button to get to the audio menu to change the source of the music. Nor is there a way of scrolling up and down, like searching the artists on an iPod. As a result, I still find myself reaching for the radio ***** every now and then, defeating the purpose and convenience of the MFSW. The phone controls and voice dialing on the MFSW are perfect, which makes me even more frustrated that they only went halfway with the radio controls. It's still a must buy for me, but it could have been a lot better. And in the end, I'm complaining about a steering wheel and I'm glad that's all I have to complain about.

All in all, I must say this – My MINI has brought back the joy of driving. I remember first getting my license and the delightful eagerness to drive anywhere and everywhere. Quickly, driving became a chore, something to do out of necessity, instead of desire. But for everyday this past week, I have had the same stupid grin on my face. Each time I step into the garage or signal for a left turn or glance back while walking away and hitting the lock button on my key FOB, I'm smiling. Seems like it'll be that way for quite some time...

 

 

Robovega,

I can totally relate to the big grin while driving feature! Thanks for the posting.

 

That's funny - my previous car is a 94 Civic EX. We're temporarily in a 3-car situation here, so I'm still driving the Honda in and out of the driveway to get to other cars. One thing I noticed right away is that my seats in the Honda are much lower to the ground. Good visibility at that height in the MINI would be impossible.

From reading other posts, this is a frequent and common topic. I find myself turning on the Sport mode as soon as I start the car. That solves the problem immediately, which would suggest that there may be ECU mods that can correct also. There are mechanical mods to make this the 'default' mode, but I probably won't do that. On day 1 I almost stalled the car a couple of times because of that momentary hesitation.


This one I haven't noticed at all...

This is an adjustment for me, too, but one that I knew I would be making by purchasing a convertible.

I think I have full-on MFSW buyer's remorse. Agreed that the audio controls seem half-baked and unfortunately, the voice dialing feature is severely limited for me (I'm assuming my phone is not entirely compatible). That said, it's a minor complaint for an otherwise awesome car.


Adding one to the minor gripe list:

• Driving at night can be a bit challenging with the headlights. They seem to be adjusted just a little further down from where they need to be (or they have some magical auto-adjust... ) Driving up a slight incline it seems like my forward visibility drops significantly. It definitely does not inspire confidence.

I do find myself making excuses to take her out for a ride. There are some beautiful, curvy places to drive here in Atlanta and when the heat of the day is gone, putting the top down and going for a drive is therapeutic. I even turn the radio off and just listen to the car. I came in last night after a drive and my wife said "How's the girlfriend?" Instead of lipstick smears on my face there should be motor oil...

 

mtubesing is right, this is a "feature" of non-sport mode. If you get used to driving this way then you won't notice it after a while. I didn't realize that sport mode made such a difference until about 3 months of driving but sport mode makes it feel more like a real accelerator.

This takes longer to get used to IMO, I still have to take extra time to make sure no one is there when I change lanes.

The MFSW is a nice feature but if you have the voice command feature (I don't know if thats default or not) then I've found its easier to just use voice commands to do different things like change tracks and folders. I don't know if this works for the ipod but I do know it works for the MP3-CD. Take the time to learn the commands and it's a huge help.

I don't know if you've got them or not but I find every time I'm driving at night I leave the fog lights on. I've been meaning to swap the headlights out for brighter ones (which will help I've heard) but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Ugh I get that all the time too! Either that or "Are you done licking your car clean now?"

 

 

I hit the Sport button for the first time and found the drive a little more jerky. I suppose I must be used to non-sport mode already. Does Sport mode have an any effect on mileage or on the engine?

Agreed on lane changing, but I guess that makes me more of a defensive driver. In my Civic, I was very nonchalant about it, almost careless when passing cars. It can be a little annoying because I find myself missing lane change opportunities, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Sadly, my MINI is not equipped with NAV, so the only voice commands I can use are for operating the phone functions. And the voice commands work so well with the phone, that I wished I had them to control the rest of the electronics in the MINI. I guess this means my next MINI will have NAV...

 

here's what the real effect seems to be for me- if i depress throttle half a centimeter with sport (literally almost just brushing it), i quickly get to 2000-2500rpms and good torque. great for starts off the line, harder to go up hills in stopngo traffic when i need to modulate clutch/throttle a bit more carefully. i turn sport mode off for that. otherwise it's always on and i believe i get the same mileage. of course, i'm still on day 5 of ownership

 

This is the Electronic Brake Assist working for you. It's on page 57 of your owners manual.

 

Great thread
I have most of the same issues as Robovega

It really took awhile to feel comfortable sitting so low. My old Tracker is about the same wheelbase but you sit a lot higher, after 4 months I feel I'm finally getting used to it.

My wife's newish Scion has a great AC and vent. The vent actually brings in cool air and I assumed this was new technology that all new cars would have.
I was very disappointed with the vent on the mini. I wish I had the AC/climate control upgrade.

 

Thanks for pointing this out. I took a look at the manual and read up on it. I guess I need to get used to braking in my MINI, because I feel the assist come on very often. From my understanding, the assist helps decrease the brake distance for hard stops, but I feel it engaging when I approach a normal stop sign or red light. Guess I have to spend more time motoring to get used to it...

And BTW, I had to really use my brakes for the first time the other day on the freeway, and the ABS and DSC kept everything tight and under control. No wiggle or shake like in my Civic during a hard stop.

Agreed on both. For short drives, the sport seats are fine, but I find myself fumbling with the seat adjustment on long commutes. And auto-AC is a must on my next MINI.