faster is the 2nd gen than the 1st gen mini, I am currently looking for a mini and am torn between new and used. So i have driven a new mini and just drove an 06 yesterday and the 08 seems noticibly faster. Am I mistaken? But on the other hand the 06 seems to have more of a go-kart feel to it.

Anyone who has owned both models if you could ad some insight it would be very appreciated.

 

My garage has both an the 07 convertible, which is the supercharged R53, and my '07 hardtop which is the R56, I have alos driven some pretty well built R53's. My R56 has them all on torque and power delivery. The two cars are completely different animals handling wise. However I am not sure which I really like better, luckily I can afford to own both, cause it is a hard choice, they both have some serious benefits over each other.

Alot would depend upon why you are buying the car, if you are looking for toy to play with, go with the older, there s far more reliable aftermarket upgrades and parts availible. The R56 the aftermarket is just starting to develop so some things are still fuzzy and rough. If you plan on buying a Mii and leaving it as is, just driving and enjoying it, buy the R56, it is an incredible versital well manner, and gets great gas milage.

Either way you can't lose.

 

to me i liked how tight the r53 felt, but i forgot to press the sport button when i drove the r56 which i hear makes quite a difference.

But the power delivery felt much better on the r56 than the r53, when I floored the R53 it didnt seem to get up nearly as quickly as the r56, also I had one more person in the r56 in the test drive than the r53

 

Yep, power delivery is much earlier on the R56, sport button tightens up the steering response, and changes the throttle map a bit. The button really doesn't make a huge difference, but it does make the car feel tighter.

 

allright well if you had to go for one which would it be the r56 or r53

 

R56 for me without a doubt

 

The R56 is a far superior motor, and over time will show much more potential. I would easily buy the R56

 

The engine in the R56 just won the Engine of the Year award in the 1.4 to 1.8 category, (in the 2008 International Engine of the Year competition).

 

we have both MC's in our garage and we usually take my 06 on MINI runs as it is more go-cart friendly and so much fun to push to the limits. The 08 is a much more daily driver friendly if you ask me and smoother to drive in my opinion. Depending on your set up I agree that the R56 is a wonderful MINI with great response.....There are many things that I enjoy much more on the 08 R56 than my 06 R50 but still wouldnt trade my 06 for anything...except maybe a MINI D which isnt happening anytime soon!

 

thanks for all the input so far guys, I do agree with how you described the driving differences between the two tdm156.

I think the r53 has a better go cart feel to it, but I think that over time the r56 is going to surpass it in mod-ability. So I think that i will be going for the r56 unless I find a very good deal on an r53 that has the color scheme that I want.

Best thing about a new car you get to put it together just the way that you want.

 

I have both an 05 MCSC and an 07 MCS Hardtop as well. I will say my 05 MCSC modded a weee bit will beat the r56 hands down in handling and acceleration. That being said...the R56 will come into its own once people really crack the ECU and provide more gogo goodies then are currently offered.