Hello all!
Just thought I would put forth a small review based on the trip my wife and I just took. It was my father-in-law's 70th birthday on Wednesday, so we decided to pack up on Monday and drive up to see him and spend a few days in Oxford. It seemed strange bringing MCS Jack home...I think he enjoyed it.
First, let me say that Jack can make people happy just by sharing the road with them. His Chili Red paint and full coverage Union Jack roof (thanks Cooper Flags!) seem to cut a swath of cheer through the dull grind of autobahn/motorway travel. There were children smiling and waving all along the way...some of them over 40!
Comfort: I was very surprised, but this is a comfortable car on a long journey! It is just over 500 miles one way, and we only stopped twice...once for coffee and once to get rid of the coffee . We stayed in the car during the Chunnel crossing and napped in the reclined seats...very nice. The suspension/tires were excellent as well. I opted for the all season non-run flats (no sport package, so standard suspension). Plush enough for the long haul, but tight enough to enjoy high speeds and twisty English country roads with ease.
Engine: Wow! The first hundred miles of the journey were the last hundred of Jack's break-in period. I thought the engine was strong up to 4K revs...I had no idea what was waiting past that. We crossed Belgium and France at 80mph average (all motorway) and then slaved through the M25/M40 once we got to England, but once on the back roads around Oxford, Jack came alive! In sport mode, the car felt like a cat ready to pounce. So instant was the engine's power, so in tune with even the slightest change in pressure on the throttle, it felt like I was driving by thought alone. On the way back through Germany to get back home, we decided to see how the engine did at higher speeds. Let's just say there are some confused BMWs and Mercs out there still trying to figure out what that thing was with the Union Jack on the top that flew past them. I am not sure what the top speed is or if there is a governor on the engine, but it is past 145mph 'cause that is as high as I wanted to take it and there was still more there. That said, cruising at 120 felt very stable and the engine was still very responsive.
Handling: Not to sound cliche, but it really does handle like a go cart. Pushing it on some of the back roads get the understeer going, but certainly not uncontrollable. One thing that I didn't like was mid corner adjustments to line. Jack seemed to quickly protest before regaining his composure and reattacking the curve. Roundabouts were especially fun and gave a good chance to check out quick directional change (going through hard right around the roundabout with a quick flick left to exit the roundabout). There is some body roll, but nothing gets out of sorts. I think sway bars are in Jack's future though.
Mileage: Spirited driving and all: 31.5mpg Now, seeing as how my average highway speed for the first 800 miles of the trip was 75-85mph and the last 150 was laced with jaunts up to 145 and cruising at 120mph, I would say that is pretty good mileage!
Stereo: Why didn't I get the better stereo? My iPod has over 20 hours of 80's music on it...we listened to it the whole time. I did notice that there was a lot of the music missing though, particularly midrange and bass...would have been much better with an upgraded stereo. I don't know what the top shelf one sounds like, but I have the Logic 7 in my 335i and that is great...if it is anything similar, it is probably worth getting.
Overall: I would not have normally chosen the MCS as my weapon of choice for a long trip. My BMW 335i is bred for this, so why take a smaller car with less luggage room and a much smaller engine? Well, my father-in-law wanted to see it first of all. Second, I wanted to test its practicality; is it just an around town car, or is its resume a bit broader? The MCS is whatever you want it to be. There is no niche that it fits, no corner of the market that it is made for. It does it all, long haul, around town, autobahn screamer, British back road carver...and it does it all very well. And while it is doing all things well, it puts a smile on the drivers face...and chances are, on the bystander's watching it go by.

 

Thank you for this write up I enjoyed it very much.

 

Cool story of a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing.

CROC 411

 

Very nice writing. Good info and insight.

We did 7 western states, round trip 4000+ miles. You got 3 COUNTRIES and didn't have to drive near as far. Wow.

 

Thank you for posting, that was a very enjoyable read

 

I appreciate the story, thanks for sharing

 

A very nice write up and thank you for sharing your trip adventure with us

 

Ditto. You started my morning off wonderfully!
Thanks!

 

great story! sounds like you really enjoyed your road trip.

 

Thank you so much ukthunderace for your tale of Travels with Jack.

Most entertaining and enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great car that MINI! Hope you and Jack share many miles and smiles together!

Enjoy & Motor On!

 

Is that imperial or US gallons?

We just did LA and back for the weekend (400 miles each way) in Shawn and that's the sort of mileage we got in terms of US gallons. (33.8 there, 31.6 back.) I agree with most of what you say, the seats got a little hard on the butt after a few hundred miles, and needed to be adjusted carefully so they didn't catch me under the left thigh.

Also the MCS disposes of mountains with no effort at all. To get to LA, you go over the Grapevine, which goes up 4000ft in 6 miles. Shawn took that at 70 and had plenty of power left to get around any road slugs.

 

I am glad you all enjoyed it...we certainly enjoyed the trip!

The mileage was in US rather than imperial. It was at 33.2mpg before we hit the autobahn on the way back. Needless to say, we dipped heavily into that
I did find myself wishing for cruise control once or twice so I could reposition myself in the seat, but overall, it wasn't too bad at all.

 

great story....thank u 4 sharing it with us

 

Nice write-up.

I have a Travels With Jack t-shirt and luggage tags, but they refer to
the excellent Jack Flanders stories on tape or cd or mp3 that ZBS does.

http://www.zbs.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=1

 

My "Blue Dude" MCS is somewhere off the coast of central America at this moment. Stories like this make my right foot twtch. Soon...very soon. Thanks for the write up.

 

Nice choice of MINI name, heheh.

 

Your review has a lot more to say, and says it much more eloquently, than the media reviewers'. They are too much in love with their biases and their writing style. Thanks for an informative, enjoyable read.