I was reading today that the R56 motor was voted motor of the
year in the 1.4 to 1.8 liter catergory by the International Motor association.This
engine has won this award 5 years in a row.Im even more impressed with
my Mini now.

 

Too bad it doesn't have a dip stick you can read.

 

New here. Is this the same engine as the R55?

 

I'm a newbie ,but from what I read it's across all models.

 

seems that the association doesn't consider reliability...

 

I'm 73 and have owned a lot of cars in my day.Its been my experience that if I maintained
them properly and didn't abuse them my cars responded in kind.

 

Yes, the Prince engine is used in all 2nd gen MINIs. There's 4 variations used in the US: N12 and N16 are normally aspirated and the N14 and N18 are the turbocharged versions.

I agree with Erkis2, take care of your machines and they will take care of you.

 

How? With all the timing chain issues and carbon build-up, I would not have thought this award possible. I guess I don't know what the parameters are for "motor of the year", but I would have thought service calls would have been considered. The timing chain issues have nothing to do with maintaining the car. That was a flaw in engine design. Same with carbon build-up, to a degree. I agree that normal routine maintenance is always the best idea, and something I practice whole-heartedly, but any engine worth it's salt should be able to handle abuse within its normal operating range. I'm not going to baby an engine so that it lasts - that's sucking the fun out of the car.

 

Sorry, but industry is full of bad design experiences, everyone who did just a little research about THP engines knows that it has at least one major fail in the design of the timing chain tension and crank pulley. (appart from others)
Carbon build up is another example of a mistake of the automotive industry running behind the anti-contamination regulations.
All direct injected engines has the same problem, do your research..