Did about 450 miles, mostly rural hwy, some light city. Avg 32.5 mpg (guess I did not drive it hard enough)

Overall a great experience. Once I figured out all the options and how they worked, it was easy. Phone paired at the dealer, and bluetooth was a breeze to use while rowing the gears. Daughter paired her iPod to the system and she was happy.

Seats were comfy, though I'd have loved more tilt options to the bottom cushion. My cheek (one more than the other) was pretty sore after two hours, but a light quick stretch made it more tolerable. Otherwise I love how the seat cradles you with decent bolsters (I was not slinging through twisties).

Audio is good, not great, but good. I have the hi-fi system, and it was fine, but really could be significantly better with a few twists and tweaks.

Stored a load of stuff in the boot, back seats down, boot box is good for smaller items, and hardly heard a noise from any of it.

Overall very quiet ride on the interior, killed a gaggle of bugs on the last hour or so in darkness.

Cleaned up in the rain today, so it still looks fine.

Oh yeah, rest of family had no idea I did this (bought the MCS) so it was interesting to see some reactions. Wife not really a car person, not totally thrilled with the idea, two of my three kids laughed, other relatives asked me if I was joining the circus, I just kept my mouth shut and enjoyed the drive.

 

Nice, glad to hear you're enjoying your Mini. Completely agree w/you with the Hi Fi -- good, not great. A couple of things improved things a bit for me -- the quality of the source material and the audio settings.

Store bought CDs, as well as lossless like FLAC sound so much better than vanilla 128kbps MP3s - something about this particular audio system that really highlights the difference in sound quality between the different formats. I've actually put away my Zune and replaced it with an iAudio X5 in the Mini, only because I can play FLAC as well as get BBE and Mach Bass enhancements, they make the audio system sound so much better.

As for settings, +3 on Bass, +2 on treble and -2 on Fader work for me

 

Eric you are definitely adding those miles on quick since Astro arrived.
But then again these MINI's are meant to be driven.
And thank you for sharing your driving and family experience with us so far.

 

WOW! It must be fate... My family and I just returned home from our first break in run as well. About 650 flawless miles driven this weekend to take the total to about 5,200. And I must say that we loved every minute of it. Three medium size bags fit nicely in the boot. Car cooler on the back seat with the 6 year old along with the portable DVD player and Nintendo DS. iPod blasting Margaritaville. Aside from that, car was quiet; not a squeak, rattle, shudder or moan.

The family hit the roof with joy. I had to take 6 people for a test drive on Friday afternoon during the family barbeque. Couldn't even enjoy a cold beer. LOL And one of my family members asked to drive! I deftly sidestepped that little request. Sorry Val! The other big hits were the ambient lighting and the bluetooth.

Have to share one anecdote... Was pulling onto the highway after refueling at California Dreamin' (for the people) and BP (for the MINI) and what do I have beside me but an 18-wheeler doing about 80 in the slow lane. In my old car I would have slowed down and let the big fella pass. Not in Darkrai... Sport mode had already been engaged so all I had to do was whip smoothly through the gears and that JCW tuned engine flung us past that truck with almost no effort... I darn near cried. My wife said, Wow! And my son shouted for me to do it again! Can you say autocross...

Love this car! Love it!