Buying an R52 1.6 One. What to expect?
Discussion
Hi all,
Normally this isn’t a question I would ask as in a usually day I could go and test drive one to find out but in the days of COVID that’s not so easy and with my new job I have limited windows where I could see a car while the sun is still up. The question is, how good is the normal, Mini One 1.6 R52 in terms of performance?
I get that the supercharged version will be miles ahead, but I’ve long since outgrown my boy racer days and my daily drive is a 1.8 turbo diesel Insignia which is plenty fast enough for me. I want to know whether this is particularly underpowered however such as accelerating up a steep bank, overtaking on country roads etc.
This will be a summer car, wife and kid away to beach / wherever on a nice day and certainly not a daily driver. I just don’t want to get a heavy lump of metal which is horrible to drive for those days the top needs to be up.
Normally this isn’t a question I would ask as in a usually day I could go and test drive one to find out but in the days of COVID that’s not so easy and with my new job I have limited windows where I could see a car while the sun is still up. The question is, how good is the normal, Mini One 1.6 R52 in terms of performance?
I get that the supercharged version will be miles ahead, but I’ve long since outgrown my boy racer days and my daily drive is a 1.8 turbo diesel Insignia which is plenty fast enough for me. I want to know whether this is particularly underpowered however such as accelerating up a steep bank, overtaking on country roads etc.
This will be a summer car, wife and kid away to beach / wherever on a nice day and certainly not a daily driver. I just don’t want to get a heavy lump of metal which is horrible to drive for those days the top needs to be up.
We had one for a couple of years and I would describe the performance as perfectly adequate. The car is so much fun to drive that the power & performance really never comes up as an issue. Despite having performance cars to hand, I often pinched it for a drive especially in the summer.
That said - the engine in the One and the Cooper are pretty much identical - it was just de-tuned for insurance reasons I think, so if you buy one and decide you want a little more pep - a guy with a laptop can sort that for you for a few quid.
Make sure you buy a good one, in a good colour and Chili spec with key things in good condition (like the roof, the hard brake lines etc) and I think you'll love it. And, I can only see values of good ones going one way so it should look after you.
That said - the engine in the One and the Cooper are pretty much identical - it was just de-tuned for insurance reasons I think, so if you buy one and decide you want a little more pep - a guy with a laptop can sort that for you for a few quid.
Make sure you buy a good one, in a good colour and Chili spec with key things in good condition (like the roof, the hard brake lines etc) and I think you'll love it. And, I can only see values of good ones going one way so it should look after you.
As above, don't expect earth shattering performance but we had one (a Cooper) and it was a fun little thing to drive. One thing I would say is that given the drops in price of the R56 Gen 2 shapes and having owned both, the R56 is a much better screwed together thing in my opinion for not a lot more than Gen 1 cars. Interior is much nicer. So much so, I've been looking at R53s as a weekend/project car but half of me thinks a 1.6 R56 Cooper with sorted suspension and geometry and tyres might be a hilarious little thing vs a leggy R53.
I would first think about how tall the driver and front seat pax is, then how tall the "kid" is, cause if everyone tall the back seat passenger will not like it. or maybe even fit!
No point getting a car if you can't fit in and be comfortable. Boot space is small, so you will be restricted on what you can take to the beach
No point getting a car if you can't fit in and be comfortable. Boot space is small, so you will be restricted on what you can take to the beach
As above, apparently the One is just a Cooper with a restricted throttle map.
R56 prices are dropping considerably so personally I would go for one of those instead.
As the name suggests I have an R56 Cooper and find it plenty quick enough. Think 0-60 is low 9s so certainly not a fast car but nippy.
R56 prices are dropping considerably so personally I would go for one of those instead.
As the name suggests I have an R56 Cooper and find it plenty quick enough. Think 0-60 is low 9s so certainly not a fast car but nippy.
We currently have an R50 One and an R53 Cooper S. Very different cars.
The R50 goes along well enough and pulls quite nicely. In the convertible it certainly won't be fast. Having also had an R50 Cooper previously you can sort of tell it is a restricted version of that car.
You haven't said why you are considering a One over a Cooper but I would say unless you are being offered a specific One I would seek out a good Cooper. They also tend to have a better spec.
The Cooper S is great fun, the supercharger whine is brilliant, but it is a much harsher car to drive.
The R50 goes along well enough and pulls quite nicely. In the convertible it certainly won't be fast. Having also had an R50 Cooper previously you can sort of tell it is a restricted version of that car.
You haven't said why you are considering a One over a Cooper but I would say unless you are being offered a specific One I would seek out a good Cooper. They also tend to have a better spec.
The Cooper S is great fun, the supercharger whine is brilliant, but it is a much harsher car to drive.
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