R55 MINI Cooper D with JCW trimmings
Discussion
Quick one OP (and slightly off topic..) but do these have enough rear leg room for a couple of kids?
Mine are 10 and 8 and the wife likes the look of these to replace her Jazz. I`ve only had a poke round a MINI hatch and the rear space in those is insufficient. These are on a longer wheelbase though aren't they?
Nice colour by the way...
Mine are 10 and 8 and the wife likes the look of these to replace her Jazz. I`ve only had a poke round a MINI hatch and the rear space in those is insufficient. These are on a longer wheelbase though aren't they?
Nice colour by the way...
Deerfoot said:
Quick one OP (and slightly off topic..) but do these have enough rear leg room for a couple of kids?
Mine are 10 and 8 and the wife likes the look of these to replace her Jazz. I`ve only had a poke round a MINI hatch and the rear space in those is insufficient. These are on a longer wheelbase though aren't they?
Nice colour by the way...
Yes they do. That's exactly the reason I bought it. I can get my 70yo parents in the back and take them on holiday for a week. Of course it does depend on how far back you have the front seats. Mine are 10 and 8 and the wife likes the look of these to replace her Jazz. I`ve only had a poke round a MINI hatch and the rear space in those is insufficient. These are on a longer wheelbase though aren't they?
Nice colour by the way...
I'd suggest going to a dealer who has one for sale and have a poke around. Hats what I did, the car at that dealer was not one I was interested in but it confirmed that normal sized people can get in the back with the seat set how I would have it.
HorneyMX5 said:
Yes they do. That's exactly the reason I bought it. I can get my 70yo parents in the back and take them on holiday for a week. Of course it does depend on how far back you have the front seats.
I'd suggest going to a dealer who has one for sale and have a poke around. Hats what I did, the car at that dealer was not one I was interested in but it confirmed that normal sized people can get in the back with the seat set how I would have it.
Excellent, many thanks for that. My wife is only 5'4" so she has the seat reasonably forward. I`ll try and search on out for a closer look.I'd suggest going to a dealer who has one for sale and have a poke around. Hats what I did, the car at that dealer was not one I was interested in but it confirmed that normal sized people can get in the back with the seat set how I would have it.
Small update time.
Puddle lights and centre caps arrived. Not got round to fitting either.
Rang up MINI to book it in for a service (actually writing this from their customer lounge) and turns out it has TLC XL so no money required, result.
I took it to Beaulieu Cooper Day on Sunday with the Miniacs Only club. Was a great day and really fun to look round all the classics having owned 6 or 7 of those in the past.
In other news, I accidentally won an R50 Cooper on eBay. Thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Puddle lights and centre caps arrived. Not got round to fitting either.
Rang up MINI to book it in for a service (actually writing this from their customer lounge) and turns out it has TLC XL so no money required, result.
I took it to Beaulieu Cooper Day on Sunday with the Miniacs Only club. Was a great day and really fun to look round all the classics having owned 6 or 7 of those in the past.
In other news, I accidentally won an R50 Cooper on eBay. Thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
After several week of ownership I think it's probably time for some kind of proper review/summary.
Looks 9/10
The R55 Clubman is probably the text book Marmite car. People either love it, or loath it. I'm in the love it category, I wouldn't have bought one otherwise! I always thought the raised roof line and extra length brought more cohesion to the Gen2 mini design, which I felt looked a bit too bulbous in hatch form. It's also, in my mind, a very colour dependent car. It looks great in some colour combinations, less so in others. I really don't like the darker colours with the silver rear and roof parts.
Anyway. I love the way it looks, more so than when I first bought it. The colour is amazing in sunlight, the JCW kit gives it a harder edge than the standard car and it passes the "Look back when you walk away from it" test every time. It's had lots of positive comments from my friend/work circle as well, although one person asked me if I'd brought my wife's car to work.
Interior 8/10
Another Marmite area for the Mini. That big old dinner plate speedo is very much a discussion point with every passenger. Frankly it's entirely useless as a speedo, but nonetheless I think it's brilliant. You can't mistake it for any other car when sat in it.
The rest of the interior is pretty good. Materials are mostly nice, with some scratchy plastics. The seats are hard, but surprisingly comfy. I did 6.5 hours in one sitting yesterday with no dramas. Rear space is very good. Stuffed my two elderly parents in the back recently for a couple of 1 hour plus journeys and they were more than happy back there. The Clubdoor proving very useful (more on this controversial item of car entry technology later).
