sorry for the crappy iphone pic... picked her up late last night... I was pleasantly surprised by the "get up and go" of this thing.... coming off from a modded R53 6 speed, I thought this MCSa though turbo won't be as peppy but boy, was I wrong. Fiddling with the paddles and sport button really revealed a lot about this car. I can't wait to get this "broken in" anyway, here's the pics... here's a pic of it's brother that I picked up last year.....




here's my beloved R53 that the R56 replaces.... (I just knew I couldn't go long without a mini in the garage)

 

Congrats! I did the exact same thing 2 weeks ago (R53 to R56) and was also surprised by the response and power of the R56...at least once you hit the sport button. Without that, it's a little sluggish off the line. I do wish that the sport button in the MCSa would do it's thing without messing with the 5th to 6th shift point though, it basically disables 6th which is ok for twisties but on the highway it means I have to be in full manual to get 6th or lose the sport button throttle response.

Here's to the end of break-in when I can really see what this car can do....halfway there nearly.

 

that's awesome... I've been doing a few spirited runs with the sport button on and manual on the tranny. I can't believe I'm having this much fun with an auto.... Can't wait for the break in process to be complete.
here are some pics from within my garage. Sorry for the messy garage.

here's a pic of the interior....

 

just came back from a sprited drive through the canyons and thought I would share some thoughts on my new mini.
- certainly tourquey. I was able to get some pretty decent speeds in the corners even though I was limited to 4.5k. I can definitely say that it's not as "free-revvin'" as my R53 was but certainly makes up for it in the torque dept.
- auto trans is a blast. I just had to get acclimated with when to downshift before corners since there is an ever so slight lag in changing gears. All in all though, I'm pretty happy with it. I kind of figured out the "let go of the gas" trick when changing gears. Slightly similar to the SMG but I seem to like the way this tranny reacts better than the SMG.
- tires definitely have to go. Runflats are just anchors and tend to produce a fair amount of understeer in the corners. I had to adjust my lines coming in but it was manageable. I good set of lightweight wheels and stickier non flat tires but do wonders with this thing in the canyons.
- haven't really felt the dreaded torque steer much. I've taken it hard out of corners and hit 6k rpm a couple of times (accidentaly, of course ) but really didn't notice much out of the ordinary
- neither with the lag. can't really say if it's the turbo lag I'm feeling or the auto tranny so can't really comment on this one. Maybe a few more hours of seat time.

Sorry for the long post. I had a blast in taking it up the canyons and thought I would share the fun

next up, intake, wheels/tires.

 

I love the auto as well. It gives you a lot of options.

Let me know the next time you go for drive through the canyons. I live around the corner from where Copper Hill and Bouquet almost meet and think it would be fun to do a "MINI" rally. My son and I love to drive up Bouquet, across Spunky Canyon and down San Franscisquito Cyn. Or up to Lake Elizabeth to San Franscisquito Cyn.

 

That's exactly the route I took this morning! Most definitely. I will give you a shout the next time I go. I usually go on Saturday or Sunday morning with my M3. Now I have the mini to run too.

 

Cool. I even have a friend with an R53 that lives off of Lake Eliz Rd that would probably join us. Let me know.

Until summer, Sundays work better for me. PM me a few days ahead of time and we'll set it up.

 

Congrats Asaulo! Looks great. Your BMW coupe is cool, too. I have your MINI's fraternal twin coming in on Thursday. 6 speed instead of AT and brushed aluminum dash. Keep having fun!

 

congrats!! i PMed you about socal dealerships in the past. Strangely enough we got the same car. PW/B MCS in auto.

 

Congrats! I agree with your summation of the AT it really surprised me when I drove, not quite at the level of DSG, but otherwise the fasted TC auto I've ever seen.

 

I agree... it would be tough to not have a MINI in the garage.

 

Hey Owl. Where did you end up getting yours at? I was almost ready to pull the trigger on a BRG/B one by southbay but it had more equipment so more $$$$.... this ones a really bare one... nothing except for the auto tranny which suits us just fine... Cheers... Hope to see you around.