Hey all,

Just came from MoS, and they have a '07 Cooper S, and a '07 Cooper with an auto transmission available to test drive! I took both out for a quick spin.


My impressions so far -

- Still not a big fan of the new center stack. Waaay to 'Fisher Price' looking.

- Radio controls are too fiddly. Even on my quick test drive, I finally just gave up with the radio, and turned it off (after a couple of tries )

- The new 'computer' controls are also very fiddly, but I have a feeling after getting used to them, I would love them. I like how you can configure a bunch of options (some that on the '06's and earlier, you would have to go to a dealer), and how you can change the 'postage stamp' display in the tach to display a number of different things.

- The 'mood lighting' feature is silly. I thought that it changed the color of the displays, but it doesn't. Just some accent lighting. I may end up liking it better at night though.

- The turn signals are weeeiiirrrrd. It's now completely electronic. Now, to turn, you flick it up or down past the resistance point, the turn signal turns on, and then the stalk goes immediately back to the center position while the signal remains on. At some point in your turn, they go off. I suppose I may end up liking that feature, but it just seems very odd and foreign. I also noticed that if you're in neutral, and you wiggle the shifter back and forth, it cancels the signal. Don't get that one at all. I do like, however, that you can set the momentary signal for one or three blinks. For example, while switching lanes on a highway, you can have the signal set up so you momentarily nudge the turn signal stalk and the blinker blinks three times, no matter how long you held the stalk.

- In the S, it seems as though it requires a lot less effort to shift than in my JCW. It also seemed like that the throw was shorter, but it may have been an illusion. The transmission in general also seemed a lot smoother. (Keep in mind though, that I am a new manual transmission driver, so I may or may not know what I'm talking about! )

- The low-end torque in the S was *amazing*!! The 'lil bugger launches when you mash the gas. It has just as much (if not more) 'pull' from 0 to about 30 as my JCW. After that though, it did seem to lose a good amount (well, compared to a JCW anyway! ).

- Steering was good and tight. Didn't notice much difference between my JCW and the '07. (Keep in mind though, there's not really any tight-curve roads around Sterling, or at least none that I know about)

- The 'Sport' button makes a significant difference in the car!! The '07 seemed too 'refined' when not in Sport mode. But it definitely came alive with the button turned on. It seemed as the car 'flexed', and became a much tighter ride. For example, the steering became tighter and quicker, the suspension became stiffer, and the throttle response was *definitely* better! Hopefully one of the first mods to come out for the new new MINIs is a auto-up/MCAW type circuit to turn it on when you start the car!

- The new key is kinda silly, but I like it. Definitely has a 'wow' factor to it. And the button to start 'er up is pretty neat too. Once again, a bit silly, but neat!

- Didn't care too much for the Cooper auto. It definitely had more power than my '04 Cooper, but the smoothness wasn't there. I'm a firm believer that the CVT suited the Cooper much better than a standard 'slush-box'. I'm willing to bet that there's a lunchroom table with a few MINI engineers hanging their head about the CVT mumbling to themselves 'well, we tried our best'. If the CVT was marketed better, and dealers trained with how to get power out of it, I think that there would have been a couple more fans of MINIs red-headed stepchild transmission.



Well, that's all I can remember right now. All in all, I'm happy that I have my '06, but the '07 is still a MINI, and a fine auto purchase.

The dealership had a good crowd today too. I was asked by a bunch of folks how I liked the '06 compared to an '07! I think I may have even 'sold' the MINI to one couple. Unfortunately, I didn't have a DCMM card on me!

Oh, and they finally have the '07 brochures in! No other goodies that I could dig up though.

And MoS is planning on letting people test drive the '07s on Monday!


-Paul!

 

Yep! I drove the S on Saturday. Overall impressions were good. I do have a few dislikes though.... Comments below:

I totally agree.I thought the readout was cool, but it will certainly take some getting used to.I definitely like the new stronger feeling stalks, but the activation was strange - like you said. There's no "click" in position, push it down to turn left... push it down to "not go left"? Yes, the new tranny and shifter were very smooth!I agree! The "pull" was quite good. There was no supercharger whine of course, and I couldn't hear any Turbo noises at all... just very reactive power, I suspect that the BMW VANOS contributes to this.The new key is cool, kinda strange, but cool.I didn't bother driving the auto

 

You 2 didn't say anything about the exhaust note. How does it sound?

 

I stopped by yesterday and eyeballed the yellow S out front. Very nice overall. I'll probably buy one once the JCW model is announced.

 

Now if they had done a seven speed stick... That's the one thing that would have caught my attention. Not enough to swap but what I thought the car could most use.

 

a seven speed? why on earth that over revised ratios with a taller 6th?

 

Because I'm happy with 1-6 right where they are, but would not mind a overdrive for the highway. Keep in mind my favorite bike has 48 gears (from 15 to 158 gear inches if you know anything about bicycle gearing) So consider the source...

 

recumbent? I had a 22-32 granny combo on the MTB for climbs

 

Oh yeah! Forgot about that. It of course no longer has a supercharger whine, and the turbo is relatively quiet. But the exaust note is deep and throaty. I like it. No burble though. :(


-Paul!

