Straight swap?

 

That's a dirty lie!

 

The 2013 cup holders really are not all that great either

 

I still keep trying to roll down my widows with the traction control toggle .. Argh!

 

I'm glad they made those changes in the 2013, but it does me no good.

 

But are they just a little bit larger so that they can hold a water bottle or larger cup of coffee?

 

They're a little bit larger and they have rubber tabs so you can actually get a Styrofoam cup in without puncturing it. I didn't really care about the size, but the spring loaded clips in 2011-2012 were a terrible design.

Size wise, the new ones will hold a half liter nalgene bottle.

 

I'm a new Mini CM fan, and I've been pretty obsessed for the last couple of weeks. I've been researching and lurking like crazy.

Can someone tell me about the new clutch for the 2013 or 14's? Is it a lot better? Probably too early to tell, but just wondering.

 

I can understand the obsession with MINI's! As far as the clutch is concerned, I can't tell you which is better. I have also read about many 2011-12 R60 owners with clutch problems. I have a 2012 R60 with about 14000 aggressive miles on it. I've taken mine on a few MINI runs including one at the Tail of the Dragon and I must say for me, my clutch has held up well. Maybe I've been luck so for. Now watch my clutch go out on my way to work now, not really funny! I will say that the feel of the clutch is a bit different and took a few days for me to get use to, but that could just be me. Good luck on your future MINI endeavors! Whee!

 

No, hopefully no clutch problems for you!!! Yes, I never realized how cool and different Mini's looked...I guess because I always wanted 4 doors. Now, I'm obsessed. Please keep me posted on how your clutch is doing!!! I'm saving up and waiting to hear more about the clutch before I buy my first Mini!

 

Will do Goldie

 

I believe there was a recall or TSB around Nov 2011?(someone will know the date for sure), where they fixed the clutch issue.

We have a 2013 JCW with the heavy duty clutch(it's also stiffer than the S which I prefer), and the clutch is great. i was on the Dragon with it a few weeks ago....and the pedals are perfectly aligned for heel/toe downshifting...very smooth....

I think part of the problem the 2011's and maybe early 2012's had was a toal lack of feel for the clutch point release, which is critical in a manual shift car, obviously. Folks would kill the engine all the time leaving from a dead stop because they could never figure out the release point.

 

Thanks for the info, Pilot! I'm being a bit cautious, but who wants to spend $ on a new clutch after buying a new car?! That, and I'm not a seasoned MT driver.

What is the Dragon that everyone's talking about???

 

My 2013 Countryman All 4 (12/12 production) has a very heavy clutch. I've driven manuals prior to this purchase but this clutch is taking some time getting used to it. I stalled 2-3 times on the way home from the dealer and I've done it a few times since. The manual states that the clutch takes 300 miles to break in and I believe it. After that point I started to feel a difference in the clutch, it was much smoother. BTW, I've only had my Countryman about two weeks now and I have driven roughly 600 miles in it. This is my second Mini purchase. I traded in my 2010 R56 for the Countryman and so far have no regrets.

 

One of my dislikes is how MINI has implemented door-locking with the remote fob. I think that in all of my previous cars you could hit the LOCK button, and you would get both audible and visible cues that the doors were being locked. You could be walking away from the vehicle, hit the LOCK button, and know that the doors were being locked. However, as best I can figure, MINI only gives you a flashing of the lights - which you obviously can't hear! So you have to watch the car to see if your lights flash after hitting the LOCK button.

Also, in some cars, even if the doors have been locked, you can hit the LOCK button again and the cues will repeat. (Say that you forgot if you have already locked the doors.)

With the MINI, that doesn't happen. NOTHING happens if you hit the LOCK button, but the doors are already locked. You can't tell if the signal isn't getting there, or if the doors are already locked. The only way you can be sure that you are locking the doors is to UNLOCK the doors via the fob, then relock them, watching for the lights to flash.

 

There's an audible clunk when locking the doors, but maybe you have to have young ears to hear it. I actually prefer that there is no horn honk or beep, as I find that really annoying.

Totally agree on the flashing though. The 1st gen MINIs would repeat, but this one you have to unlock and relock which is stupid.

 

Regarding the clunk - I can usually hear it with my not-so-young ears (depending upon ambient noise), but I guess I'm used to having a more prominent sound.

Can definitely understand that some folks would find a honk or any sound undesirable - I think having an option you could set via some configuration setup would allow you to choose sound, flashing lights, or both!

 

1. HATE the window buttons on the doors. I really miss my old mcs where they were in the middle. Made more sense although, YES, the levers were too low when you were using the cup holders. 2. Really dislike the fact that the Y cable is needed at all. Prefer to be able to stream whatever without and use a normal charger. The y cable is too short, bulky and charges extremely slowly. Worthless.
As good as the iphone is, they should build in a slot to set it up high so there is no need to control it through the radio. No car manufacturer can keep up with the pace of smartphones...
3. Clutch feel.

 

I am so torn on your first point, between the Mini originality of having the window switches on the console and the convenience of having them on the door. We can have the windows coming down with the left hand while holding open the sunroof switch to fully open it, before motoring off....That's a great convenience.......but I feel so guilty

 

+1 on not liking the window switches on the door in my Countryman. After owning the hardtop for three years I still find myself reaching near the usual spot in the dash.

 

As a returning MINI owner, I actually like the switches in the door handle! To each his own, I guess.

 

Something I've never noticed before - a lightly rainy day here in Nashville, and when I opened the door to get in the car, rain runs off the roof into the interior. It was then I noticed that there is no ridge or lip on the roof that would divert water to the front or back of the roof!

Maybe it didn't rain much with my 2011 CM - didn't notice this on that car.

 

My Son was getting in the passenger side the other day and had the same thing happen. A bunch of water started running into the car onto the front seat. I asked him what he did and he said it just happened when he opened the door. I'm not worried about the seat really but I don't like the fact that there is a speaker right next to the seat on the floor.

 

i hate the parking brake handle, it's like a freakin' road block on a daily commute...

 

I recently upgraded from an iPhone 4s. The 4s was at times finicky with Y-cable, but the 5 is downright frustrating (using the 30-pin to Lightning adapter & the original Y-cable). Here's my typical 1-hour commute (base head unit, no MINI Connected):

It'll start out okay, but when I change the song through the head unit controller and it results in an empty list.

So now I'm choosing tracks on my iPhone--everything's fine and BAM! for no reason the iPod setting is no longer recognized.

Now its playing though the Aux port, and with a significant reduction in sound.

But we're not done yet...keep it going and the iPhone freezes and eventually does a reboot.

Now, maybe it's not fair to blame MINI for all this. But I drive my wife's '12 Subaru Outback 2 days per week which has bluetooth audio streaming and the iPhone works flawlessly with it.

I think it's time for a new Y cable...