ClubmanS, sorry for the confusion on the model designations. I was under the impression you had a lot of criticisms about the interior of the car, which is, as far as I know, the same between the R56 and the R55. If I'm wrong there I'd be glad to hear the differences. As for the exterior, maybe it's just my untrained eye, but the Clubman looks, to me, like an stretched replica of the R56 - minus the different hatch doors of course. To each his/her own for sure.

 

The interior is the same, sans the cup holders. You have more of them in the Clubman. I like your Nightfire red MC. handsome car.

 

Many many many....many years from now.....when all the original Minis have rusted out or have Honda engines in them, R53 owners will say "Only the R53 MINI....is a real MINI"

A MINI is a Mini to me, funny, my R53 says "MINI" on it, makes me think...."Must be a MINI" and even more outrageous is...... the R56 says.....wait for it....... "MINI" on it, leading me to believe that yes, it too, is a MINI.

Now, I have not seen a Clubman yet, but the rumor is that, yep you guessed it, it too says MINI on it.

Yeah, I'm being a smarty but not really looking to rustle feathers. I don't give rats tail that Beeemmur owns MINI, at least the thing is still built in the U.K.

As for the R56, the new girl has grown on me, if I have a couple of beefs they would be:

1) Better color choices for the "S" I really like Oxygen Blue, why offer it only on the Coop ? The Nightfire Red would be nice on one as well.

2) Give me a slated grill as an option on the S (without an aero kit) My wife and I would like to get an R56 MCS, not sure if it will work but, retro fit it with the slated grill from the Coop with the Aero kit.

Other than that, I like it, Clubman's cool but that would be MINI # 3 if I could swing the dough.

Its all good !

Cheers,

Mike

 

OK so who actually made/built the R53, where was it made/put together and who helped to design it again?

Cause I though that it was Built/put together in Brazil and the engine was made by BMW and helped by Chrysler for it's power plant design.

Can someone finalize this.

 

The Tritec engine was borrowed from Daimler-Chrysler--the same engine in the PT Cruiser and Neon. It wasn't developed by BMW. The R53 was assembled in Oxford (using the old Rover plant), the power plant in Brazil. The car itself was designed by a (sort of) American, Frank Stephenson when he was with BMW--he has now (unfortunately) moved on to Fiat. The initial designs were done by Rover; BMW acquired Rover, and there was a competition between the Rover designers and the BMW designers--Stephenon's fortunately won out. If his hadn't, I seriously doubt this thread would exist...BMW eventually unloaded Rover, but decided to keep the Mini brand, and swapped the plants (Rovers were initially to be built in Oxford, Mini in a seperate plant that escapes me--but BMW sold Rover, kept the Oxford plant and moved Mini there, and unloaded what was going to be the original Mini factory.). Kind of convoluted, but there it is.

 

I don't want to fuel any fires, but my feelings are this - if I were to have the perfect modern day mini, it would have parts from both the r53 and the r56. There are obvious improvements in the r56, but at the same time there are things I wish they didn't change so much.

The way I see it, the r53 made sacrifices in engine design by borrowing someone elses, and the r56 made sacrifices in aesthetics by complying to regulations and trying to change appearance from the r53.

I really hope in the future MINI designs a car better than both the r56 and the r53, because I will be waiting for that "no sacrifices made" MINI. Maybe even they will have more options that will be able to please all of us with different suspension tastes and even body style preferences. As it is currently, there are options, but there is still much disagreement to how well they fit. I think we forget that MINI as a brand is still learning a lot, even with the iconic splash they have come to the market with.

Hey, at least we're all happy in our cars (I hope).

 

So there you have it, MINIs are now built in England, by a company from Germany, with parts that come from all over the world. And like all car companies, change designs, power plants, and who they direct their marketing.

See, no smilies

Mark

 

here have a cookie oops a smiley

 

The R53 Tritec a sacrifice? Oh... that is rich...

BTW, the R56 engine is sourced from Peugeot...

 

Mark

 

I've seen this mentioned before, but what exactly were the regulations that required the redesigned hood? There are many other newly designed european vehicles, with low, tapered hoods, and without the bulbous frontal appearance of the R56. Also would appear to me that the new french engine fills up the engine bay. How do the 2 engines compare, size wise? Could the body redesign actually be due to BMW's desire to use their Valvetronic engine technology?

Just asking,,,,,,

 

The R56 engine is more of a BMW creation than the tritec, actually. Jointly developed, and built specifically for the MINI.

You keep trying, but you keep falling short. At this point you are just trolling, in my opinion.

 

There are some pretty specific pedestrian impact regulations that forced some of the change. Has to do with how much space there is below the hood before there is something 'hard' as well as knee to bumper relationships. It is really a kinda silly regulation, as in my opinion, people shouldn't be getting hit by cars in the first place, if they are paying attention.

 

Indirectly, the new engine is partially responsible for the higher bonnet--there needed to be an additional 3 inch space between the engine and the hood to meet the euro pedestrian laws--the taller engine therefore requires an even taller hood. Although even with the tritec, the hood would have still had to be higher, just not quite as high as it is now.

 

Maybe it's not the pedestrians sometimes, but the drivers, that don't pay attention!

 

Here's to MINI love.....all three of 'em

 

One thing I did notice driving the R56 is that the French Fry makes a bit more racket under the bonnet than the Brazilian.

The R56 sounds more like a Honda accord, I don't intend that to be bad, just sounds like one.

Seems the Tritec S has more exhaust note, burble and whine.....I like that

 

probably about half and half

 

I agree with this. The tritec makes great noises. The only car I've ever driven that made better engine noises was an Alfa V6. Unfortuneatly, those Alfa V6s are great engines stuck in really, really, really unreliable chassis.

 

I heard a story about a guy that was pulled over in an R56 for speeding and the officer showed him the dash video of his speedometer...

 

But all MINI speedo's read too high

 

The only thing that falls short is the R56 Peugeot engine, which was unceremoniously dropped by BMW after less that 1 year of partnership. On the other hand, the mighty Tritec faithfully served from 2002-2007... and has earned a legion of fans, for both its longevity and ability to be heavily modded.

There is a reason BMW has terminated the Peugeot relationship... and I bet it has something to do with the mystery piston slap a large number of R56 owners are reporting... and has eluded any solution to date...

 

nice

 

Um...no offense, but you don't know what you are talking about. The R56 engine is, and will be, in production until 2012. So 2007 - 2012 is 6 years. The tritec was in production from 2001 to 2008 (only if you include the convertible), so, 8 years total, 6 years in the coupe.

The only thing 'dropped' is the co-development of the NEXT small car engine for the BMW group. Since there was never any plan beyond this engine, there really isn't any 'dropping' going on.

I really don't think you are dumb enough to really believe what you post, so I remain convinced that you are nothing more than a troll trying to stir the pot.

 

No offense taken... I understand how you can personalize others view points... it must not be a real good feeling knowing your R56 is being panned by driving enthusiasts and automobile publications alike. Additionally, with the Prince engine struggling with mystery piston slap, it can't be a real confidence builder in your purchase or its longevity.

To bring the tread back on topic... I'm sure this is some of the driving factors that are causing a number of folks to abandon the R56 in favor of the R53... a car with almost universal appeal among driving enthusiast.