Welcome Mr. Skiploder, we are honored of yer presence... I can vouch for the TRITEC as one freaking solid engine. I have owned 3 MINIs and the engine has never ever been a problem in any of them. On the other hand, I would be wary of a French designed engine like the Prince. This engine has displayed issues the "lowly"TRITEC never had, plus it is more complex and has an ugly tendency to piston slap. Maybe between the choice of a Chrysler engine and a Peugeot engine, I would pick the Chrysler. Its funny how a disgruntled ex-DCX employee comes in here and desperately tries to mudlsling the TRITEC just because it was designed (Not really made as he claims) by his ex-employer. One thing I can tell you fella.... My supercharged tritec will still be running around in circles of your prince powered MINI 30 years from now. You simply can't beat the reliability and durability of a 16 valve, SOHC, cast iron block engine. Nice try, but to badmouth this solid piece of engineering known as the TRITEC is a very poor attempt at trying to defend your vehicle of choice.

 

Can you ellaborate on this? What issues? The only thing I have seen with any sort of "tendency" in NAM is the engineered-in clicking of the injectors.

 

And with this, we know that you have very selective reading. Here are some statistics from that comparison:

"Out of 22 categories, Mini Cooper was first (or tied) in 10 of 22 categories: fit and finish, interior styling, exterior styling, flexibility, fuel economy, transmission; and four of the five chassis categories (tying Mazda for first): performance, steering feel, brake feel, and handling. Its worst scores were 1s in rear-seat comfort and rear-space where the best got 5s. "

So it has the best performance, steering feel, brake feel, handling, fit and finish, styling, fuel economy, and flexibility, but not much back seat room or room to haul stuff.

Sounds like an enthusiasts car to me.

Adittionally, here's a road and track comparo where the 2006 Cooper S finished dead last.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=3370


You can play this game all day, going either way.

 

LynnEl, go to www.mini2.com and look under the second gen problems and issues forum. At least MINI in the UK has acknowledge that the dieseling sound of these engines is a problem (Contrary to their initial claims that the noise was due to the direct injection setup). It makes you wonder about that and the fact that BMW dissolved the PSA partnership last year has anything to do with it...Hmmmmm And in case you haven't read in Motoringfile, BMW is currently in talks with Daimler-Benz to co-develop a powerplant for the third gen 2012 MINI. So R53 fans... Don't fret.... MINI v3.0 will once again have a Mercedes-DCX designed and built engine. Here I am hoping they will go back to supercharging!

 

Reliable, durable, highly polluting, and innefficient are good words to describe the tritec.

The new engine, is much more efficient and clean. Longevity remains to be seen.

 

Tritec inefficient? Compared to what? Care to elaborate? Currently my 100% stock Supercharged Tritec is returning 26 MPG in city driving and over 34MPG on the highway. Not bad for an engine that was developed in 1 year (1996) and it is simply put bulletproof. Highly polluting? Compared to what? a '55 Chevy belair? I am loving the cheap shots at the TRITEC. Keep ém coming!

 

And sorry to tell this, but the cast iron supercharged engine will have a longer service life than a Turbocharged, VANOS, direct injection, aluminum engine.

 

R56 with blown head and gasket @ 5K miles: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=124276

 

Sweet! I had not heard this news. Right in the target zone for retiring (or augmenting) my '05.

 

Yeah... that R56 Peugeot engine is a real "prince"....

For "engineered-in" clicking of injectors... MINI dealers are swapping parts and even engines... in a futile attempt to fix them "slappers"....
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=121761

The Tritec is about as solid a piece of engineering that has come along and quite a while... bulletproof and rock solid.. the R53 was blessed to have such a masterpiece. The "prince" is just another cost short cut the designers took with the R56.. one that has already bitten them hard. I suspect this is why BMW broke off the relationship with Peugeot in less than a year.

 

Mercedes and BMW negotiate engine deal (From Motoringfile, Dec 6th, 2007): http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/12/...e-engine-deal/

 

BMW/PSA engine development ends: http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/10/...mes-to-an-end/

 

Why can't BMW just build a MINI engine on their own? These parterships never seem to work out. Isn't BMW known for their engines afterall?

