Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that each successive generation of Mini JCW's gets bigger, heavier, and more generic looking? I know the extra power in the newer JCW's is enticing, but is it enough to make someone want to give up the more aggressive styling found in the earlier generation cars?

We currently own a Gen II JCW, but the Gen I cars have always been my favorite from an all around styling and engineering standpoint. Having owned a Gen I car, I can honestly say that ownership experience was visceral.

Gen IV cars have already taken on the appearance of being more portly with less defined styling in the front and rear bumper designs than even the Gen III cars had. And what's happened to those cool looking lower rockers the JCW's used to have? Or that slick shifting 6 speed? They are gone! These were but two of the many unique attributes of the earlier generation JCW's which gave you, the driver, connection to it!

The evolving Mini design is akin to the appearance of a person getting older. They are putting on more weight, loosing muscle definition, their shoulders are getting sloped and rounded and their once trim waistline has all but disappeared. To me, the 2020 JCW looks ever more a "family car" with decals.

In closing I would like to just say one more thing: BRING BACK THAT CENTER MOUNTED SPEEDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I would not say "Gone to Pot", however, I do agree that the design of MINI has deviated from its origins and have much less of what made MINI MINI. The different generations appeal to different users and I think they each have their redeeming qualities. I prefer the first generation and wish there was a smaller and even more go-cart like version. I use my MINI as a fun second vehicle. If I were looking for a daily driver MINI, my preference would be a 2013 Cooper S. I think the second generation is a good balance of go-cart and civilized.

I think MINI should introduce a smaller than the first generation version. It would not sell well in today's bigger-is-better world, however, it would maintain the MINI image and attract buyers who will ultimately buy the bigger versions. Without this, I anticipate that MINI will be a trim package on BMW SUVs. "The MINI X1 with contrasting roof and mirrors."

It is not unique to MINI, however, most first generations are replaced by second generations that loose the factors that made the first generation unique. Look at the first generation Saturn, Thunderbird, Mustang, and so on. Even the S2000 was made tamer with the AP2.

 

What MINI should have done is left the "Cooper" alone like the classic was for years and then do the Clubman, Countryman, Paceman, etc and then you have the small to large vehicles and different price range thru out your line up... The people who do want a small fun car could still get the Cooper for city driving and or track use...

 

Interesting .....

Just purchased 2020 JCW Clubman. Back a few cars ago owned 2011 JCW Clubman. In my eyes it would appear Mini kept most of the shape and lines the same but simply put the car in the 'Cooper Stretcher' ... LOL!

2011 JCW had a more aggressive no apologies in your face appearance.

2020 JCW more conservative appearance to possibly draw a bigger audience.

I believe the car still has the same driving personality, although it has been refined to the good.

The new look and size might be a good thing for the cars longevity ....

 

I like the new designs on all the Mini's, more than the old. More roomy, better technology and looks up to date.

 

I noticed the same thing when I was looking at the latest JCW Knights edition, the car is huge! I thought it was a first gen Countryman at first, same with the 4 door MCs, I saw one on the road and thought it was a first gen Countryman. Sadly it's what people want and what sells these days..

 

Your exactly right, and car forums follow the 1 percent rule. ( might be the 10% rule actually but you get the drift ) . Only 1 percent of the people who own said car are members of a forum, only 1 percent of them are active on said forum... So the ones who are active are a very small percentage of who is buying the car.. Most people who buy a MINI are just looking for a cute car that the whole family can fit in..

 

I feel like this post is from 2007.

 

Or 1967? Or ???

 

The 2007 is what brought me to Mini. Bigger does sell, it worked for me then but is it out of control now? I thought the Countryman was too big and dropped back down to the 2 door.

 

Does anyone have a run down of the weights of the successive generations?

I suspect that much of the "fun" of the earlier cars is due to the go cart handling, and thats almost entirely to do with having to shift less weight around. How much of the increasing weight is crash safety engineering related I wonder, and how much is "NVH" reduction related (ie increased civility). TBH I dont have much interest in the newer fatter "Minis", they appear pretty much to be cutesy small SUVs to me. I still wave at them of course, but seldom does anyone wave back, its just a different ownership demographic.

You just have to look at the number of cars with manual transmissions available to see where "driving enthusiasts" fit into the automakers priorities.

MINI/BMW will of course do what they think will shift the most metal / make the most profit for their shareholders. When as a brand you only sell 40-50k cars a year across a range of models it must gets harder and harder to justify the large investment needed to develop new platforms and models, so more and more engineering cross pollination seems likely, which could well dilute that distinctive "mininess" down to the point where there really is nothing unique about the driving experience. Perhaps we are already there:(

 

 

The positive side is that the build quality is night and day. I owned a gen 1 and stayed away until just several weeks ago because of memories of the cheap plastics, creaks, etc.
Now its like getting into a bmw or other luxury german auto.
But yes, I do wish the current regular 2 door hardtop and convertible were similar in size to the gen 1. On the other hand, I appreciate the larger offerings like the Countryman.

 

I can't remember who wrote that everyone thinks the golden age of baseball was when they were a kid. Maybe there's a corollary for MINIs.

BTW, I agree, MINIs are no longer mini enough.

 

Wow....I'm pleased to see so many comments from members about this post.

What is the first thing most of us picture when thinking about our cars? We think about the "look" of our car....right? Then, we picture ourselves behind the wheel, being spiritedly propelled down the road, looking thru the windshield and over the curved hood line....going thru the gears and feeling that glorious rush of boosted power. And....we always seem to have an uncontrolled smile on our faces while doing this. We experience these cars as an extension of our own personality.

