RE: Lightweight Mini launches
Discussion
I think MINI's marketing department have aimed the car at the fashion conscious market and John Cooper in association with BMW are trying to make as much money as possible before a lot of the cars come out warranty and people use the reasonable priced tuners. Which is a shame as it's an excellent drivers car.
As for that abomination they've just released, who in all honesty would buy a car that looked like that???
As for that abomination they've just released, who in all honesty would buy a car that looked like that???
there is a 300+ bhp mini.
see EVO about 2 months ago i belive.
"Turbo boost is available from as low as 2200rpm, when on the open road, with full load throttle openings a full 30psi (2bar+) of boost is unleashed from 3500rpm right up to and beyond 7000rpm. Guys were talking quick and quite possibly the fastest FWD 1600cc car in existence..!
Max Power is now revised 307BHP @ 6550RPM with 313lbs ft of torque @ 5000PRM.
Price Fitted £17 950 inc labour, first 5 orders special price of £15 950."
www.bbrgti.com/minit.php
>> Edited by joe_90 on Tuesday 1st November 19:24
see EVO about 2 months ago i belive.
"Turbo boost is available from as low as 2200rpm, when on the open road, with full load throttle openings a full 30psi (2bar+) of boost is unleashed from 3500rpm right up to and beyond 7000rpm. Guys were talking quick and quite possibly the fastest FWD 1600cc car in existence..!
Max Power is now revised 307BHP @ 6550RPM with 313lbs ft of torque @ 5000PRM.
Price Fitted £17 950 inc labour, first 5 orders special price of £15 950."
www.bbrgti.com/minit.php
>> Edited by joe_90 on Tuesday 1st November 19:24
YAWN
What a surprise, another set of whinging beardies berating the new mini.
I hope it made you all feel better.
300bhp, don't make me laugh. Have any of you bleaters actually driven even an S Works? It has enough issues getting 210bhp down.
I've owned a works for 9 months/18k miles and just sold it. Fantastic little car, loads of character. But the ride is appaling and IMHO that is what this car should be criticised for.
Try speaking with some real knowledge of the cars, not through your blinkers.
What a surprise, another set of whinging beardies berating the new mini.
I hope it made you all feel better.
300bhp, don't make me laugh. Have any of you bleaters actually driven even an S Works? It has enough issues getting 210bhp down.
I've owned a works for 9 months/18k miles and just sold it. Fantastic little car, loads of character. But the ride is appaling and IMHO that is what this car should be criticised for.
Try speaking with some real knowledge of the cars, not through your blinkers.
AndrewD said:
...
I've owned a works for 9 months/18k miles and just sold it. Fantastic little car, loads of character. But the ride is appaling and IMHO that is what this car should be criticised for.
Did you try replacing the crappy runflats? Replaceing the standard tyres take the car to another level of handeling and comfort.
More info on the laughable GP - www.mini2.com/index.php?page=newsitem&newsid=326
>> Edited by rich-uk on Wednesday 2nd November 10:01
someone once said said:
Just add less weight
Would have wowed me more if it was just a stock Cooper S but 200kg lighter, but hey ho.
Maybe not much faster in a line, but would murder stuff in corners and under braking, and on paper in might not look stunning, but the driving experience could be amazing!
Anyone can tune a MINI Cooper S to 220bhp or whatever it is, just look at the amount of tuners! Humbrol the wing mirrors red and remove the back seats is easy too if you really want your car to look daft!
It's just cheap tat. Dunno why anyone would ever bother.
Much better to just buy the stock Cooper S, and FULLY enjoy it by giving it some beans.
No point owning an S Works if your not going wring it out doing what it was meant to do.
Managed to keep up with a Works over 4 miles of moor road a few months back and it just didn't pull away. Either the cars are underated, or the driver couldn't drive. Either way, a waste of what I agree is a *drivers* car!
And my point is, those who can afford such cars as the one here, won't be buying it as a "drivers" car anyway. A driver would demand what M3 CSL owners demanded from the original M3, a proper lightweight focussed model.
Let the Chav's buy it and lets laugh at them for doing so. Got to worry about BMW doing it though
Dave
AndrewD, I think most of the criticism is not of the mini (which I hae driven btw and yes it is good) but of the cynical marketing-lead bullsh1t rework to part people from their cash.
And it still looks like a chavs van.
also, as it says on the article, mini owners are being less than complimentary...
And it still looks like a chavs van.
also, as it says on the article, mini owners are being less than complimentary...
jaker said:
AndrewD, I think most of the criticism is not of the mini (which I hae driven btw and yes it is good) but of the cynical marketing-lead bullsh1t rework to part people from their cash.
Fair enough but is it really any different to the original Mini days with all the "Marketing lead bullshit" special edition Minis that were continually being launched by Rover, BL or who ever it was in charge at the time
so back on point. it's rubbish. i mean it won't be but it does look daft. the wing is horrid and the door mirrors look like a courier-bike knocked them off and the breakers only had red ones..
if this is the direction the new version is going to take i am pleased i have bought an 05 mcs..!
if this is the direction the new version is going to take i am pleased i have bought an 05 mcs..!
Given that it was me that mentioned 300bhp I should explain.
I owned a Cooper S which turned out to be shit, whilst I had it it was fun, I thought the build could have been better, the car is built for the front passengers and the front passengers only as when you sit in the back you can see where they saved money. Its form over function, a big handbag.
Whilst I had mine I drove one with a 275bhp conversion and a JCW.
