I have to agree with you. The interior is really nice, however the exterior is horrible. I am glad I did not put a deposit to hold on down...in person they are worse than before, the cooper actually looks better than the S. if I ever get another one it will be one built before 2014

 

Yeah, I really don't get the exterior design at all. It went from "sporty" to "economy" in my book.

Take for example the side scuttles as I mentioned in my first impression. I snapped a pic of them. Here is a pic of the F56 I saw:





They look completely odd to me. Looks like they should be on a countryman instead of a sporty mini coupe. Design almost looks like an afterthought as if they knew there was a cottage industry of selling side scuttle customization and they just threw something together. It's huge, bulky and frankly, very ugly.

P.S. And yes, this F56 mini had factory driving lights, so I'm not sure why I keep seeing that people here are saying only the dealer can add them on. These were added at the factory.

 

I agree with you on THOSE side scuttles they are huge. But that is a add on, the ones I saw are a lot smaller than than that.

 

Coming from someone who has had a classic, an R53, 2 R56s, a Clubman and now an F56, I don't understand the complaints about the exterior.

Despite all of the "horrible" changes they made, it still looks, feels and drives like a MINI. This is nitpicking taken to the extreme and I have no doubt whatsoever that a year or 2 down the road we'll be left with most people having moved onto the F56 and only a few unmentionables left complaining about it in every thread.

 

I agree 100% when I got my R56 everyone was like OMG the changes are terrible and now everyone loves them and I can't wait to get my F56.

 

+1

 

I view it more along the lines of the VW beetle. You can have purists that love the original 60's style VW beetle. Then, in gen 2 of the beetle you have a modern take on the classic. But with the new gen 3 of the beetle, it looks like it's part of a telephone game where the design has changed quite a bit from the fun-loving original, and the looks leave a lot to be desired, especially in comparison to what made the original a standout in the first place.

I'm sure the F56 drives like a Mini (I can't confirm since I didn't test drive it yet), and as noted, I actually love the interior styling. But the exterior design and aesthetics are important as well. I don't see how this is "nitpicking taken to the extreme" if people think the design is frankly, ugly side. A car purchase is more than just how it drives. It's design, options, color choices, comfort, price, styling, you name it. If it's one step forward and one step backwards in any one of these areas, it's worth noting. Otherwise the answer would be "Who cares what it costs or looks like, it drives like a Mini." Well, some of us do care.

I'll be the first to admit that much like a song you hear on the radio that you can't really stand at first, the design of the F56 may grow on me. I honestly hope it does. But the first impression of the exterior styling is, for lack of a better word, ugly.

 

If an R56 and an F56 drove by at 20 mpg 30 seconds apart, I think 9 out of 10 people, probably 95 out of 100, would not notice a difference.

 

We're in a forum where 10 out of 10 would, though.

 

That car will not grow on me ever, and the f56 and r56 look nothing alike. The r53 does look quite similar to the r56. They chopped the roof too much I think on the f56.

 

I don't understand why people would drop their MINI (that is built for handling) so low they can't even go over a bump in the road without scraping but I don't go to threads specifically about dropped MINI's to comment on the irony.

But that's just me...

 

This would be an interesting fact to test. I think I would disagree that it would be 10 out of 10. Yes, this is a forum of "fan"atics, but the evolutionary design changes make the vehicles (at speed) a bit similar in appearance.

With over 100 MINI employees in early March, we could easily spot the R50/R53 models across the track vs the R56 and F56. However, when the R56 and F56 were left on their own, the two were harder to identify ... particularly from the front end as the tail lamps are a dead giveaway. But if the three, or a couple of each generation, are rounding a track in various order, it would be a challenge to always get it right. Stationary, they are easy to tell at part, but not as easily when in motion.

I remember back to when the Clubman was being launched. Several MINI and non-MINI folks were shown the vehicle driving past them. When asked what it was, 99% identified it as a MINI Cooper. When asked if anything was different about it, only about 3% indicated that something was different.

 

I just can't get past the "startled carp" face of the F56. It looks more like a caricature than an evolutionary update, IMHO.

 

:sigh:

Oh well, I'm at least happy with the F56. I like it better than my R56, which I liked better than my R53. If it makes y'all feel better to rag on a car, knock yourselves out I guess.

 

Chiming in to say I'm liking the F56 redesign-and the number of buyers will speak with their wallets to give their vote - actually I do prefer the Cooper face to the S, even to the extent that it influenced my buying decision. Of course the lusty 3 cylinder helped!

 

Yes, like this. I think they look just fine.

OaklandMINI, do you REALLY think they look huge compared to the R56?

Close-up photo



From a distance

 

I have to agree, Diana. Although I am fine with the 'S' front end. Of the two front faces, the base Cooper is a tad better.

 

From that angle is nearly impossible to tell R56 vs F56.
BRG is the quintessential MINI color.
Congratulations

 

Actually, the most ironic thing is that you might be in the wrong thread, calling out those who are supposedly thread-crapping. This is a first impressions thread, with the thread creator even posting something I'm completely agreeing with when he/she said, "I'm not fond of the nose, it looks weird, kind of droopy."