The sound system is average although having DAB is a first for me which I'm enjoying. I find it odd that even in 2014, when this car was new, BMW's systems require you to physically connect your phone to be able to stream music. An £8k MG3 or Dacia has better integration than that.
The JCW steering wheel is great. The rattles from the back, not so great. I need to get my wife to drive me around in it while I sit in the back and figure out what's causing it.
Boot space? Well it's tiny, but then despite all the "maxi" jibes on here the Mini is a small car. Much like the Yeti I had, which also has a small boot, you need to think vertically when packing. It's just a real life game of Tetris. I'm taking it to France next year with the folks. A roof box will be employed for extra storage, same one I used when I had the Yeti for the same reasons.
Driving 9/10
Surprising is probably the best word. A hearse shaped econobox should not be this engaging to drive. Coming from years of peddling MX5s the steering is a little numb but the handling is sublime. The front end is very pointy, it darts towards the apex of a corner. When you feel it load up the suspension you can really feel it leaning on the rear. Very confidence inspiring. Lift off oversteer is a riot and pitching it into a bend with a loose rear sees you hammering out the other side at surprising speeds. It does of course understeer if you go in too hot or are ham-fisted with the throttle. It's no where near as bad as I expected. In the dry, with the sport button activated, it feels like it's using the brakes to emulate a diff (but I don't think it has this option). If you power on mid corner it really tightens it's line more than I would expect. I think it handles better than nearly every other FWD car I've owned.
If it's this good with a wheezy 1.6 derv the JCWs must be insanely fun.
Ride on the 17" runflats is unsurprisingly firm, more so than my old FN2 Honda TypeR. The faster you push on though, the more complaint the ride gets. It seems the suspension works it best when you're really on it. Pottering down a bumpy B road with two pensioners in the rear shows it at it's worst. They didn't complain too much, but perhaps the anticipation of a G&T and Beer at the end of the journey aided in this.
The final surprising trait of this car I discovered yesterday while heading back from a meeting in Grimsby. Up until yesterday I'd been quite focused on economy when on log runs, that's the reason I bought it. Yesterday I was in a hurry to get home. It transpires that this little thing will happily sit on the motorway at a rather large number of leptons with no fuss at all. Lets just say if you were in a certain country famed for it's automotive interior build quality and you were on one of those very fast roads they have, you could comfortably cruise with the speedo showing 3 digits.
Engine and gearbox 5/10
This is the cars real weak point, not helped by the fact I dislike diesels.
Lag. Sooooooo much lag. Then you get a small thump of boost which tails off very quickly. If you work the box and ride the torque it's quite nippy, certianly30 - 70 is much quicker than you would expect. It's just a pretty soulless experience. I'm currently researching remaps but there don't seem to be many people who've mapped this later BMW engine and given their views on the internet.
Economy is pretty good. Most of my long motorway trips I'm averaging 60+ MPG which is what I wanted. A recent trip up the M3 and round the North circular and back it returned 74mpg which was rather impressive.
gearbox is slick with nice positive feeling change, nearly as good as that in my Civic Type R. Reverse however, is a pain to select.
Those doors
All the launch reviews of the Clubman, and internet comments from people who have not owned one, focus on the Clubdoor being on the wrong side for the UK market. Well I disagree.
In UK configuration the Clubdoor is on the correct side. Why? Well on the passenger side the seat tilts forward much further than on the drivers side because there's no steering wheel. With the extended wheel base of the Clubman this means passenger side rear entry/exit is very good for a three door. The side with the wheel, and therefore the side where the seat can't move as far forward, is the side with the Clubdoor and access is therefore great. Not only that but as person who spends his life travelling up and down the motorways to client meetings the Clubdoor is perfect for throwing your suit jacket and laptop bag in the back.
There's one more advantage to those of us who drive on the left. If you have an agile youngling in the back they can get out without you leaving your seat. Simply unclip your belt and open your door a bit. They can pop open the club door and slip out relatively easily. Of course if you're 6'10" and have the seat most of the way back this isn't an option. I'm a short arse.
The barn doors at the back are fine. I like that one side pops open on the fob release. A conventional hatch would probably have been the sensible option and while they add no discernible advantage, they are something a bit different. It's interesting that they're the one feature that did carry over to the Gen3 Clubman.
In Summary: Small, economical, fun, Clubdoor not as useless as people would have you believe, engine lets the side down.
The whole experience thus far has really turned me onto the BMW era Minis. So much so I accidentally won an 2004 R50 Cooper on Ebay a couple of weeks ago.
