The New R56 Cooper and S Tested
Discussion
Today I was at Cowley for the MINI technical overview.
I have to say the new MINI is an amazing improvement on the out going model.
The first part of the day was a road test of the COOPER and S.We were taken out of Oxford and into the Country lanes..The handling and overall performance is much better its absolutely rock solid on the road..The steering is really positive and alot less nervous through potholes/rough surfaces where the S somtimes used to get a bit hairy and tram line,this one however I flung about at speed through the lanes and found it perfect-go kart is what I can compare it to.
When driving the cabin is silent-non of those horrible plastic rattles or clicks from the windows.Everything is as you would expect from a BMW-the design is class-almost a pleasure to drive you could say.
The Cooper has plenty of power with out the harsh sounds from the engine and the 6 speed new box as standard is sweet!also NO crunching in reverse-has a Syncro now.
The S now sports a Turbo not a supercharger-It now pulls very well and there is NO turbo lag at all,they have developed it so it has a constant tourque range like the diesel turbo...the sad thing is though there is no supercharger whine and you barely hear the turbo-it has an electronic dump valve,so you dont hear that either(room for mods I think)
It wasnt til the return journey that I remembered its got a sport button which boost the manifold pressure etc-and do'es She ever fly!!!
They steering is basically the same as the Z4-electric-this gives you a very positive steer-100% better than the original.
All external panels are different although it looks the same-its longer and wider and has a better finish.
The interior has been re designed and looks alot more solid-there isnt a sign of the cheap plastic trims as used before-instead a clean finish.and the switches are nicer to the touch
The stereo is from the 21st centuary and comes as boost or CCC with wide screen etc-the screen is inside the speedo(it does work)has aux connector-multichanger will sit in dash.
The nav/mjoy(i-drive)etc is alot more freindly to look at and to use-although the mjoy stick in front of the handbrake(for selecting menu's etc)is a sitting duck-its gonna snap.
You can also changer the colour of the back lighting/cascade lights from orange all the way to cool blue-this is a nice touch.
The price I think for a standard cooper was £1295 and £15995 for the S-I'll correct this if its wrong.
I think they have done well to turn the MINI into such a quality car-I work with the old MINI every day and it was OK,but I can say WOW to the new one.
I have to say the new MINI is an amazing improvement on the out going model.
The first part of the day was a road test of the COOPER and S.We were taken out of Oxford and into the Country lanes..The handling and overall performance is much better its absolutely rock solid on the road..The steering is really positive and alot less nervous through potholes/rough surfaces where the S somtimes used to get a bit hairy and tram line,this one however I flung about at speed through the lanes and found it perfect-go kart is what I can compare it to.
When driving the cabin is silent-non of those horrible plastic rattles or clicks from the windows.Everything is as you would expect from a BMW-the design is class-almost a pleasure to drive you could say.
The Cooper has plenty of power with out the harsh sounds from the engine and the 6 speed new box as standard is sweet!also NO crunching in reverse-has a Syncro now.
The S now sports a Turbo not a supercharger-It now pulls very well and there is NO turbo lag at all,they have developed it so it has a constant tourque range like the diesel turbo...the sad thing is though there is no supercharger whine and you barely hear the turbo-it has an electronic dump valve,so you dont hear that either(room for mods I think)
It wasnt til the return journey that I remembered its got a sport button which boost the manifold pressure etc-and do'es She ever fly!!!
They steering is basically the same as the Z4-electric-this gives you a very positive steer-100% better than the original.
All external panels are different although it looks the same-its longer and wider and has a better finish.
The interior has been re designed and looks alot more solid-there isnt a sign of the cheap plastic trims as used before-instead a clean finish.and the switches are nicer to the touch
The stereo is from the 21st centuary and comes as boost or CCC with wide screen etc-the screen is inside the speedo(it does work)has aux connector-multichanger will sit in dash.
The nav/mjoy(i-drive)etc is alot more freindly to look at and to use-although the mjoy stick in front of the handbrake(for selecting menu's etc)is a sitting duck-its gonna snap.
You can also changer the colour of the back lighting/cascade lights from orange all the way to cool blue-this is a nice touch.
The price I think for a standard cooper was £1295 and £15995 for the S-I'll correct this if its wrong.
I think they have done well to turn the MINI into such a quality car-I work with the old MINI every day and it was OK,but I can say WOW to the new one.
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