Was at my dealer today for the Launch event and got the chance to drive a Justa with automatic and S with manual. Must admit I liked them. They seemed refined compared to our 2010 Justa. Quiet and smooth, I like the raspy 3 cylinder but need to try one with a manual gearbox before making any hasty decision. Does anyone have any experience with Dynamic Damping Control? Is it reliable? What happens when the shocks deteriorate?

 

I was at the launch event in Nashville last night. They had a "sold" base Cooper with Nav, auto A/C and other goodies. A base turbo 3 cylinder is something to consider. You can get a loaded base model for thousands less than a similarly equipped S model. It definitely got my attention!!

 

I went tonight and drove an automatic S. Power is amazing. The torque is what really got me. The new paddle shifter is much better than the old one. The shifting is much faster and yow shift up with your right and down with your left. Also the shift lever is correct, pull to up shift and push to down shift, which is a rare treat. Most cars, even Porsche, have it backwards.

 

I'm glad the OP brought up the topic of the dynamic damper control - I think it's being confused with the Driver select (sport/mid/green) control at the base of the gear shifter.
I had one salesperson tell me that the Driver select comes standard on both Justa and MCS (true in Canada) and the other tell me it was an option "dynamic damper control"! Looking at the specification sheet since I see he was mistaken.
From what I've read the Dynamic Dampers adjust the suspension +|- 30 % (edited from info on the forum) - one journo said it was barely noticeable, the other an option worth having!
My question is...... How are the adjustments made, via the touchscreen or are they part of the Driver Select? I opted for the damper control as I like to soften up the suspension when my other half is in the car and stiffen up when driving alone. I think it's brilliant how this generation Cooper can be tailored to perfection.

 

The dynamic damper control is tied to the drive select mode. It can also be disabled in sport mode via the iDrive controller in the settings/driving mode screen. There are no touch screens in a MINI.

 

[QUOTE=Diana De Van;3916463
From what I've read the Dynamic Dampers adjust the suspension +|- 30 % (edited from info on the forum) - one journo said it was barely noticeable[/QUOTE]

It's + | - 10%.

The Sport Suspension stiffens by 30%.

 

Went to my dealer's launch event today, unfortunately had zero manual cars. I wanted to drive a base cooper so I did. Auto, without mini connected fancy screen.


Thoughts - I've never owned a mini, but I've owned a flurry of cars and recently a fiat 500 abarth (which was a hoot to drive, but the vehicle itself was NOT ME at all, whereas the mini is more my style)....


The base has ALOT of body sway when I juke the wheel back and forth, I could not believe how much sway there was. That said, after the sway, it seems to really grip and is still very fun to drive. The automatic trans is just not me, and its performance is so far from a dual clutch trans (I owned a DSG mk6 Gti). That said, if you're getting a base cooper, you gotta get a manual if you ask me. Otherwise the car is just too conservative. THe 3 cylinder motor sounds quite good, has a nice little rumble, seems to respond well. It isn't very quick at all but its still fun to drive (because its in a mini heh). I really like the sport seats, they fit me like a glove. Car in general was very comfortable to drive and very euro and premium feeling. It WAS odd to be in a small car again since I own a forester XT right now.


I'm glad I drove the car, I really love how the minis look, I'm just not sure for the money I can make the leap for it to be my daily driver. NExt step is to drive a fiesta and focus st.

 

Haven't owned an automatic in decades, but when they accelerate faster than a stick-shift, they make more sense. I'll have MCS paddle-shifter next week -- maybe.

 

Interesting how opinions vary - I'm coming from a DSG equipped Mk6 GTI and didn't find there to be a huge difference between the new mini autobox and the dual clutch! Having said that, I am driving a 2012 Cooper S auto until my new Mini arrives....and the tranny is awful. It took about two days to get used to it's harsh and unpredictable gear changes as I was wiping away my "I miss my GTI" tears.

Excess body roll in a mini? And you drive a Forester? How odd - sounds like you need to sample the sports suspension! Or the dynamic chassis thingymabob

 

Did you drive it in Sport mode? Big difference with the shifting in that mode. Goes from somewhat sloppy to crisp. So impressive that had I gone with the automatic, I would have kept it in Sport mode all the time.

 

My R56 has been driven in Sport every ride if it's life, it's become automatic me to do so like putting on my seatbelt.

 

I agree 100%. I've driven a lot of cars in my lifetime (Mitsubishi Eclipe GSX, '94 Callaway Camaro Z28 with their race suspension, and '03 Cobra to name three) and my new MINI S is so superior in the corners that I'm still amazed, two days later. LOL. But seriously, everyone has their opinions. I just haven't experienced any body roll in mine. And I don't even have the optional Sport suspension.

 

I'll clarify a couple things... the auto in the MCS may be acceptable. In the base cooper its not. I'd be buying a cooper because I want to have fun, the auto trans combined with being down on power does not give that fun factor, tahts why manual is essential to the base cooper. Now the s, I could see an auto working because the power helps level the "fun factor" playing field.


Regarding sway, yes, did you guys drive a base cooper, or were you in the S? I'm just comparing the other small car (which I owned), the abarth had wayyyyyy better turn in compared to the base cooper. Other people have made these comments on this forum, not sure why its surprising. I guess I should've ddrove an MCS to determine how the suspension was, but the mcs is out of my price range so I didn't. Not sure why someone brought up my forester xt as a comparison, totally different cars, and I"m not comparing it against that, I'm comparing it against cars it should compete against. For what its worth, my xt has superior power to even the cooper s but why even bring that up, its stupid.


I had the auto trans in sport or manual mode half the time, I don't know, I just didn't like how it reacted with the 3 cylinder. I will tell you that in auto mode when I accelerated, it did shift very quickly, albeit at very low rpm's. My beef was when I was manually shifting, it wasn't crisp.