Looks 9/10
The R55 Clubman is probably the text book Marmite car. People either love it, or loath it. I'm in the love it category, I wouldn't have bought one otherwise! I always thought the raised roof line and extra length brought more cohesion to the Gen2 mini design, which I felt looked a bit too bulbous in hatch form. It's also, in my mind, a very colour dependent car. It looks great in some colour combinations, less so in others. I really don't like the darker colours with the silver rear and roof parts.
Anyway. I love the way it looks, more so than when I first bought it. The colour is amazing in sunlight, the JCW kit gives it a harder edge than the standard car and it passes the "Look back when you walk away from it" test every time. It's had lots of positive comments from my friend/work circle as well, although one person asked me if I'd brought my wife's car to work.
Interior 8/10
Another Marmite area for the Mini. That big old dinner plate speedo is very much a discussion point with every passenger. Frankly it's entirely useless as a speedo, but nonetheless I think it's brilliant. You can't mistake it for any other car when sat in it.
The rest of the interior is pretty good. Materials are mostly nice, with some scratchy plastics. The seats are hard, but surprisingly comfy. I did 6.5 hours in one sitting yesterday with no dramas. Rear space is very good. Stuffed my two elderly parents in the back recently for a couple of 1 hour plus journeys and they were more than happy back there. The Clubdoor proving very useful (more on this controversial item of car entry technology later).
The sound system is average although having DAB is a first for me which I'm enjoying. I find it odd that even in 2014, when this car was new, BMW's systems require you to physically connect your phone to be able to stream music. An £8k MG3 or Dacia has better integration than that.
The JCW steering wheel is great. The rattles from the back, not so great. I need to get my wife to drive me around in it while I sit in the back and figure out what's causing it.
Boot space? Well it's tiny, but then despite all the "maxi" jibes on here the Mini is a small car. Much like the Yeti I had, which also has a small boot, you need to think vertically when packing. It's just a real life game of Tetris. I'm taking it to France next year with the folks. A roof box will be employed for extra storage, same one I used when I had the Yeti for the same reasons.
Driving 9/10
Surprising is probably the best word. A hearse shaped econobox should not be this engaging to drive. Coming from years of peddling MX5s the steering is a little numb but the handling is sublime. The front end is very pointy, it darts towards the apex of a corner. When you feel it load up the suspension you can really feel it leaning on the rear. Very confidence inspiring. Lift off oversteer is a riot and pitching it into a bend with a loose rear sees you hammering out the other side at surprising speeds. It does of course understeer if you go in too hot or are ham-fisted with the throttle. It's no where near as bad as I expected. In the dry, with the sport button activated, it feels like it's using the brakes to emulate a diff (but I don't think it has this option). If you power on mid corner it really tightens it's line more than I would expect. I think it handles better than nearly every other FWD car I've owned.
If it's this good with a wheezy 1.6 derv the JCWs must be insanely fun.
Ride on the 17" runflats is unsurprisingly firm, more so than my old FN2 Honda TypeR. The faster you push on though, the more complaint the ride gets. It seems the suspension works it best when you're really on it. Pottering down a bumpy B road with two pensioners in the rear shows it at it's worst. They didn't complain too much, but perhaps the anticipation of a G&T and Beer at the end of the journey aided in this.
The final surprising trait of this car I discovered yesterday while heading back from a meeting in Grimsby. Up until yesterday I'd been quite focused on economy when on log runs, that's the reason I bought it. Yesterday I was in a hurry to get home. It transpires that this little thing will happily sit on the motorway at a rather large number of leptons with no fuss at all. Lets just say if you were in a certain country famed for it's automotive interior build quality and you were on one of those very fast roads they have, you could comfortably cruise with the speedo showing 3 digits.
Engine and gearbox 5/10
This is the cars real weak point, not helped by the fact I dislike diesels.
Lag. Sooooooo much lag. Then you get a small thump of boost which tails off very quickly. If you work the box and ride the torque it's quite nippy, certianly30 - 70 is much quicker than you would expect. It's just a pretty soulless experience. I'm currently researching remaps but there don't seem to be many people who've mapped this later BMW engine and given their views on the internet.
Economy is pretty good. Most of my long motorway trips I'm averaging 60+ MPG which is what I wanted. A recent trip up the M3 and round the North circular and back it returned 74mpg which was rather impressive.
gearbox is slick with nice positive feeling change, nearly as good as that in my Civic Type R. Reverse however, is a pain to select.