 

I was dissapointed in the sounds from the car (or lack of sounds.) It was very quiet. If I bought one the first thing I would do is change the exhaust. BTW, I went to MoS yesteray around 4 PM and had the place, and the yellow MCS, to myself. To recap somethings mentioned in earlier posts: I dislike the center stack. I do not like the new turn signal stalk. I did not bother with the radio or the computer much so can not comment. As far as the transmission is concerned I did not notice too much different as far as feel is concerned compared to my well broken in 2002 tranny (the yellow 2007 had 98 miles on it when I drove it yesterday), although it has the advantage of better gearing but that improvement was made in 2005 I believe. the steering response was very good, very mini. I will have to try one once the sport suspension is available because I much prefer my rock hard 2002 ride over this one. I completely forgot to hit the sport button but the car was impressive even in regular mode.

Some of my biggest dissapointments have been discussed all over the forums and they have to do with the looks. The front end actually does not bother me too much and you still get the visual, from behind the wheel, of the little bumper poking up in your field of view on the left side. I do not like the way the back side glass (no longer curved)meets up with an ugly piece of plastic. Also, the rear haunches where the rear quarter pannel meets the side and rear glass has been totally ruined IMO.

I could be happy in one of these cars although I'm really going to wait for the clubman.

I had not been to the dealership in quite some time but was surprised to see that there was a GP available. Surprise quickly turned to shock when I saw the sticker!!!

 

I like how on MoT's website they state that they have the last GP on the east coast

 

Yup, a Rotator Pursuit. Has a intermediate set mid frame. One ring front, six in middle, 8 in back... Also have a single speed bent with a 148 tooth front ring. SOrry for hijack, back to cars now.

No Burble! Say it ain't so!

 

Yes, I recall experiencing this for the first time in a 2006 BMW 325 loaner from MoS. Strange - I didn't like it... I found myself putting the turn signal on in the opposite direction in an attempt to turn it off! I'm sure it would become second nature before too long, but I wonder why they chose to design it that way - there wasn't anything wrong with the old way. Perhaps it's just because it's a digital switch now, instead of an analog one.There's an interesting story behind that GP. Turns out that the guy who originally ordered it from MoS did something really stupid. When the car arrived, he sent someone out to the dealership to install the clear-bra before he even took delivery of the car. So he basically had someone installing something on a car that wasn't his yet! The dealership interrupted the installer, but by that point, the job had to be completed. On top of that, the original buyer declared that if he wasn't happy with the clear-bra install, he was going to back out of the deal! The nerve!

Long story short, MoS was stuck with a brand new GP that was no longer in 100% stock original condition. I suppose at that point, they decided to install some additional accessories (like the JCW steering wheel), to make it a "package" of sorts. So yes, the car is over MSRP, but the buyer will be getting stuff for the extra money, instead of just a blind mark-up. Of course, whether the cost of the "dealer accessories" package is a good value is entirely a different matter. Yeah - reported in MotoringFile and other places. Apparently too many Americans whined that the car was defective because of the burble. In Europe, the burble is still there in the R56. We just have to hope that by looking at the Euro ECU code, a custom mod could be made to retain all of the USA emissions & other controls, and add the burble back in!

 

It is the cost of those items that in question. When I ordered my 2002 MCS I was one of the first to get the factory alarm. It was only $500. This GP has what they call the GP alarm for over $1,000! Also, Tony implied that the clear bra and other body protection pieces were installed by Christal and her company Roadblock Protective Systems. Now, maybe the guy who first ordered it was having Christal's company do the install. That also is a very expensive upgrade. If not for the expensive additions and the fact that I don't think I can fit my golf clubs in the back I might be interested

 

Actually I'll bet that you could fit your golf clubs in the back... at the very least, on an angle. I never said that the dealer-installed stuff was good value, but it's better than the blatant $5,000 or $10,000 mark-ups that some other dealers (*cough* MoT *cough*) have done.

I have no idea if installing the OEM Alarm in the GP is any different or more complicated than installing it in a regular R53 MCS, but yeah, $1,000 does seem a bit much.

The story I gave above is what I was told over a month ago by someone at the dealership about a GP that was there. I gather that it's the same GP... I didn't memorize the number.

 

MoT's mark-up is only $7,500

 

I'm not so sure. Maybe. But I also have to fit in my 3 wheeled Sun Mountain push cart. Currently, during golf season (pretty much March through January), I put both seats down and all that stuff *just* fits in - along with my laptop bag, lunch, etc. That brace in the back of the GP might put a hitch in my plans! I should just buy a Subaru and let my wife drive the MINI

 

The bar can be removed...

 

Hey now! Are you and Edge working on commission???

 

I don't know about him, but I get 1.4% (Please be sure to mention my name)

 

Heh - not to my knowledge... <checks bank account> Nope. Damn.

 

Yea, but probably only at MINI of Towson

And to keep things somewhat on track I should mention that I also really liked the new telescoping and tilting steering wheel. Now an even more perfect driving position can be attained!

 

I don't know if I buy this story... You are telling me that MoS allowed someone to just install a clear bra on a car that is not paid for?

Maybe with the extra GP MoS tried to make it a bit more appealing with a few MODS and charge extra... but to say that someone just walked there and installed a clear bra on an unsold car is hard to believe..

and FYI the bar doesn't just come off and is not easy to be removed plus is a saftey issue in UK if there is not a back seat you need to have a bar to prevent cargo from flying in the front seat.
It's true the GP can carry quite a few things but it's a SPORT CAR made for driving.

 

That's what I was told... as I understand it, the GP was parked outside, and the installer had gotten well into it before someone at the dealership saw him and asked him what he was doing.

 

Hey now, if I can fit a 9'4" kayak into my MINI, your golf gear should be just fine!!


-Paul!