 

My heavily modified 03 MCS would routinely give me over 30 MPG on the highway - all without the piston slap and melted bonnet features of the French Fryer.

By the way Einstein, re-read my post regarding the Tritec. Here's the relevant quote:

Your reply was eloquent and well stated but a complete waste. I actually praised the old mill. Next time I'll use smaller words so you can better understand my point.

Hope that helps!

Skip

 

This is what I'm thinking! What's the difficulty in getting an engine? They are a huge auto maker!!!

 

So one must wonder if you truly feel it is a defective engine that won't last, why you would buy a Clubman.

 

*coffee enters mouth and exits nose...*

 

I like thrills

 

Best summary of the prince EVAR!

 

My previous car, an Audi A3 with their new direct inject turbo 2.0 liter, made the same ticking noise as the new MINI turbo - I think there is a bit of misinformation here.

Additionally, regarding engine development. Companies come together when they have common goals, and do co-development work. When that development is completed, it is perfectly normal for them to re-evaluate the situation and possibly move on.

I really don't feel like going back to 2002/2003 to find an example of a bad tritec engine, but I'm sure I can, just as I'm sure there will be a few failures with the new engine.

As for efficiency, I get between 25 and 32 in my stock MCS. My wife gets between 29 and 36 in her stock MC. Both are 06s. I find both of those numbers to be only average considering the size and weight of the car. You cannot argue that the tritec is more efficient than the new engine. Nor can you argue that the new engine does not pollute less.

I find it interesting that a couple people on here have such a vendetta against the new car. I like both cars. Since the 'look, a car magazine rated it low' argument failed (because a car magazine rated the R53 low as well) they've moved on to trying to trash the new engine, which, in reality, seems to be a HUGE step up from the tritec from an environmental (and stock performance) standpoint.

So, do you want a high performance engine (with a POSSIBILITY, still not completely verified, of longevity concerns) or a lower performing lump that is reliable? I would think a true 'driver's car' would have the higher performance engine.

 

There is a deeper problem with the prince engine... that goes far beyond "a bit of misinformation"... MINI dealers are swapping parts and complete engines in an attempt to "fix" the engine slap issue, without success. If this is a normal "design" characteristic of the prince engine... I can see why BMW severed its relationship with Peugeot after such a short partnership.

 

It's not the ticking that we're talking about--that is normal. Its the grinding that some people have been burdened with--that's not normal, and the solution to the issue has been elusive. Even replacing the engine hasn't fixed it (see the mini2 thread).

Granted, its a minority of cars involved, but yeah, I'd be concerned about it--it may become more prevalent as the cars age too, which is my major concern. Hopefully, a solution will be forthcoming--the R53 did suffer issues from the get-go too (anyone remember yo-yo?), so hopefully there will be a fix for this.

If not, I'll wait until 2012--actually later, I'd want to make sure there were no long term problems there as well. But this whole discussion has made me rethink my plan for getting an R56 Stage II JCW...

These are the type of concerns that led me to buy a 2006 rather than wait a few months for the 2007. The 2006 isn't perfect, but at least a significant number of the bugs have been worked out, and the Tritec, while not the most sophisticated in the world, has proven itself extremely durable.

 

I agree 100%. I had a 2003 that was very reliable, which wasn't the case for a lot of the '03s. I had to sell it , and when I finally was in a position to get another MINI, I had to think long and hard over which way to go. I ended up with a leftover 2006 for a couple reasons. One was the fact that by 2006 most of the 'bugs' have been worked out, and second was the fact that I got it at such a great discount.

I would love to have an R56, but my problem is that it would HAVE to have the JCW body kit, wheels, and with the options I want, it would end up REALLY expensive (like, 1 series expensive.)

Right now we're planning to check out the clubman next month, and see what we think of it. Possibly trading in the Cooper. Maybe.

 

Wow, there is a whole lot of FUD in here. Lots of directed hate too. Can't we just all get along?

 

One would hope. But as has been stated, this will go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and.............

Mark