Our new Cooper 1.5.

[The Surveyor]

Bought this for daily commuting for my wife to replace a Scirocco TSI, she absolutely loves it.



Feels very nicely screwed together and goes well. Engine feels a little 'lacking' and seams to take some time to get into its stride, but overall, it's a jolly nice car...

Paul

[jackh707]

Impresses me how they have come on, not that much off the pace of an R53 cooper s

[0llie]

The F56 looks great in Pepper White, I was never a great fan of it on the R56.

I've still yet to drive one, have you had a MINI or driven one before?

[The Surveyor]

0llie said:

I've still yet to drive one, have you had a MINI or driven one before?

Yes, had both the first and second generation BMW MINI's (as well as owning a proper Layland 10" wheel one) and all felt agricultural compared to this new one. Ride quality and overall feel are great and it's getting close to justifying the price. You feel a little detached from the engine, with response not being quite 'instant' but that's expected from a small turbo engine. Also steering lacks a little feel and isn't as 'chuckable' as expected, but overall it feels a much more grown-up car than the earlier ones.

The colour looks great but I was disappointed with the colour options. The light grey looks like primer and the metallic blue / metallic green just look staid. It's a 'fun' little car and should be available in 'fun' colours like the Fiat 500 or Vauxhall Adam.

Paul

[sad61t]

The MINI's colour swatch is sadly typical of the current trend for 'safe' colours. Here's the current swatch for the VW Golf:


Grey, light grey, dark grey or grey with a hint of blue. Or red for the adventurous.

I've also noticed the paint quality isn't up to much. There was a 60K M3 in the BMW showroom a couple of months ago that looked terrible under the high-intensity lights. Not quite Hammerite, but far from the deep shine I would expect at that side of the price list.

I wonder if it's the modern water based paints?

[NormanD]

sad61t said:

I wonder if it's the modern water based paints?

Yes that's the problem, they aren't as hard

That and machine car washes

[0llie]

The Surveyor said:

Yes, had both the first and second generation BMW MINI's (as well as owning a proper Layland 10" wheel one) and all felt agricultural compared to this new one. Ride quality and overall feel are great and it's getting close to justifying the price. You feel a little detached from the engine, with response not being quite 'instant' but that's expected from a small turbo engine. Also steering lacks a little feel and isn't as 'chuckable' as expected, but overall it feels a much more grown-up car than the earlier ones.

The colour looks great but I was disappointed with the colour options. The light grey looks like primer and the metallic blue / metallic green just look staid. It's a 'fun' little car and should be available in 'fun' colours like the Fiat 500 or Vauxhall Adam.

Paul

Interesting reading, thank you for that.

The MINI colour palette is usually pretty poor, save for a few throughout the life of the brand (BRG II, Silk Green, Hyper Blue, Black Eye Purple)