The Mini is a "cool" car....and the experience of owning one of these wonderful little cars is "cool". Sadly, I think over the generations, little by little, Mini is taking the "cool" out of the Mini by shaping it into a weighty lump of neutralized metal which is no longer produced for the enthusiast but rather for the family guy with an itch for something a little different. I wonder what the Generation VI minis are going to be like? Ugh!

If any of you have ever had the pleasure, and the experience, of driving a Gen I JCW you are to be considered fortunate. Why does everything need to be "refined" or "improved"? That Gen I car was the essence of what the reborn Mini should have been, and should have stayed. BMW got it right the first time.

IMO the latest execution of the Mini represents compromise and mediocrity. I prefer "cool".

 

Wow. Yet another in a long line of threads bashing the 3rd Generation cars.

 

To quote Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

All cars have significant compromises. They each represent a balance that the manufacturer decided would sell at the time. Each generation has its fans. Those of us who prefer the first generation need to realize that we prefer something from the past. No problem with that until we come across sounding like we think our cars are better than theirs. Ours are better for us and theirs are better for them.

I would never buy a brown or green car. I think they are ugly. Brown interior in particular bugs the heck out of me. If they made nothing but brown and green cars with brown interior, I would never again buy a new car. That's my right in a free society. I do, however, respect those who are not as offended by brown and green cars. They have their reasons (which I do not understand) but I respect them. If fact, all the brown and green cars on the road make mine look so much better (to the few people who share my opinion).

Each generation has its fans. The forum as a whole is better off with the spectrum of MINIs represented. If the forum were divided to include only one generation each, one model each or better yet color specific of a single model and single generation, the little mini forums would each be lonely places.

Can't we all just get along?

 

Depends what getting along means. I don't care what other people do or what they like. If getting along means I'm not allowed to have an opinion, or people are going to get upset over opinions they don't agree with, then probably not.


There really isn't any contention in this thread, I don't see the problem. There is one post voicing displeasure at other people's opinions. That's about it.

 

I don't see anyone bashing anyone's opinion of a like or a dislike of a certain car. I see this thread as just motoring folks discussing the changes Mini has gone through over the years and yearning for the models gone by. People love the new models and people hate them. People love the old models and people hate them. It's how it is and always will be not just with Minis but all cars. Just something to talk about

 

I got rid of my Gen2 Cooper S because I desperately wanted something more refined and quite. Initially i was disappointed the 2019 JCW 2dr was larger but I was going to buy it anyway.

After 5 months of ownership (and upgraded front and rear sway bars) I'm loving it even more than the day I got it.

 

Thank you sir! Well said.

 

There are sub-forums for each generation and it seems like the "classic" MINI one is the least used one...
Personally, I like my G3 MCS. It definitely isn't a family car though. The back seats aren't much larger than my RX-8's. And I thought someone compared the dimensions of each of the recent generations and there wasn't as big of a difference as people thought?

 

This is primarily a North American / American forum. There are other dedicated Classic Mini forums, and not a bunch of classics around anyway in the states, compared to MINIs. And many classic owners want nothing to do with MINIs, they wouldn't come here in the first place.

 

This is a thread I couldn’t pass up... We currently own one of each generation of MINIs.
A 2004 Base Cooper
A 2012 Cooper S
and
A 2019 Cooper JCW

Each one has its pluses and minuses. My favorite is the 2012 Cooper S. My Wife’s favorite is the 2004 Cooper, probably because it is the only new car she picked out, built and ordered.

So where does that leave the Gen III JCW? Right in the middle. We both like it. My Wife likes it for its feels when she rides in it; she likes the seats and the secure feeling it has in corners. I like it for the power it has, the fact it still has a shifter, its out of the box handling and brakes. And it has more of a “go kart” feel to it than the 2007 Cooper S I had. I could do without the arm rest that interferes with shifting and the useless tach.

Has each generation gotten bigger and heavier? Not really. The Gen II is within fraction of an inch the same as the Gen I, except for the length, where the Gen II is about 2” longer. Weight is about the same for the same models (that is S compared to an S, etc).

When I got the Gen III JCW I would have said that it was a lot bigger than Gen II Cooper S. Being curious I did a comparison and posted it here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4467155

Again, the Gen III is within an inch or so of being the same size as the Gen II. And the weight is only about 100 lbs heavier. It has more of a “BMW” feel to it. A bad thing? No. Just different.

And the title of this thread is:

”New MINI design has gone to pot!”

If the intent of this thread was to elicit positive comments about the Gen III MINIs, it would have been better if that had been titled as a question. Better yet if it was a neutral question instead of a leading question.

There is a lot to like about the Gen III MINI, much for the same reasons people liked the Gen I and II MINI.

 

I hear you and I know that it is not the intent. That said, those of us with the first generation tend to say ours are the best generation and those with the third generation seldom present their side. The comment that "this is yet another in a long line of threads bashing the 3rd Generation cars" and on another current post a comment that a Honda Civic is just as fun of a car as the third generation Justa may be indications that we may have gone too far.

I have heard on other forums that NAM is primarily a forum for first generation MINIs. While I own a first generation MINI, I think it is a stronger forum if all MINIs are represented and appreciated.

I am just saying we may need to tone it back a bit before we unintentionally become a single generation forum.