It's absurd to only accept positive comments about the all-new F56 (in a "first impressions" thread no less). I've already touted many things I do really enjoy about the F56 (interior styling in particular), but for a first impressions thread of a brand new design, it's ridiculous to only want to hear the positive and not even entertain the opinions to true mini enthusiasts. I'm being honest, as is the thread creator for this very thread.

As I said all along, I'm hoping the exterior styling will grow on me. Or maybe after a test drive the benefits of better performance and an interior I really enjoy will outweigh any negatives, but that remains to be seen. But maybe you might want to create a "Only Things I Love About the F56" thread, and then I would agree with you that negative comments in that thread would have no place. But this isn't that thread.

 

Since you asked, yes, I agree with you that the side scuttle itself looks much nicer in that design, and much more sporty. However, I hate how the body panel has an indent that is catered to that larger odd side scuttle. The smaller/nicer side scuttle pic that you included doesn't seamlessly "fit" the body indent anymore and the design doesn't look consistent. Looks weird, like a smaller R56 side scuttle on a countryman or something.

 

So I saw the F56 in the flesh last night at MINI of Peabody's launch party. The side scuttle recess doesn't bother me at all; it calls out the turn signal without being tacky. It's actually quite nice.

A few other impressions:

* MINI connected's UI is over the top. I love gadgets and even I found it overwhelming. Busy, busy, busy. Needs more less!

* sport seats are hardcore! they hug so firmly, they scream "corner faster!" But… I barely fit. I'm 5'8", 200 lbs, and it's not muscle. Your basic middle aged American body. I love the seats but they sure aren't going to win any points in Houston. ;-)

* love the flip headrests in the rear seat. Fun, whimsical. My Clubman's rear seat headrests do a better job getting out of the field of view while not in use but the F56's are quicker to switch position one handed.

* interior feels more grown up in most ways. Less whimsy, more businesslike. At least the doors are still fun. And if you want quirky, the center console with auto aircon and MINI connected is a frickin' Christmas tree.

* Harmon Kardon speaker grills; Oh my god, they are so tacky. W. T. F. Over.

* I like the Justa's nose. Very clean. Feels quite Porsche.

* the S nose has severe case of underbite. I think they took the bulldog to heart. Not my cuppa but would not stop me getting the S.

* rear seat is very comfy. I'd happily do a road trip back there.

* can't wait for the 5-door version!

* where do you put the rear parcel shelf when you fold down the seats? In my R53, it fit perfectly behind the front seats with the notch nestling the central floor tunnel. In the F56 the rear cup holder takes that space.

Sent from my iPhone using NAMotoring

 

We test drove the Cooper this morning. Again, unfortunatly an automatic. From the passenger seat it felt pretty zippy, which I was expecting, even with 3 people in the car. It didn't feel quite so zippy from the driver's seat, but it was pretty good. I really want to drive the Cooper manual.

Again, I tried using the manual mode. It would change up for me, if I hadn't gotten around to it when the revs got too high. Annoyingly, it would sometimes change up at the same time as I wanted to so it'd end up in a higher gear than I wanted. It would also kick down as well, not a very well behaved manual mode. Its not really a manual mode anyway, if you put the gear stick to the left, its M/S for manual and sport mode all in one. So its shifting for you, but will let you interfere temporarily. With the gear selector in sport mode it didn't seem to want to change up to 6th. That's separate from the general red sport mode, so you may be able to be in sport mode and have the gear auto shift up to 6th. That's been a complaint about sport mode on R56, that they never shift up to 6th.

The Cooper had the standard suspension and my wife thought it was a little floppy, after a few maneuvers. (We regularly have the sport suspension on our R56, and we autocross them so are used to wild maneuvering.) I didn't push it hard enough to notice.

It had the standard radio, not the iDrive system, so I played with that a bit. I tried pairing my phone to the Bluetooth, once I did that it didn't seem to have the capability to stream audio, which is dissapointing. (Even the Chevy Sonic I currently have a rental can do that.) The radio seems to have a little larger display that currently and tries to make relatively fancy displays. The menus look like the R56 nav menus.

The car did have the dual zone climate control, which was nice. The temperature is easy to change. You twist the **** around the temperature display, it acts like a regular twist ****.

 

I hardly notice these things. Is there a picture, please?

 

Interesting assessment. I too felt the Cooper to be a bit soft. Putting it into Sport mode I expected crisper shifts but it seemed the same as normal mode. I posed this question to Mini's customer service last week but they have yet to respond. I was also disappointed with the standard radio- it seems you can pair the phone for phone calls but not for streaming music. That's a costly upgrade that even the cheapest Japanese and domestic cars have as standard. Didn't know that when I placed my order.

 

I'm afraid I was so busy exploring the car and discussing it with people that I forgot to take pics! Usually I'm a shutterbug.

The speaker pods, not just at the pillars but also I'm the back seats, protrude about 3/4 inch. Unlike the R56 HK/HiFi and the r50 HK, they aren't blended into the panels (with demure little HK logos). They're out there, loud and proud.

When I looked at the A-pillars and saw the big, protruding speaker pods, I thought "I guess they have room for larger tweeters if they want".

Later when got into the back seat, and found two more big pods sticking into the passenger space on each side, big and black and metal, it hit me: those pods aren't sticking out for performance reasons. They are there to help sell the car:

:-)

(Edit: can't tell from NAM's iPad app if that image upload worked. Here's the punch line..)