R56 Top Gear Mag pans R56
6th Gear
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 38,578
Likes: 2
I truly wish it were that simple. For better or worse, the MINI-USA configurator is up and one can actually place an order today for an R56. Yet we (in the US) have not seen any R56s in the flesh nor been able to test drive them......except vicariously. Strange circumstances for those ready to buy seems to me...and a bit chaotic.
An the other hand, you're absolutely right...our endless banter solves little. Nervous energy I suppose. Either way this thread will fizzle when the next article/review comes out.
An the other hand, you're absolutely right...our endless banter solves little. Nervous energy I suppose. Either way this thread will fizzle when the next article/review comes out.
6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,880
Likes: 3
From: Your Worst Nightmare :)
Oh and wish all this touchy-feely BS about cars having "soul" would just blow away forever. It's a car, not an entity. Baaaahh
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,047
Likes: 0
From: NJerz
You can leave us touchy-feely people alone to BS about our entities.
mb
Thread Starter
|
Banned
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,399
Likes: 0
From: Berkeley, CA
I think the piece would more accurately be described as a "lament" for the R53.
6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,880
Likes: 3
From: Your Worst Nightmare :)
Let me rephrase that. I'm tired of reviewers that have to stretch for reasons to "pan" the new car, so they rely on the old tested emotional heart-string tuggin tear duct fillin "lack of soul" crutch. It's dumb and amateurish.:impatient
If those of you who wish to think of your cars as having "souls," however, that's cool, whatever floats your boat.
(wait, come to think of it, my R53 def has more soul than my ex....)
If those of you who wish to think of your cars as having "souls," however, that's cool, whatever floats your boat.
(wait, come to think of it, my R53 def has more soul than my ex....)
6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,762
Likes: 0
This is NAM.
It's just what we do.
6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,474
Likes: 3
From: Over there -->
Theo
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,047
Likes: 0
From: NJerz
Let me rephrase that. I'm tired of reviewers that have to stretch for reasons to "pan" the new car, so they rely on the old tested emotional heart-string tuggin tear duct fillin "lack of soul" crutch. It's dumb and amateurish.:impatient
If those of you who wish to think of your cars as having "souls," however, that's cool, whatever floats your boat.
(wait, come to think of it, my R53 def has more soul than my ex....)
If those of you who wish to think of your cars as having "souls," however, that's cool, whatever floats your boat.
(wait, come to think of it, my R53 def has more soul than my ex....)
That makes more sense, thanks.
The article is definitely not negative at all - it just hits on the differences between visceral and emperical value. That author, who is entitled to, nay, paid to share, his opinion, seems to value the visceral. My opinion is that it's not amateurish, but we'll have to agree to disagree
.mb
4th Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 405
Likes: 1
From: Florida
While most of the R56 MCS tests we read about have been based on cars with the standard "Sport Package", I don't think any of them have been equipped with the "Hyper Sport Package" (firmer suspension [springs/shocks?] and thicker sway bars). Thus, I am waiting for 03/07 (HS Pkg availability) before I test drive an 07 and judge it against my 04.
Perhaps some of the conclusions that have been reached by these early write-ups may be adjusted once a Hyper Sport S is driven. And then there is the forthcoming JCW...
FWIW,
Theo
Perhaps some of the conclusions that have been reached by these early write-ups may be adjusted once a Hyper Sport S is driven. And then there is the forthcoming JCW...
FWIW,
Theo
I have a 21mm sway bar on my MCS and it transformed the handling. I intend to get an R56 in a yaer and am more interested in the car it can be made into than the OEM setup. No one knows yet how an R56 will handle with new sway bar and coil-overs so it is too early for me to form an opinion.
4th Gear
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 454
Likes: 5
From: Williamsburg, VA
The top gear author feels that a slower, less well behaved car can be more fun and this is how he thinks he may feel about the R53 vs. R56. Honestly, he doesn't come across as entirely convinced and doesn't make that the thrust of his review. In any case it's a valid point and true enough to anyone that has driven more than a handful of cars. A VW bug is more fun that at least 1/2 the cars on the road today and it's pretty slow and unrulely. Let's just all agree the R53 is the VW bug of MINIs and be done with it.
6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,474
Likes: 3
From: Over there -->
A la carte for me, thank you!Theo
1st Gear
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Heh yeah Mazda calls Xenons and DSC the "sports package" on their cars too. If you want a sports suspension, go for the LSD and the sport suspension which is just swaybars. $500 seems pretty steep for swaybars... call me crazy.
4th Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 405
Likes: 1
From: Florida
I heard that the sports suspension includes changes to sway bars, springs and shocks which sounds more reasonable for $500 as a new sway bar is less than half of that
3rd Gear
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: L.A.
Thread Starter
|
Banned
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,399
Likes: 0
From: Berkeley, CA
Evo are not big fans either
"It’s clearly a MINI, with that almost preternatural agility and directness, and boy, does it go. And yet, judged against the te,plate of the previous Cooper S, the driving experience, while obviously familiar, doesn’t gel quite as satisfyingly. It’s down to steering. True, it doesn’t whine annoyingly anymore, but neither does it feel as naturally detailed or fluent as it should. Super-sharp initial turn-in is followed by a disconcerting numbness and inconsistency of weighting that feeds through only patchy messages as to how the car is reacting. The front end doesn’t always feel completely nailed, either, reacting oddly over certain combinations of bumps where the old car would have felt utterly tied down."
Ouch.
Ouch.
Banned
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 7,756
Likes: 0
Not to worry, XAlfa, I see MINI sorting out most of these"deficiences" on a mid-cycle refreshing circa 2009-2010
I will reserve judgment on the R56 until I get to drive it, but it seems to me that the R56 is more akin in overall feel and driving demeanor to VW's GTI than to the outgoing R50/53 MINI.
The folks at Automobile couldn't have said it better.... MINI does not need to "copy" the VW GTI model. A MINI is a MINI or else.
I will reserve judgment on the R56 until I get to drive it, but it seems to me that the R56 is more akin in overall feel and driving demeanor to VW's GTI than to the outgoing R50/53 MINI.
The folks at Automobile couldn't have said it better.... MINI does not need to "copy" the VW GTI model. A MINI is a MINI or else.
4th Gear
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 529
Likes: 0
From: South Orange, NJ
"It’s clearly a MINI, with that almost preternatural agility and directness, and boy, does it go. And yet, judged against the te,plate of the previous Cooper S, the driving experience, while obviously familiar, doesn’t gel quite as satisfyingly. It’s down to steering. True, it doesn’t whine annoyingly anymore, but neither does it feel as naturally detailed or fluent as it should. Super-sharp initial turn-in is followed by a disconcerting numbness and inconsistency of weighting that feeds through only patchy messages as to how the car is reacting. The front end doesn’t always feel completely nailed, either, reacting oddly over certain combinations of bumps where the old car would have felt utterly tied down."
Ouch.
Ouch.