Without any intent to disparage anyone who has a MINI with PDC, what is the point of it on this car? My wife's expedition has it and I can see why, but on a MINI? Maybe there is something I don't know about it which would encourage me to order it. Can anyone let me know? Thanks!

 

I got it for several reasons.

1: Never hurts to have some help seeing things behind you. No car is without a blind spot back there.

2: (But closely related to 1) THere is always the possiblity of a child/animal/knocked over bike, wagon etc being behind the car, and the $350 spent on the PDC is easily less expensive than replacing a bumper, and potentially a life. I look at it as an insurance policy with a really cool display on the SatNav system. :-)

3: Did I mention the really cool display on the SatNav system? Someone on here said they didn't know if that would be coming to the states, but I'm not sure why it WOULDN'T be... sure seems safer to have a visual as well as auditory signal of objects behind the car.

 

... identified rear visibility problem when the top was down and a short stature driver was at the wheel. If you're short there is a substantial blind spot behind the car. A small child, even on a bicycle can easily disappear behind the top stack.

PDC was then added to the tintop for two reasons. The first was the ease of which it could be included on the option list after the sysyem was engineered and parts released for the convertible. The second was for the "techno check-list" German buyer.

As to why Mini USA decided to offer the option here, well, the answer to that one is still beyond me.

 

See comment about about cool display of sonar image in the SatNav!

 

... Although for me that's a pretty thin reason for its inclusion. An entertaining one, to be sure, but pretty thin.

FYI, the rear obstacle warning graphic on the R56 with PDC and Nav is a bit spiffier than that of the R53.

 

Yeah - but that coolness is mitigated by having 4 ugly warts across your bumper.

 

My thoughts on that are: if they're behind me, I'm not too worried about what they're seeing. Plus, I'd hardly call them warts. I have walked through a LOT of parking lots, and whenever I've noticed a car with PDC on it, it has never struck me as anything worth noting. Certainly doesn't qualify as ugly, in my opinion.

Then again, I'm not the type to rub my car down with a cloth diaper nightly, nor fear taking it out of the garage because a bird might give it additional decor. If the car doesn't function for you the way you want, it's not worth much as a tool. The PDC is an additional blade on my Swiss Army Mini.

(Actually, that would be a cool theme for the red/white ones...)

Anyway, I have to parallel park daily, so I want the car to let me know what's behind me, so I can live with "the warts." YMMV.

 

Totally agree with you, it does look good, but after all the options I've already spec'd the budget was getting a little too tight for what is essentially just a pretty picture.

(tintop, that cracks me up)

 

It's PDC, not PDS... thread title & successive PDS references edited and changed.

As for the feature itself - it's useful, even on a MINI, trust me. I am glad I bought it... but I've now gone even further by adding the rear view camera!

 

Quick question--does the PDC have visible alarm (other than SatNav, which I don't plan to get)? I ask because I'm "hard-of-hearing" and from what I've read, PDC seem to be an audible alarm only? Or is getting SatNav the only way to "see" PDC in action?

Thanks!

FOUND THE ANSWER: Apparently you need to have SatNav to get visible alerts from PDC. Oh well, no PDC for me then. I'm leaving this post in for other people who might have the same question.