First impressions of the Paceman All4 after two days, coming from a 2010 Cooper S hardtop. Please save the too-big and ugly comments for another thread; this is for anyone who might be on the fence about possibly buying a Paceman, and anyone else who has one and would like to chime in with their impressions.

#1, the Paceman is not another go-cart with doors. It is still very responsive and planted in the corners, but with a tiny bit more roll when you push it around. Overall ride quality is quieter and more compliant than the hardtop, but not 'mushy' like other small SUV's I've owned and driven. It's still tighter than any other car or SUV I've owned or driven that wasn't a MINI. If you live for slinging it into corners, you may want to opt for the sport suspension; but the stock suspension feels like it's up to the task for some fairly spirited thrashing.

Throttle response is almost up there with the Cooper S -- nowhere near as sluggish as I expected with all that extra weight. Even though my S was tuned (after 3 1/2 years, it still thrilled me when I'd jump on it), the stock Paceman All4 does alright for itself. That's not to say I won't tweak the Paceman here and there, but there's no need to rush off to the tuner's right away.

Seating position -- first drive I felt like I was sitting in a truck, and twice I almost fell getting out because the ground is like a foot lower than it used to be. Ok, not a foot, but there's definitely a little re-learning curve there finding the ground on exit (and yes, I did actually stumble getting out the first few times). Otherwise, after a few drives, the seating position does start to feel 'normal' again. Seats are firm and comfortable, and now with adjustable lumbar support standard. Also, the headrests are in a more relaxed position compared to what I just traded, which pushed my head more forward than I would have liked.

Interior -- my hat's off to MINI for designing an interior that's sleaker and less 'bubbly', but still decidedly MINI. With the the new design cues and anthracite headliner, it feels rather more sophisticated. And the extra space is going to come in very handy when I need to haul my music gear off to a gig -- for me, definitely worth the extra 550 pounds it's lugging around. Perhaps my biggest adjustment is to the window switches, which are now on the door panels. So far, every time I've gone to open my window, I've flipped traction control off first, and then wondered why there's a little dash indicator on and my window is still closed.

Overall, I am extremely happy with this purchase. I know I'll miss my old Cooper S, but so far I'm not missing it as much as I thought I might. The Paceman is just a bit more refined and less 'visceral', with a distinctive design that's still decidedly MINI. That's not to say I wouldn't consider another hardtop S should I happen to have another mid-life crisis somewhere down the road; but right now I'm completely satisfied.

I'd been anticipating the arrival of the Paceman ever since it was announced a few years ago that the concept got the go-ahead for production. Having owned four MINI's prior between my wife and I (two S's, a Clubbie S and a Countryman All4), I had pretty high expectations for the Paceman -- and so far it's living up to all of them.

 

Good review! Thanks for sharing.

 

thanks for sharing your thoughts on the new Paceman. Good luck.

 

I agree completely with the review. I loved the '05 MCS manual that I traded and was worried about switching to the steptronic and the heavier Paceman. Performance is better than I expected and the ride quality is good considering the run-flats and 18" wheels. If I had to do it again, the only thing I would change is to add the comfort access system and get the full length center rail. Only 2 complaints: the rear seats don't fold completely flat and when folded the headrests can require the front seats to be adjusted forward a little (so I removed the rear headrests), and the rear sunroof panel is fixed and does not tilt. My request from MINI would be for rear seat delete option.

 

I wonder why the rear sunroof panel doesn't tilt. It does on my Countryman, and did on my '10 R56. You'd think it was the same unit.

 

Saw the Paceman at my dealership last week. It definitely looks better in person than in photos. Biggest complaint & dealbreaker: the rear headroom is very bad. I'm not tall; sitting up straight, my head already touched the roof.

I thought sport suspension is standard on all Pacemen?

 

I was told that early, but it turned out to be not the case. It is a free option on the Paceman, but it isn't standard.

 

A few more notes -- things I forgot to mention the first time and general impressions after a few more days driving.

- The clutch - definitely softer sprung than the '10 Cooper S, but it's still a tad firmer than the '12 Countryman I test drove last year. It's taken me a few miles to get used to it, because the overall action from full-out to full-in is shorter than my MCS, and consequently so is the friction zone -- there isn't much room between partially and fully engaged. I still haven't quite figured out how to get a good launch because it always ends up grabbing too soon and bogging the engine down (had no problem with this whatsoever with the MCS) ... but I'm making progress. Definitely needs a little more finesse to punch it out of the hole than I'm used to.

- Shifter - Can't exactly explain how, but it feels like a shorter throw, yet smoother and more precise banging through the gears. It's a noticeable improvement over the MCS.

- The more miles I put on this Paceman, the more I'm loving it. The motor seems to be 'loosening up' with just a few hundred miles and showing more grapes now when I want it to go. My biggest fear before trading my MCS for this was that I'd miss the RMW tune; but so far, I'm really not. It goes pretty darn good, I think better than the MCS before I got it tuned.

This is an ongoing concern for me as well, as I have to lug music and sound gear around once or twice a month, and I need a pretty flat area back there. The seats will sit flat if you put a little weight on them, which leads me to believe that in time as the seat foam softens up, they will probably sit flatter. At least I hope they will.

 

I have had mine for 3 weeks and after driving a jeep for almost 10 years, got to say it's fun getting used to a car with spunk. Nice to be able to go from 0 to 60 in a bit when needed. I'm 6 feet 6, I miss that extra inch the CM has a little, but really I have no complaints about the room.

I just love how it handles, certainly has less roll in the curves then my Jeep. So far the only complaints I have are with mini connect. Some of it is just ease of navigating through it which will come with time. Then the Y cable, why, really wish the arm rest adapter would fit the I touch, but it's the same across all models. Not really a mark against the Paceman.

It has met all my expectations to this point. Fun Fun

 

Congrats on the purchase, and BTW awesome review, should help others out. Hope to see you around the streets of the great Ocean State. Any pics??

 

Yup, got a few here in https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ictures-2.html at Inskip the day I picked it up. The more I drive this car the more I love it.

Where abouts in RI are you?

 

Are the interior plastics as bad as those used in the countryman? Big let down for me on the countryman was the plastics they used. Going from an R53 to an R56 the plastic were not as good, then when I went in a Countryman some of the plastic felt like they had remoulded a wheelie bin.

 

I recently drove a paceman for a pretty long test drive and i must say coming from a R53 i stalled the bigger heavier All4 a few times due to lack of low end grunt. i needed a lot more gas to get off the start then the R53. overall a very nice car and i would say its in league with the Land Rover Evoq albeit a step down in price and quality but still a very useful and nice ride.

 

I sat in one for a while while waiting for my oil change at the dealer. Felt like a regular mini IMO. The back seats were cool, and it seemed like there was more room, that was until I tried to fold down the rear seats, which Don't lay flat :( making the rear hatch space almost useless!

Why no full fold rear seats? Totally turned me off of the paceman, 4wd or not.