Pretty much all that you mention. Mine was a justa with the 6 speed manual. The 8 speed auto just felt mushy and weak. Even the S did not impress me. I settled for the justa, but the car was just boring. Nice fit and finish, comfortable, with a higher end feel. Very much a BMW. My wife has even driven several new countrymans, and enjoys her R60 countryman to much to give it up. The F series cars are nice, just not for us.

 

I share your opinion. The F series have no soul and they are boring cars to drive. I drove quite a few in the last few years and have never been impressed. Even those who buy the JCW complain on this forum that it is too heavy to handle well as expected.

Those who never drove a R58 or R59 don't know what they missed.

 

Agreed.
I had no idea how much I would miss the roadster.

 

I have had a Gen 1 and a Gen 2 MINI and I have noticed a huge difference in the ride. Both cars are fun to drive but the Roadster is much more planted to the road.

 

>>>

 

Congrats on the "new" Roadster! I too, love my R59 Roadster - 15K miles young and so much fun to drive.

However, I am always a bit surprised with the comments and impressions in this forum on the newer F-series MINI. While I can see where an R59 would still be much more fun than a newer gen Cooper Convertible, my Countryman is truly an exceptional vehicle and the R60 would just never do it for me. The F60 is lightyears ahead of the R59/R60 in the areas of refinement, interior/exterior quality, quality of materials, workmanship, technology, reliability and yet it is still a blast to drive and amazing in the snow/bad weather. If MINI ever decides to make an "F59", I will be the first to let go of my "R".

As far as size?? 4-6 inches is not a huge departure from the 2nd gen MINI, so being bigger is not an issue for me. And while I feel like my F60 Countryman is HUGE, I am always reminded of just how diminutive it is when my sister parks her CR-V next to it.

 

Nice!

 

I'm driving a new gen mini loaner for the first time while the roadster is getting a bunch of maintenance done.

I have it for a few days and my first reaction was that it's got some pep, has a nice interior feel. Though I do find it to be more of an evolution in refinement than a revolution for mini.
The best upgrade in comfort are the seat I think. That's awesome in itself. The rest is just okay. The car is a lot more dampened and supple to drive than the roadster, thought that's a bit hard to compare really due to the noise of having a soft top and the type of chassis.

The new gen is pretty quick to respond as well, and the engine acceleration and deceleration is smoother than the roadster which I do like and always felt the roadster could have been better there.
The one area I'm not as much of a fan though is the SUV feel when inside (while not being an SUV either, or one might as well go the whole way).
From that stand point the roadster is just so much more fun to drive. And while the acceleration is great on the new gen mini, it's not has stable and quick as the roadster overall. I get the feel those type of characteristics are going away anyway with modern customers... fewer people seem to care about that it seems to me.

Of course it's so much fun to drive the roadster top down that in the end I find those two belonging in too different camps, I wouldn't replace one for the other. If I where to compare the new gen mini, I'de have to compare it to other brand vehicle.

Our roadster retains its own identity and we love it for it and I'm happy I don't have to feel I'm missing on the new gen mini improvements :D

 

Life changes have me considering selling.
2015 with 29K miles.
PM me for details.

 

Just posted in the marketplace.