My own car is a Justa with a six-speed manual, sport suspension, and non-run-flat tires on the stock 15" wheels.

For the last day and a half, I have been driving a loaner from Stevens Creek MINI: A BRG Cooper S with an auto, what I think is the standard suspension, and run-flats on 17" wheels. My impressions:

First, BRG is rather sharp looking. I always thought it was nice, but I'm liking it even better now. White roof, no stripes, and black wheels are a much better combination than I would have thought!

Second, I now wish that I had opted for the upgraded headlights. The ones on the loaner really do throw out a whole lot of light, and I found it easier to see stuff at night because of that.

Third, I don't like "pop and burble". It sounds too much like a poorly-tuned engine to me, and makes me think that something is wrong.

Fourth, I do not like the auto. It just does too many things its own way. It takes about a second to shift gears when you use the paddle shifters, and even in sport-manual mode it will upshift and downshift when it feels like it.

Fifth, the ride in this car with the larger wheels and RFTs is no softer than the 15s and sport suspension on my car. The handling is slightly worse; the ultimate grip seems similar, but the responsiveness is much less in this car. The gearbox is partly to blame for that, but the suspension definitely shares some of it.

The car doesn't actually feel much faster than my car, even though objectively it probably is. At times, it feels slower than mine--which is probably an illusion, but I didn't get the car for objective performance.

All in all, I think my Justa is actually more enjoyable than the MCSa to me. This experience tends to support the decisions that I made when I ordered the car.

 

Hmm. I've been disliking my MCSa since I bought it, the auto is garbage. The dealer said it's possible for me to trade it back in and lease something else, maybe I should go test drive a new Justa manual.

 

My car is set up similarly to yours, minus the sport suspension, and I also felt that the "s" loaner with automatic felt no faster, and overall just less FUN than my car. Anxious to drive a manual "s" but not going to let myself until I'm ready to consider buying one

 

I'm in the opposite position. I just got a Justa R56 loaner, while Betty is in the shop. Betty is a Coupe S Auto, BRG II.

Talk about a let down (to me anyways, after driving an S all the time). Neutered and whiney come to mind. Especially on the hilly roads of SoCal. Never realized the RPM's ran higher on the Justa compared to the S (maybe lack of power and my driving styles colliding?). Maybe a difference between the R58 vs R56? Also, both the loaner and Betty are identical in mileage, but the Coupes suspension rides much smoother (even the wife commented this morning as we were driving into work, "This doesn't ride as smooth as yours").

Of no surprise, was the increased body roll of the Justa in corners (it does have a higher center of gravity, so it is to be expected).

All the glass freaks me out as well (I can see why so many tint there windows), compared to the slim windows of the Coupe. Makes me feel like I'm driving in a fish bowl.

Now before someone goes and gets their knickers in a bind, I'm not a R56 hater; just explaining the perceived differences to driving one, after driving only a Coupe.

Which leads me to this question. How much of our feelings, when comparing loaner vehicles to our personally owned vehicles, is really unbiased? While the use of a loaner is greatly appreciated, I'd bet most of us just want a own Mini back and tend to be overly critical of whatever model loaner they have.

All I know is that I dropped Betty off last night for some mods, and I already wish I had her back.

 

My dealer only offers automatics for loaner cars. The automatic really ruins this car. When I take my car in for service, I end up calling them every 15 mins..."Is it done yet?"

 

Last week my 09 MCSA was in for some warranty work. I had a loaner 2012 Cubman S Auto:



After a few days of driving it, I didn't want to give it back. It drove SO MUCH better than mine. My automatic transmission is lazy, especially from a start. Almost dangerous at time, you never know when the car will respond to to throttle inputs. Test drove another 09 MCSA, felt exactly the same. Thats what the dealer keeps telling me, "deal with it, they are all like that". Nope, that clubman wasnt.

Which is why I'm intrigued by this post, because if I was to trade mine in it would probably be for a new Justa manual. I feel like I would miss the power though.

