Well, journalists have had their first go at driving R56 MINIs in Spain following the Paris Auto Show...a press embargo is in place til 10/10, though.

However, as often seems the case, one South African article has appeared here. Many more to come in the days ahead!!!

 

Great find! Very interesting read that only serves to exacerbate my want of a MINI!

 

Wow, the pictures of that test car made me like the R56 A LOT more!

1.) It's nice to see it in red/black, a more classic color combo
2.) The stance looks appropriately low for the first time
3.) The interior shot with the carbon/silver dash is awesome

 

Automobile magazine says that preliminary R56 test drives display a "Tail Happy" tendency of the car and a more marked FWD handling demeanor.

 

link, please?

 

Rumor on MINI2 is that the MCSs used for the press test drive in Spain were tweaked/refined even from what was driven at Zandvoort. Intriguing. This is gonna be fun!!!

 

That's not a quite from the article, if you're talking about the October 2006 issue's First Drive article.

"Lift-throttle stability has been increase, idiotproof understeer has been dialed up, and the car is still steerable with the throttle -- but, in the end the whole package is less satisfying."

"...the '07 Mini is still a fine car. And while it may be less satisfying for the enthusiast, it also works better in the real world."

That's as close as it gets. Have you got something more recent?

-W-

 

Paul at Mini2 has his test drive up. Good stuff, as always:

http://www.mini2.com/article402-full...ve-report.html

Jmelrose

 

Excellent....thanks!!

Apparently Paul's test drive was with the sport suspension and MINI is hooking him up to drive the standard suspension. For my money, Paul's opinion is gospel. An article with information on the standard suspension was done by autocar (which they seemed to prefer over sport), but I'm rather have an apples-to-apples comparison from Paul since he's so familiar w/ MINIs. Either way, I'm more interested in the Cooper, but this info will do.

 

That's about the best review I've read on the New MINI. Every other review has left me a little depressed. I'm in the market for a new Mini and have been trying to decide between an 06 or 07.

 

nice review but i did not feel and ounce of "wow" in his voice despite the numerous positive things he found.

 

Yes, Paul is really good at picking up the little nuances based on some very solid time in the driver's seat of various MINIs. As for the wow-factor, yes I definitely heard it, but it wasn't "wow, this MINI is awesome and R50/53 is crap." No...the good part is that the two cars appear to work so well each on their own level. Seems even Paul noticed immediate differences but was having even more of a blast w/ some time behind the wheel. That is a very MINI thing.

Lovers of R50/53 should be proud...those seeking an R56 should be excited and intrigued. Apparently R56 has much to offer and I for one an chompin' at the bit to motor permanently in one (a Cooper) myself (my R50 is leaving, but staying in the family).

Really, if Paul's assessment is correct, we are supremely lucky.....this iteration of the MINI is very, very good. What the future holds...who knows...but for now I think all is well in MINI-land.

I recommend we put away our daggers and learn, as enthusiasts, to appreciate all that MINIs can now offers to real motorers.

 

maybe i should give autocar the benefit of the doubt, being that i have never read any other piece by them, but that review just seemed poorly structured, scattered and overall without any real insight. Thank god for MINI2. The comparision in writing alone between the two should, in my opinion, speak for the caliber of their publications.

 

Fifth Gear Review

Not 100% positive but they did give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Highlight:

 

I like this bit, which may explain some of the negative responses:

So you're going faster at lower revs, so it doesn't feel as exciting because you're not hearing the engine rev up high, so you don't get the feedback from your ears about how hard you're pushing the engine.

Why do you think folks buy aftermarket exhausts that make more noise? Because they want the 1-2 BHP gains? Maybe. Because now the car sounds better? Probably. Because with more noise from the exhaust it feels like you're going faster? That's gotta be part of it.

Imagine what would happen if NASCAR or Indy went all-electric...

-W-

 

From Top Gear's Review:

We're not mad on:
1) Unoriginal styling - hard to see what they expected on this, I think most enthusiasts are happy w/ as few changes as possible.
2) Poorly placed heater and window controls - poorly placed? Hadn't heard this before. And because the cup-holder is in the way? C'mon.
3) Still as cramped as previous car. - Top Gear always harps on this because they perceive the MINI as a 2+2 and not a true four-seater...it's never been a problem for me and I carry back-seat passengers all the time. Ya'd think as popular as (they admit) the current MINI is, this is a bit of a non-issue at this point. Maybe the Clubman will be more to their liking.

 

"Grip levels are massive, a magnitude higher than those of the previous generation car, but scalpel-sharp chassis responses and a pretty much spot-on handling balance mean that it's relatively easy to find yourself driving in close proximity to them."

this is a nice statement. However, the reviewer also noted that the suspension and whole undercarriage is identical to the 1st series.

Maybe just a swap to a smoother progressive spring and a copy cat of FSD struts?

 

Missed a downshift and blew off the top of the engine? Wow.

 

True....also interesting that the Top Gear folks spent a good bit of time w/ the standard suspension and actually seemed to prefer it to the sport suspension which they found too jittery? Add to that the fact that no one has even had chance one to play with the "sports mode" button. Nice to have viable options, but how in the world can a potential owner sift through all this on a test drive on normal roads??? Seems some track time would be required. I guess that's our problem.

 

Isn't the track different? So that means the contact point have to be different, and hence a different (although close) geometry....

FWIW, moving a single connection point can really change the dynamics of a suspension.... But then, if the parts do bolt up to equivalent contact points on the chassis, any improvement in the new parts can be bolted onto the older...

Matt

 

That MINI2 review sealed the deal on my deposit/order for a new mini.

 

There are many people that have tried to get much higher girp levels out of their MINIs for autocross and most come back to the same conclusion for the current MINI - wider wheels, stickier tires and 2+ degrees of negative camber is where 90% of the current MINIs untapped grip levels are.

The new MINI is larger, slightly heavier and softer sprung. I wonder, what BMW did to the R56 to achieve that type of improvement while keeping the car more civilzed. Runflat tires actually designed to work on the R56 and more negative camber up front?

 

...which would be wrong, as the multi-link rear, though similar to the 1st generation MINI, has been pretty much completely re-done. Recieving aluminum trailing arms and other tweaks similar to the GP design. Valving and camber tweaks exist up front, too. I guess you could say it's still a McPhearson set up in front with a multi-link rear and therefore it's the same... but it would be a very over-generalized description.

Not exactly... the car is 2.4 inches longer (all from the newly redesigned front bumper)... but the R56 roofline is actually LOWER and the car is 20-some-pounds LIGHTER than the first generation MINI.

More importantly (and I would guess responcible for a good deal of the performance enhancement as well) the car's center of gravity is much lower and has been shifted slightly towards the the center of the car (intercooler positioning combined with the total 180-degree roation of the engine with headers and turbo up front).

You probably know this, but I would also say that a low car with rock-hard springs and a stiff ride doesn't necessarily mean a better handling car at speed.

Little details for sure, but it sounds like they are working together to increase the overall ability of the car.

 

Oh, pleeeeeze I hope they haven't taken away any headroom. I fit fine in the current model, if they took an inch off to keep the car looking right, I'm going to be screwed.

I can't fit well into a BMW 325i -- I don't have enough shoulder room and my head's nearly into the headliner. The Cooper I don't have that problem because the door line is straight, not angled in, and the roof line is taller (relatively speaking). But with more airbags, I now worry that they've raised the seats and lowered the roof, killing the legroom and headroom for tallfolk who, like me, have too much extra padding down below. :impatient

-W-

 

My next mini then is going to be a 1960's jobby. at least I cant complain about style or room inside.