It looks like some will have to make do with one of these for the next four years:
http://www.cheaplifejackets.co.uk/media/100n.jpg

... just use your eyes. The front clip of the R56 is a direct result of new euro laws... The lack of wrap around rear glass is for cost savings. The list goes on... but I think folks get the point. The R56 is what it is, you do not have to look hard to see the basis for some of these "design considerations" taken. I liken these changes to the BMW 2002 series upgrade to the 3 series.. and what was lost forever with that move.

Slag,
lava was talking about your comment that thr 1st gen was essentially PURE -- that no compromises were made in it's design.
So Slag, would you like everyone here to agree with you? Is that your point. Are you trying to convinc people who have ordered the new generation that what they are waiting for is a watered down version. Good Luck with that --

No... I'm just discussing "Non-functional Hood Scoop" topic on a discussion forum... :grin:

Okay, I must be reading too much into your posts.

Maybe this discussion should be called the disfunctional scoop discussion.:lol:

Yeah. 1958 Thunderebirds were all about style too, and a had a non functioning scoop.

I thought Minis were all about form follows function, not BS performance bling. I guess I started to feel this way with my first 66 MCS.

Perhaps if I were buying the new generation car I would be talking myself into how cool it is, and how I could make it "functional". Check back with me in a couple of years. Hopefully by then they will have a "functional" bulge on the hood, not the embarassment they perpetrated on this one.

regards,
Red

How is a bulge functional? Doesn't that necessitate a BIG engine that won't fit under the hood unless a bulge is added? Talk about an embarrassment ...a big bulge over a tiny engine.

I simply cannot believe the fuss that is being made over this.

dean.

I like the front end of the R56. And the corner glass really does nothing for me. They have used the corner now to form a spoiler into the corner of the car, something they could not do with glass.

The point is that cost was a big consideration when the R50/53 was designed. If you think that the Rover engineers were able to ignore cost in order to craft a better car you are wrong. I'm sure they did the best they could, and I'm sure BMW thought it was not good enough. One of the factors that contributed to BMW dumping Rover in 2000 I am sure. But if you want to believe that its a "feature" and not a failure, then go ahead.

Once again to the point: The front end change was driven by euro pedestrian regulations and the loss of corner wrap around glass was driven by cost cutting measures. With time, I'm sure we can find an R56 owner that "likes" the change of a functional hood scoop and repeaters to decorative ornaments, but that is also not the point... now is it. Many of the "ehancements" to the R56 have resulted in a shift away from the purist design that was the R53...

Wikipedia defines purist as: one who desires that a particular item remain true to its essence...

Fake hood scoops and repeaters for the MINI purists does not remain true to the MINI essence... thus the strong opinions on the R56. This difference between the MINI purist and R56 enthusiast is best exemplified by those who truely believe the R56 hood scoop is functional since it serves to differenicate the S model (the perfect example of not remaining true to its essence).

Enjoy your R56, when the next generation of MINI comes along, you to can join the ranks of the MINI purist :grin:

That's based on the misassumption that the R53 was "pure" and in this regard I think you have your head in the sand.

Speaking of head in the sand... You just don't get it... do you? Enjoy your R56...

It's too bad BMW messed up the MINI for the purists. But too fn bad. Cry over something else this. This decision has been made as has the cars.
I wonder who annointed these purests, especially since the MINI existed before the R53s. I think those cars are nice CARS, not shrines. Geez get off your high horse or better yet go to a forum where everyone agrees with you. If your attitude was typical of MINI owners the MINI would be the absolute LAST car I would associate with.
Go rain on Toyotas, Fords, MGs, tricycles. It's getting very boring hearing the whining.
Well it seems the communitity of MINI owners includes the unpure, if that's what you believe get use to it! I'd rather be driving what a purest pompess *ss considers a bastardization than be a purest pompess *ss! Again good luck with your crusade, if the cross gets too heavy throw it on your drilled roof rack and drive away. Happy Motorn!

Your grammar, very hard to follow. Enjoy your R56...

Go away! You're just being childish now.

The only problem with this vein of convesation is that some choose to draw a distinction NOT between the two cars (a valid discussion)...but between the two car's owners . These generalizations tend to be difficult territory to defend. They draw a clear divisions within groups and often come off as inflamitory or insulting to others.

Wikipedia defines Internet Troll as follows:

In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who enters an established community such as an online discussion forum and intentionally tries to cause disruption, often in the form of posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, incorrect, inaccurate, or off-topic, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

And your point? Stange how entering a discussion around the non-functional hood scoop of the R56 brings out all the R56 apologists crying Troll and Whiner when presented with opposing points of view.

Stop feeding this person's ego. He wanted to be the center of attention and now he is. I feel sorry for you.

Slag, its fine that you have your own view. But you're basically telling everyone that LIKES the R56 (and doesnt mind the scoop) that they are wrong, and your "purist" opinion is better.

Thats the issue..

Trust me, a hood scoop and wrap-around glass are NOT what make a MINI a MINI. Its the way the car drives that matters most, and im certain the R56 will deliver.

oops, I missed this.:lol:

Then I owe an apology. My intention was to point out that the hood scoop on the R56 is non-functional, as are the R56 fake repeater vents, from the view point of the function they served on the R53 model (purist: one who desires that a particular item remain true to its essence...)

Again, I humbly apologize if anyone has taken this discussion personally. :)

Slag, I get it just fine. I just think you are choosing to ignore aspects of the R53 design that are of the same nature as the R56 hood scoop. The most glaring of these is the false extension of the grill on the front bumper of the car. Another that you tout as a deal breaker for you is the side lights - these are so small on the R53 that I am quite sure that the contribute very little to airflow through the engine compartment. If you are seriously going to hold them up as anything more than a decorative element, then you do indeed have your head in the sand.

We can deconstruct the design flaws of the R53 just as easily as the R56. You have no ground to stand on that the design is somehow more "pure" or "essential", or without "false" or decorative elements.

Boy, lots of tension. Obviously not about the hood scoop.

Think what could have happened. Thunderbird!

Volkswagen Rabbit in the early 70s

There are probably many more examples.

I can't think of any cars, except maybe the Checker, which don't evolve for the good. I'm really pleased the R-56 retains the magic. Many of the drivers will be the same people now driving earlier versions. What is to be uptight about.

That said, MINIUSA will probably sucker me into a $1500 option, when I get around to buying a new car, which includes some kind of JCW functional use of the hood scoop. I think the car is much better engineered than my car and I suspect the marketing expertise is there too.

Did MGA owners resist the MGB. Windows that roll up!

If the R53 was so pure, then it was pure in its faults. Go back and read the early posts about the R53. There were all kinds of problems. Should these problems be carried over into the R56 in the name of purism? I dont believe that anyone in this forum has said that a functional scoop would not be desirable, and many of us future R56 owners are hoping for an aftermarket solution, but in the meantime do not mind the look of it. Would we have liked it to be more functional from factory? yes. I do not think that we disagree as much as it is made out to be by both sides of this.