I drive a 2006 MC with some nice extras, including John Cooper exhaust. It's a 5-speed, and the other day I had it in to the dealer for the front breaks. 90k miles, and almost nothing has broke on the car. Center rear tail-light asm went bad, lost an engine mount, and a thermostat replaced under warranty. That's about it. So you can imagine how happy I am with my Mini, even after 6 years there's still a ton of joy in owning it.

But that's not the point of this post. Was simply blown-away by how much the Mini has changed since I bought mine. All been incremental, and the end result is the R60 aka Countryman. I got the chance to drive one as a loaner while the breaks were being done on mine. It was an "S" with a 6-speed manual.

Words can't describe the sensation of driving the thing. Especially the interface between driver and pedals, especially the clutch. My R50 has a Getrag transmission in it, and I don't think I ever fully appreciated it until I drove the R60.

The clutch in the R60 feels like its assembled from chop-sticks and rubber bands. There's way more intitial resistance when depressing the pedal than my R50, but then after about 2 inches of travel, there is no resistance at all as the pedal plunges to the floor. Even were it a riding lawn mower, I think I would have been disappointed. But alas, that is at least something I could probably get used to eventually.

Not so the placement of the left foot rest, which is mounted atop a pedestal. It is impossible to push the clutch in without the left side of your left foot hitting this monstrosity of a foot rest, especially if you like to use the ball of your left foot when pushing the pedal down. There is simply no getting used to that, I found myself using the three toes on the far left of my foot including my pinky toe when pushing the pedal down. Was the only way I could prevent my foot from getting hung-up on the foot rest.

And before anyone asks, --I wear a size 9.5-D shoe, it's not like I have elephant feet or anything like that.

Anyway, I'm just trying to imagine how anyone who has owned an R50 or R53 could ever possibly find themselves satisfied with the R60. It feels plain awkward to drive, and I would be afraid I would get my feet tangled-up and wreck the thing if I ever really leaned into it for a little fun.

 

A new clutch goes to the floor a lot easier and takes some time for the grease to kind of break in. My did the same thing when replacing the clutch and now it is fine.

 

I test drove an R60 a while back and I did find the clutch of the R60 to be a bit weird and possibly hard to drive with long term, but I had only been driving stick for about a month and thought it was my inexperience. Either way, I much prefer the mechanical feel of the getrag.

 

I once had a 5-speed manual 1994 Saturn SL2. The throws of the shifter were about twice what the Mini is, really got to throw the elbow into it. And the gearing was so fuel effecient that folks would lay on the horn about the time I made it into 3rd gear becaue I was going so slow. But the clutch was nice even when depressed, just like the Getrag. I'm just guessing, but I suppose the clutch on an R60 is sourced in Japan or Mexico.

 

1st gens are built for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3feUW...ailpage#t=282s

2nd gens are built for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTi_S...tailpage#t=30s

 

In all seriousness, prior to getting my R50, I test-drove a Countryman S in manual and had the worst driving experience ever (in a manual car). The clutch on it is awful. It's almost as if they designed the car and then thought "wait a second... maybe we should put a clutch on it".