Today was test drive day for me, about time to review what to do for a daily now that both of our first gens are >100k now...

Kicked an Abarth around first, then hit up the local mini store.


The F56 was fun - the new sport seats are nice, but they're TIGHT! I'm a ~36-38 waist and I felt shoehorned in...

Ipod integration (on hk and not, none of the big screen stuff) was typical (and not for me), where it takes over control of the ipod instead of just controlling it. Sadface. I wonder if my Dice works....haha.


Drove a non-sport-suspension S (manual), with the various DSP levels turned in various modes. A short bit of fun, nothing long, alas. But general feel was good, dynamics balance and steering felt right (as a 10 year R53 driver). But -soft-! Not bad soft, just BMW soft. A quick jump over a manhole hump bottomed the suspension out. No sport or dynamic suspension cars on the lot to try.

The rev matching (which seems to only be off at full DSP-off) was annoying since I know how to match my own revs...but basically it just means it was ignoring my throttle input, so I'm sure I could get used to it.


Pulled back into the lot, (salesman in the car, btw) and tried to back it into a spot next to my car (I always try to back up on any test drive...good way to check mirror function..), but away from the main showroom to perform some HK testing. That's when things went weird. Popped it in reverse, eased out the clutch...and started moving forward. "Erm..." (hell, the guys at Fiat said I was the first 500 driver they'd seen who got it in first try no problem...what does that say about drivers??)

Popped it into neutral and realized it was just loose stick. Sales guy was really good, let me try to figure it out on my own, even though you know he's thinking "c'mon, it's not that hard..." After a few near-stalls trying out what had to be 5th and 6th, he reached over to try it...and then agreed with my assessment. It broke.

After that, I wiggled it over toward a curb to be out of traffic (using the little bit of grade for reverse), then we spent a few minutes hunting down some good test songs on the ipod. And shook the glass. Then babied it in 3rd around to service. (yes, you can start it out in 3rd without too much clutch smoke..)

HK was decent enough - give or take what I'd expect after 10 years of living with an R53 HK, anyway. I -DO- miss the Driver mode being gone (actually, ALL the HK modes are gone....)


And to be clear - no hard shifting, missed shifts, or other insanity happened (on my drive). Just the suspension bottoming out once (and a dozen shifts after that were fine).


So, um, watch those shifters guys!

I hope the sales guy lets me know what broke...


The new tach/speedo placement is horrible and turns the big center circle from a functional tool into just a stupid looking design feature - and instead of losing the ~2-6k rpm range behind the steering wheel in my driving position (which is easily eyeballed by needle position alone), I lose the ~40-80mph indicator instead, which is something I need specifics for!

The tach over on the side is just about invisible - a full circle gauge is much better. And dont get me started on the fuel gauge. (to be fair, I usually just keep the OBC display on range in my R53 and let that be my gauge...)



Overall impression: I'm still not a fan of the new nose job, and the anime-eye taillights are just scary. The soft suspension on an S seems absurd, but even soft it still handles well. The "burble" almost feels fake...which I guess it is. Exhaust note was silent. The seats may need a foamectomy if you're > a 32 waist, but I do love the many cloth-center options on the seats, though the 80s are calling and want their plaid back (you too, GTI...). (it's florida, full leather/pleather seats suck.)

I didn't try to start the car (sales guy did, and it wasn't an automatic so auto stop/start didn't seem to be an issue. but I do wish there was a place to put the key, instead of "leave it in your pocket or toss in the cupholder.." At least I didn't try to break it off with my knee (I'm looking at you A5/A6 chassis'd VWs..)


The new car is almost a foot longer than the R50/53 - 151.9 inches vs 143.9 (for the S), sigh.

Oh and -colors- ! The orange could almost be interesting, but it somehow got bathed in bland. BMW seems to have done a good job of neutralizing the color options once again... Hell, I can get a Jeep, Charger, or Dart in a -nice- shade of orange.... (I like bright colors, and I like non-metallic paints, what can I say. Have you seen my "Light Green" 3/4 ton diesel? )



Ok, that's enough for tonight.

 

So, you hated the car...........

 

When I test drove a F56 I liked it for all the reasons you seemed to hate. My 08 MCS had gotten too harsh for me and I couldn't stand driving it much anymore. Heck, I'd drive my Jeep just to get a "smoother" ride! Ended up with a 370Z but I can see myself in an F56 in a couple of years. The only reason I didn't get one this time around is I've owned several Zs and have been longing to get back in one for a long time. Love that smooth powerful 332 hp V-6. One day soon, F56 here I come .

 

+ 1

 

+2

Why I ended up with one actually.

 

I wish I could understand what's going on with the transmissions this go around. They're still Getrag right? It feels like the manual transmission is one of the few things they didn't completely change up. I could be wrong though.

The automatic got a huge revision, but the manual feels almost identical.

 

I sell and demo industrial machinery for a living and a segment of our market is affluent hobbyists. Once in a while, you get the guy who gives you the whole, "Tell me why I should buy YOUR machine"-thing (accompanied by a skeptical raised eyebrow...), then delights in making you jump through hoops and points out all the stuff "his existing machine" does better or that yours lacks. Funny: Those guys never actually buy anything. Maybe they just want to make themselves feel better about what they have or don't have but it's pretty easy to spot the negative nancy's in my industry. I guess car sales guys have to give equal time to everyone, though.

When we test drove the F56, there were things I wished were different and things I just plain did not like but the bottom line was that as far as cars in its class went, there was nothing anywhere near the price point that had the fun-factor our Mini does. Just my 2-cents.

 

Well said! I agree 100%. If someone can come on here and suggest otherwise please do.

BTW, the term
"Negative Nancy's" is funny...

 

God forbid MINI actually make a car that's usable everyday.

 

I bought my MINI simply because it was solid, fun to drive, and enough luxury touches to make me smile even wider. 4 months later I'm loving it more and more. It's not a perfect car. No car is. And I can understand why some people will decide to buy another brand. I'm just one of those people who fell in love at first drive/sight.

I gave a friend of mine a ride last night. He has had BMW cars in the past, so he is familiar with their product line. He absolutely loved my MINI. He kept pointing out features that amazed him about the car.

As far as the transmission and shifter, I've had no issues at all. Smooth and easy to shift whether going soft or hard. However, I wish they didn't put Reverse near First gear. I've had a few occasions where I too easy went into Reverse when I wanted First. Thank God for the digital gear indicator. LOL.