How is this possible?

Zip

 

yes i second that motion too please explain??

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, that's how it's possible.

 

That's what I said

 

Actually — muscle is denser, firmer and takes up less space (than fat).

Therefore, if you're bigger but lighter — you're fatter.

 

That's what I've heard too.

 

I was at the dealer this morning and they've mixed up the parking arrangement of the R56s, the R50s, and the R53s...they're all intermingled at the moment. So I was standing back looking at the front ends and bonnets of all the cars. R50s bonnet slopes down...R53s has good-sized a bulge where the (functional) scoop is located...R56s seems somewhere in-between those two. So, the R56 Cooper has a higher, more blunt front end than the R50, while the R53s seemed to have more of a pronounced bulge than the R56 MCS. Not sure if that makes sense but that's how it seems to me.

 

Okay, that I understand. Now, how about the differences between the R56 Cooper, and the R56 Cooper S, as they compare to the R50 and R53?

Zip

 

To me the profiles of the R56 Cooper and R56 MCS bonnets look to be almost (or close to) identical if one disregards the scoop. The center ridge of the MCS is connected visually to the scoop, so perhaps it looks more crisp/severe that way. On the Cooper the ridge appears more subtle than the center ridge on R50 (whether one prefers that or not is another matter). I'd even say that on the R56 Cooper, the center ridge is hard to define as it is not tied directly to a crisp visual element like it is with the R56 MCS scoop.

I've always loved the R50 bonnet, but I can appreciate the R56 bonnet, too, especially since it is so subtle and understated. The blunter front end on Coopers is nice, too...more direct, slightly more MCS-like maybe.

My opinion, anyway. I live around the corner from the dealer, which is turning out to be something of a curse lately.

 

-1

 

I'll go one step further then.

The R56 Cooper grill (and hence the entire front end) is a piece of art compared to R50....which was really quite good. The grill is bigger, bolder, well-formed and very proper to a Mini. It steals the show up front, in fact, making the more subtly contoured bonnet look the absolute perfect compliment. In addition, although some may not like/understand the windshield wiper surround on R56, the fact that it does not impede the beltline in any way is a big plus and conributes heavily to a very clean, streamlined look. Speaking of which...the front end of R50s always (both interations) seemed a hodge-podge of design elements. I for one am very glad to see an updated, logical, unpretentious, and clean front end on the R56 Cooper.

That's my educated opinion as a diehard R50 lover. Seems a contradiction, I know, but it is so.

P.S. - Just so you don't think I'm a mindless R56 groupee, I will say there are a few things on the R56 Cooper that don't do it for me...fortunately, they are options, so I can opt out easily enough.

 

I disagree with almost everything but the unpretentious part. The new car, you're right, looks less pretentious. It certainly will look more at home parked at WalMart.

 

 

ah, i'll get back to you on this...

 

I saw a Ferrari Maranello in our Walmart lot last week ...it looked good.

dean.

 

Where I live all I see all of the older ladies with MC in the Walmart parking lot. Almost like they have their own club or something there.

 

Just so we can all understand where you are coming from - is the walmart comment meant as some sort of insult to the design of the R56. Sorry - it went over my head.

 

Cool. The best I can do is a Masarati Quatroport at Costco.

 

Well afer reading everyone else's opinion on the r56, i finally went down to check it out for myself. I'll say that ever since seeing the pictures posted here and on Mini2, I had myself convinced that the proportions were waaay off and that I would not like it all....now I can say that the pictures def. do not do the car justice. From a distance of 75 feet I thought wow, the overall size of the car hasn't changed much, but the closer I got to it the bigger it became...it looked waay bigger/ bulkier than my r53. Good thing IMO is that it doesn't look bad it's just bigger and I could see what they had to do to keep the r56 from looking as funny as the pics. online make it look... bulge out the boot, fender arches and heighten the waist line.
Sitting inside it made me feel tall which I am not at 5'9", but the headliner seemed to be very close to my head, kinda like it was caving in on me, other than that my favorite interior pieces were the seats.

To sum it up...my r53 is a keeper no matter what and I'm looking forward to the MINI Moke being released, if the MINI brand is gonna get bigger in size, it should at least have usable extra space and accomodate a family of 5.

James

 

No insult. Just agreeing with an observation - the R56 is less pretentious than the R50/R53. Just like, say, WalMart is less pretentious than Holt Renfrew.

 

WELL, R56 is here for me after 3 months of waiting...

She had ZERO miles on her

So far so good - I'm taking it easy - break in time you know... but, I have changed her name from Java (maybe that will be her pet name), after driving today and listening to WHAM - (dont even start) and singing along to 'wake me up before you go go" - gitterbug is in that song.. and my Mother, God rest her soul, loved to dance that GB - everytime she would get up to dance she would say 'come on' lets gitterbug... in the sprint of driving and remembering my Mom today Ive decided to call my Pepper White R56 - Gitterbug ( did I spell that right hehe)

well, off to drive some more (: take care - - keep on dancing...

 

A narrow view..... R56 is more bling/bold than even R50, if only because of the new grill. However, it does not pretend to have bumpers when it does not (bumper strips) and is overall less awkward looking.
I've experienced this, too and it is weird. I came down differently on the verdict though. I see R56 every day and they look great...very MINI....from the street. That's important. So when I get up close and begin noticing seemingly larger details, I just back up and the whole picture snaps right back into place. Fact is, the car does look good as a whole. I think up close is when out eyes, that are so used to looking at R50/53, get tricked. That's probably why the wheel arches and side vents (they never really were vent, were they?) are also bigger. Up close you can see it...from a distance, though, the proportions look right.

 

Hahahah!!! Recasting garish sidemarkers as "more bling/bold", highlighting the 'honesty' of the R56's bumpers to poke fun at it's fake hood scoop! Too Funny! You're so subversive!

You actually had me fooled for a second! I was starting to think you'd drunk the kool-aid, but all this time you've been slyly paying the new car vicious backhanded compliments!

 

Perhaps 'Jitterbug?'

Zip

 

Hold on there buckaroo!! In your fit of hilarity you forgot who you're talking to (a Cooper guy) and apparently to read specific and deliberate Cooper references in my post.

I'm speaking specifically about Coopers...I have no interest in scoops functional or otherwise. Nor do I feel qualified to say much about R56 MCS styling, frankly, because I've never been interested in the MCS, R56 or R53. Since I am out of touch with the MCS, I generally refrain from comment out of respect to MCS owners who probably know every inch of their cars as well as I know my Cooper.

Yes...to restate...I think there were a lot of unneeded design elements on R50 and with the R56 Cooper we have a more logical, clean design. The front grill (I mentioned no side markers) is larger dimensionally than R50s (a Cooper) and gives an even greater overall impression because it is unified. With all that chrome....remember, it is a Cooper...it is bling and bold.

Forgive me for sounding irked...I tried to be very direct about referencing the Cooper. I guess MCS owners (of whom there is a large majority on NAM) are not used to seeing descriptions of Cooper-specific details.