-Beau

 

Your comment about the Automatic transmission is interesting. My Auto acts very aggressively, to the point most folks who have ridden in it have made the comment several times "Man, the automatic tranny really shifts like a stick shift!" And this is in non-sport mode.

Makes you wonder how much the "learning" part of the automatic transmission (that everyone talks about) plays into shift patterns. My Coupe is a DD, but the weekend is when she tends to get to stretch her legs a bit...

Hmmm...

 

Mine shifts OK, its the interaction with the gas pedal thats lazy, especially from a stop. Its like the first 20% of pedal travel does nothing. I can press the pedal very slowly and get about halfway down before the car starts to move.

Also, sometimes when comming to a stop, it hangs in second gear. So just as you are easing off the brakes to stop, it downshifts and lurches forward. I've almost tagged cars in parking lots because of this.

I have owned and driven many cars in my life, and I'm shocked that an auto this horrid was let out of the R+D lab.

Maybe the dealer will re-set my ECU?

 

On the hesistation at acceleration, have you thought about potentially the "hill assist" being a bit sticky?

I know on an incline I can feel a hesitation when I hit the gas as the hill assist disengages.

I don't have any problems downshifting, coming to a stop. I think you might want to talk to your dealer, because that sure doesn't sound right to me either...it's definitely not how my auto behaves.

 

Mine either. I got the automatic because I live where there is nothing but hills and stop and go traffic. I've owned several manuals in the past and I'm done with that here. My auto works seamlessly and smoothly, with no hesitation. In fact, my car has less hesitation than my wife's BMW 335i. (But I must admit, the 335 is amazing to drive)
I always thought that the MINI is more fun to drive at lower speeds, the BMW more fun at high speeds.

 

Went to the dealer yesterday. I drove a 2013 justa auto and a 2009 mcs auto with half the miles of mine. Neither felt as "bad" as mine, but similar. I guess I expect more throttle response off idle. The 2009 felt like it did not run nearly as we'll as mine, like it was a rental car that had been beat on.

The justa made me laugh. "It's so slow!" I said out loud, sales guy chucked and said he sells more justas, but most people see the price and mpg and don't even test the s.

So, my quest for decent throttle response is over for now. The alta guys say the access port might help me out, maybe for Xmas.

-beau

 

I got stuck with a Justa for two days as a loaner and was so happy when I got my Clubman S back. The Justa felt like half the power of my S - which it almost is. Both my wife and I have a lead foot and would not of been happy with a Justa - but to each his own.

 

I don't understand everyone saying how slow the Justa feels. I've driven half a dozen "S" cars in different variations and none of them felt more than marginally quicker than my car. I even prefer the more linear power deliver on a non-boosted car. They must have built my R50 on a Wednesday or something.

I had a 2010 Clubbie S that was very nice though, even in the auto it was fun to punch the throttle and the interior was great.

 

Same here, I remember my 08 Justa but it feels nothing like my 11' MCSa, besides the cornering. It's just the way the person feels about it and IMO I wouldn't trade my car for another Justa just like other Justa owners wouldn't trade their cars for a MCS.

 

I had a series of loaners last couple of months: a "Justa" auto, MCS Cab auto, and a MCS Clubbie auto.

Of the three, the "Justa" was a my fav, and the Cabriolet S my least fav (even though I had great fun in it... it made me feel retired. Oh... wait).

Mind you, I liked my pretty-much-loaded Clubman S the best, and would love a JCW Hardtop, but the "Justa" with auto and 15" wheels was a delightful small car. Even with the auto (and one large-ish human), it never felt "slow". It actually reminded me of my friend's BMW 1600 back in the day (which we compared to my 2002). Good car, great fun. Optioned carefully, it's a hell of a deal.

 

Beau,

I also had another thought. While not in sport mode, I was dorking around with the paddle shifters over the course of a few days. I noticed (and maybe it was just me), if I was intentionally paddle shifting into a gear for higher rpms, when the auto-tran cut back in, it tended to shift like that. When I played with them again, opting for the lowest rpm, the tranny started behaving a bit more normally.

Not sure if I was imagining things, but that's what it felt like to me...