Overall, reliability seems about the same to me.

 

IMO doing something as simple as masking the beltline helps the look in this regard. I think it brings the roof "down".

 

I thought that was peanut man.

 

Wanted an 07 MCS but was convinced by my son to buy an 06. He said that I would better understand the heritage of the Mini culture. When they fix this problem, I will look forward to purchasing a 2nd or 3rd generation MCS.http://www.motoringfile.com/2008/02/...issue-exposed/.

 

I'm surprised there have been no big uproar about the torque steer in the new MINIs. Everyone just says it's only a little any it's not that bad. It's like everyone accepts that it has to have torque steer, when BMW was so gung-ho to advertise that the old one had none. Now it just silently slipped off the list of what's great about the MINI. Will BMW slowly let more torque steer creep into the car? Longer overhangs? Maybe squeeze a V6 in there? It could slowly stop being the little FWD-car-that-is-as-fun-as-a-RWD into another heavy, average to poor-handling-FWD car.

 

Watch that slope, it's pretty slippery.

 

Actually, he's a Pomeranian. Just that we kept his hair short, especially for the summer. Way easier to take care of, and less hair ***** around the floor.

Here he is in the usual "winter outfit":

 

^awesome! I don't think I've ever seen a Pomeranian cut short. Pretty cute, both short and long.
/offtopic...


As far as the torque steer goes, does the factory lsd do enough to combat it, or no?

 

functionally, the r55 and r56 are better cars than the r50/r53. but i think the new ones look sort of...bloated on the outside (thank the new safety regulations), and the new interior looks like something out of a toy, whereas the r50/r53 interior looks very clean and simple. the fat silver buttons and the floating center console might be nice for some people, but i don't have a lot of love for it.

final verdict is i'm keeping my r50 and not trading in (plus indi blue is the best color ever), but if you want a more fuel-efficient car, you'd be hard pressed to find anything that gets as good mileage as an r56, but still seats 4 and drives like a sports car.

 

The BEST rounded car i have ever met, so therefore i fell in love with!

 

other than the chintzy buttons on the center console and the bloated front end, yes, the R56 is an amazing car.

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...re+page-3.html

yeah, looks like it's really regressing.

my question is, how much would the R56 outlap the R53 by if they were both tested at VIR by Car and Driver?

 

i had an r50 and am now the newly-proud owner of an r56.

i say newly b/c i fought about having to get an r56 because of the redesign. there were a few people in my local club that were 100% against the r56s and i actually started to loathe my new car.

after going to motd and seeing what can be done to the r56s paired with me actually driving it about 14k miles, i've really come to love it.

i love the turbo.. though i do kind of wish i had some burble

 

i drove the both the R53 MCS and the R56 MCS (convertible) and if i had stopped there, i would have never bought a MINI. that powerplant is flat out the worst part of the car.

i am fortunate that BMW saw fit to develop the new aluminum turbocharged powerplant. it really is a different driving experience.

 

they are ALL lovely vehicles!

 

When my finances are sorted enough I will have another MINI. I doubt I will go used R53 as getting the options right... Well kinda imposible. The good thing is that things like rear Fogs are do-able. But used R53 are not going for significantly less money to justify purchasing used over ordering new.

 

Maybe the fact that the resale value on the R53 is 90% of the new MSRP should say something about the car...

 

what does it say, actually?

 

That is a pretty damn good car and the Supercharged TRITEC engine is virtually bulletproof. I love this engine and reason #1 I don't plan to let go of my '05 R53 S for a very long time to come.

This engine worst part of the car? Geez, give me a break!

 

R56 MCS convertible is not on sale yet. Get your models straight, would ya?

R52 = MC and MCS convertibles (1st gen body and powertrain, still on production until end of 2008)

R53 = MC and MCS hardtop first gen made from July 2001 until November 2006

R55 = MC and MCS Clubman, launched November 2007 (UK and Europe) and February 2008 (US)

R56 = MC and MCS hardtop, launched November 2006 (UK and Europe) and February 2007 (US)

R57 = MC and MCS convertible second generation to be launched November 2008 (UK Europe) and February 2009 (US)

R60 = MINI SAV codenamed Colorado, AWD, 4 doors slightly raised, to be launched at the end of 2010 as a 2011 model.

Hope this helps

 

driven back to back with the new turbocharged 1.6L, the supercharged iron block is a total dog.

 

That's an opinion not shared by many.

Better? Maybe, maybe not. So much better that it makes the TRITEC seem like a dog? Nope.

Dean.

 

it's just my opinion.

for example, when was the last time you drove the two engines back to back within an hour's time?

my sense of it is that a lot of the people who 'have' opinions on the matter actually haven't the empirical data for themselves and a lot of it is kneejerk.

 

I drove the two cars back to back to back to back (I drove my MA nuts!) on several occasions before buying. I found the quoted empirical data of zero to sixty times of 6.7 seconds for the R56 and 6.8 seconds for the R53 to probably be true as I could tell no difference between the cars in quickness ...even taking the cars up to 80 and doing some aggressive passing the power of the two cars did not seem all that different to me. Sure, they have different power bands, but I did not find one advantageous over the other. Just my 2-cents worth.

My decison was predominantly made by a bunch of other factors. But concerning the engine, I decided to go with the known rather than the unknown (this was early '07).

Dean.

 

you're a rare bird who can actually admit that you've driven both back to back.



i much preferred the AUC power of the turbo motor because i found the supercharged motor to be resistant to revving freely. there's no question that there are many aftermarket things that can make the engine a monster, but as an OEM piece, i found it wanting.