The JCW conversion is over engineered and over pricey.
275bhp had no trouble being put down once moving at all, couldnt comment on chav traffic light dragging as its not my thing, the power gave it the overtaking belt that the 210 lacked. Ride awful in all of them but then they were all on the 17" S-spokes and I think its better on the 16's.
My point with 300bhp is that it would place BMW at the top of the tuner tree pretty much, why go £3K with JCW to get 210 when you can spend less than half that for more gain by adding a mod which most BMW dealers wouldnt notice? If c270-300bhp was available at a £5K premium you see how many stupid spec ones there were (like mine, first owner bought everything at £24,750) and how many proper MINI's that placed dynamics first there were.
Oh and I dont have a beard.
I owned a Cooper S which turned out to be shit, whilst I had it it was fun, I thought the build could have been better, the car is built for the front passengers and the front passengers only as when you sit in the back you can see where they saved money. Its form over function, a big handbag.
Whilst I had mine I drove one with a 275bhp conversion and a JCW.
The JCW conversion is over engineered and over pricey.
275bhp had no trouble being put down once moving at all, couldnt comment on chav traffic light dragging as its not my thing, the power gave it the overtaking belt that the 210 lacked. Ride awful in all of them but then they were all on the 17" S-spokes and I think its better on the 16's.
My point with 300bhp is that it would place BMW at the top of the tuner tree pretty much, why go £3K with JCW to get 210 when you can spend less than half that for more gain by adding a mod which most BMW dealers wouldnt notice? If c270-300bhp was available at a £5K premium you see how many stupid spec ones there were (like mine, first owner bought everything at £24,750) and how many proper MINI's that placed dynamics first there were.
Oh and I dont have a beard.
I've had a good shave this morning so I feel i can comment...... It isn't the concept that is flawed... just the execution.
Envisage the scenario.......BMW design viewing Room early 2005.
"Hans, check out this Kerr-azey new look for BMW MINI."
"Ya Joachim, but it is still missing eine biscien detail, No? I'll go and get some Red paint for those Mirrors." ......And some tinting film. And some duff rims.
Who in there right mind, with that hash up in front of them could sign it off as a good job well done. Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour...!!
Nein Danke.
>> Edited by fwdracer on Wednesday 2nd November 15:53
Envisage the scenario.......BMW design viewing Room early 2005.
"Hans, check out this Kerr-azey new look for BMW MINI."
"Ya Joachim, but it is still missing eine biscien detail, No? I'll go and get some Red paint for those Mirrors." ......And some tinting film. And some duff rims.
Who in there right mind, with that hash up in front of them could sign it off as a good job well done. Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour...!!
Nein Danke.
>> Edited by fwdracer on Wednesday 2nd November 15:53
Load of shite, the suspension is crap, the driving wheels are on the wrong axle for the weight, it looks shite and would be whipped by a modestly half arsed 1275 proper mini. Wiscombe hillclimb speaks for itself.
If you drove the right wheels and had decent suspension, it would still be a pile of bodged wank, let's face it, they made a mistake by making it that big. It was a Rover design and they did a typical Rover job and made it look like a total abortion. I could just about cope with a twin engined one with 4WD but it would still corner like a shopping trolley. Call me a purist but I'm not, these things are just naff. Honestly, my mums Saxo 1.1 would probably beat a Bini on the twisties.
Big thumbs down, and yes, I have been in one driven by a nutter and quite frankly, I thought it was a pile of poo, the best thing is the supercharger which should be stripped out and put in some other car.
If you drove the right wheels and had decent suspension, it would still be a pile of bodged wank, let's face it, they made a mistake by making it that big. It was a Rover design and they did a typical Rover job and made it look like a total abortion. I could just about cope with a twin engined one with 4WD but it would still corner like a shopping trolley. Call me a purist but I'm not, these things are just naff. Honestly, my mums Saxo 1.1 would probably beat a Bini on the twisties.
Big thumbs down, and yes, I have been in one driven by a nutter and quite frankly, I thought it was a pile of poo, the best thing is the supercharger which should be stripped out and put in some other car.
love machine said:
Load of shite, the suspension is crap, the driving wheels are on the wrong axle for the weight, it looks shite and would be whipped by a modestly half arsed 1275 proper mini. Wiscombe hillclimb speaks for itself.
If you drove the right wheels and had decent suspension, it would still be a pile of bodged wank, let's face it, they made a mistake by making it that big. It was a Rover design and they did a typical Rover job and made it look like a total abortion. I could just about cope with a twin engined one with 4WD but it would still corner like a shopping trolley. Call me a purist but I'm not, these things are just naff. Honestly, my mums Saxo 1.1 would probably beat a Bini on the twisties.
Big thumbs down, and yes, I have been in one driven by a nutter and quite frankly, I thought it was a pile of poo, the best thing is the supercharger which should be stripped out and put in some other car.
I remember reading an article where Rover engineers said that BMW forced them into Macpherson strut front suspension when they wanted double wishbones on the basis that "all BMWs have struts". Rover's point of view was that wishbones give better handling.
Personally I haven't driven the new mini so can't comment on it's handling. I quite liked the old car though, but an Imp's so much better. What I do think is that anything over 15K is rather a lot to spend on a small hatchback when you can start moving into rear-wheel-drive sports cars and enjoy real handling. The mini makes real sense at 12K though.
The other thing I've noticed is that my on-road cornering speed in all but a few places seems to be more limited by visablity than grip almost regardless of what I drive.
Gassing Station | New MINIs | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff