New to this forum, and new to the idea of buying a Mini. I searched for a debate on this issue, and didn't find anything (which really surprised me!)

I live over 150 miles from a dealer, but am heading to one this weekend, as I know that I need to see both in person, but wondering if someone can generalize on how the nightfire red differs from the chili red? The dealer does not have a nightfire in stock, so I cannot do a side-by-side comparison.

On my monitor (which who knows how accurate its color rendering is!), the nightfire has more of a "ruby" red look to it, while the chili borders on an orange-ish hue to it.

How do they look in real life? I know red is a tough color to reproduce well, as it can go orange, pink, etc.

 

What do you think of when you think of red? You think of stop signs, or fire engines, or whatever. Well, that is Chili Red. It's a really bright ... red!

Nightfire is not really red. It's smoky, hazy, dark-ish with a hint of red. But when someone says red relative to Nightfire, they say red because it's not blue, or green or yellow, or orange, or whatever. If you have to put a color to Nightfire, red is the color you'd put to it, but red is not what it is.

 

you may also want to know that the nightfire red is only avalible on the Standard cooper. so if your buying a S this wouldnt matter much would it.

 

Boy my monitor is REALLY off! The nightfire looks like the way you describe the chili, tho a little "richer" than a stop sign.

Thanks for the descriptions!

 

Chili is also non-metallic whereas Nightfire is metallic...I think

 

I worked on a Nightfire Red Clubman at MOTD and it looked almost exactly like Velvet Red (and yes it's metallic) but slightly more orangy. It looks nothing like Chili Red which is flat and bright.

This is Velvet Red on a Cooper (tends to be a bit on the maroon side over Nightfire Red)


This is a metallic red on a BMW 740i I worked on recently that was also very similar


These look nothing like Chili Red

 

I LOVE nightfire red... not too crazy about chili. dunno why. Too bright? Not metallic? who knows

I would have got my clubman with nightfire but you can't get it on a S.

S > nightfire I guess I ended up going with lightning blue

 

Nightfire red looks different in different color lights. Sometimes it's more maroon, in bright sun it looks more orange, and at night, it looks near black, until you drive under a streetlight and the metallic seems to "flash"...then you disappear again.

The other thing with the 2 reds..it tends to look different depending on the colors surrounding it..a NFR or Chili with a white roof looks drastically different than a NFR or Chili with a black roof.

 

I am very partial to Chili Red as I own a '05 MCS (and before it a '04 CR/W S). I think it is a great color that goes well with any MINI model. It has history and tradition behind it, and costs $0 when ordering it.

I LOVED Velvet Red when it was available way back in 2002-2003 in the R50 Cooper and then again the somewhat "rare" Solar Red metallic that was offered only on a few handful of 2006 R50 Cooper hardtops (It was in production for the first 6 months of the 2006 model year).

Nightfire Red is very handsome and looks best on the Clubman with Silver roof. It also works with a black roof or roof body color matched. I am not sure Nightfire red works with a white roof that well.

Unfortunately, all the "metallic" reds every offered by MINI have never been available in the Cooper S, only the regular Cooper. If you want a red "anything" Cooper S (Whether it is a hardtop, cabrio or Clubman) it has to be Chili Red.

I think my next MINI after the R53 S will also be a Clubman S either Chili Red or Laser Blue. Yep, Laser Blue is really growing on me, but I still have a soft spot for Chili Red.

Red looks fastest!

 

Ever hear of a brochure from the dealer? My dealer also has a GIANT display with on the wall with color chips that are about 1 foot x 1 foot in diameter. Geez, this isn't rocket science. If your dealer cant provide you with some form of information to base a color choice on, you should probably look for another dealer.

 

Bottom line.....NightFire Red = maroon, Chili Red = red.

 

I think the NightFire red will be more fade resistant too.

 

We loved the brightness of the Chili Red. To us, it really seemed to stand out more than others.

 

Ever hear of reading the post? If you'd kindly read the original post, I'm over 150 miles from a dealer. Not all of us are fortunate enough to have a local Mini dealer!

 

some dealers will email you pics of cars they have on the lot. since you are so far away why not try and have them do that .

 

Thanks! Not a bad idea, but I'm going to be near one Friday so I'll get to see them in person! Just wanted general comments to help me before then, and surprised that I didn't find a similar thread (maybe I just didn't use the right search terms, who knows!)

But the in-person part solves the issue of questionable accurate color rendering with the monitor...and is of course the ONLY way to judge for myself!

 

Very true!! I hemmed n hawed between British Racing Green and Lightning Blue for a while. When all was said and done, LB won out because it seemed more 'alive' than the green... had a bit more 'pop' and 'flair'.... but of course, I still love BRG too... next time

 

Geez, chill already!

Here's my totally subjective take on it:

Chili red is a bright and assertive in all but the CR/CR combination. In a CR/W combo it's playful, almost flamboyant, and pretty much iconic new MINI.

The other MINI reds are more subtle reds. I kinda agree with Dennisd63 that the other mini reds don't pair with that well with a white roof, but well, that's more of that subjective (and in my case, probably conservative, tastewise!) stuff.

I think the smileys capture the color differences pretty well:

chili:
VR (a little darker than NFR< I think):

Have fun putting your MINI together!

 

so, there is chili red and nightfire red and there was velvet red and solar red.....any other reds? does anyone one have a pictures of each of the four reds side by side?

 

All 4 reds in one picture? I doubt it. I have some of velvet red and chili red, but that's as close as I can get.

 

A friend of mine at work has an 02 Velvet red...much darker, maroon color than mine...The other diff, his roof is white and mine is black..which also makes a diff!

 

Good representation of Nightfire Red:


Decent representation of Chili Red (IMO):


If I could have bought Nightfire Red on my Cooper S, I would have in a heartbeat.

 

I love that pic of NFR with those dark rims! Again, it changes the whole car!

 

Here are a couple of Velvet Red / Chili Red comparisons taken by the owner of the Chili Red (not me, the Velvet Red is mine):



As the next two are more "artsy", they aren't that useful for comparison

 

Here is Dave Bunting's 2006 R50 Cooper (Solar Red/Silver roof/Silver bonnet strip, exterior chrome pack):