Those doors
All the launch reviews of the Clubman, and internet comments from people who have not owned one, focus on the Clubdoor being on the wrong side for the UK market. Well I disagree.
In UK configuration the Clubdoor is on the correct side. Why? Well on the passenger side the seat tilts forward much further than on the drivers side because there's no steering wheel. With the extended wheel base of the Clubman this means passenger side rear entry/exit is very good for a three door. The side with the wheel, and therefore the side where the seat can't move as far forward, is the side with the Clubdoor and access is therefore great. Not only that but as person who spends his life travelling up and down the motorways to client meetings the Clubdoor is perfect for throwing your suit jacket and laptop bag in the back.
There's one more advantage to those of us who drive on the left. If you have an agile youngling in the back they can get out without you leaving your seat. Simply unclip your belt and open your door a bit. They can pop open the club door and slip out relatively easily. Of course if you're 6'10" and have the seat most of the way back this isn't an option. I'm a short arse.
The barn doors at the back are fine. I like that one side pops open on the fob release. A conventional hatch would probably have been the sensible option and while they add no discernible advantage, they are something a bit different. It's interesting that they're the one feature that did carry over to the Gen3 Clubman.
In Summary: Small, economical, fun, Clubdoor not as useless as people would have you believe, engine lets the side down.
The whole experience thus far has really turned me onto the BMW era Minis. So much so I accidentally won an 2004 R50 Cooper on Ebay a couple of weeks ago.
Edited by HorneyMX5 on Friday 30th June 15:56
I've had my cooper s coming up to 4 years now and it still makes me smile. Being longer in the wheelbase makes it bounce less than the r56. Losing the run flats needs to be on your list, I have 16" winters and 17" td 1.2's and the ride is good on both but I prefer the 16's
Club door .... It's handy but useless if you have a car parked st the side of you as you become trapped between the doors. I'm thinking of replacing mine, current shortlist is fiesta st or fn2 type r. Or I might just keep it and remap it.
Club door .... It's handy but useless if you have a car parked st the side of you as you become trapped between the doors. I'm thinking of replacing mine, current shortlist is fiesta st or fn2 type r. Or I might just keep it and remap it.
A brief update. The 3 month ownership milestone passed last week and I've racked up just over 10,000 miles in that time. It's been all over the place and in October will be doing a 900 mile round trip to visit 3 clients in Scotland.
I've got a load of pics of it in various locations which I will add to this thread over the weekend.
Still over the moon with it. Such a good all round package for a sensible but fun daily.
The R50 I won on eBay by mistake was sold a couple of weeks ago and has been replaced by a 250bhp 2002 Cooper S. That thing is hilarious.
I've got a load of pics of it in various locations which I will add to this thread over the weekend.
Still over the moon with it. Such a good all round package for a sensible but fun daily.
The R50 I won on eBay by mistake was sold a couple of weeks ago and has been replaced by a 250bhp 2002 Cooper S. That thing is hilarious.
I've had this for 3 years last week. I have never kept a diesel daily for 3 years, NEVER. In fact they barely make it past 18 months before they sold on due to frustration and boredom. Not this one, this one has been utterly brilliant. Only now, after said 3 years and some 70K miles in my ownership, has it had it's first proper wobble. After 8 weeks of lockdown non use the AC isn't blowing cold. Annoying, but hopefully not an expensive fix.
In the last 3 years it has only needed the following:
6 x tyres (4 front, 2 rear).
2 x pair of front pads
1 x pair front discs
1 x pair rear pads
2 x front dampers
It's been serviced at MINI Hungerford as per the schedule and the costs have been cheap enough from them that I haven't bothered to get local indy to do it.
The plan is to keep it another couple of years but the dreaded C-virus might put paid to that. I'm currently entering month 3 on furlough and I suspect I may well be unemployed shortly. This car is funded by a car allowance and there is still a loan outstanding on it. If I'm unemployed for more than a couple o f months then I'll likely have to sell it to clear the finance and reduce my outgoings. I have enough other vehicles that are bought and paid for to be pressed into daily duties.
2001 Y reg R50 Cooper shed: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
2002 Cooper S Track Car: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
2006 2.0 Sport MX5: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
But even after 3 years I'd be gutted to have to part with it. It's such an unusual colour and spec with the JCW kit and its been reliable and cheap to run (ignoring depreciation!).
I took it out and gave it a wash and run round the b-roads of Hampshire.
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
In the last 3 years it has only needed the following:
6 x tyres (4 front, 2 rear).
2 x pair of front pads
1 x pair front discs
1 x pair rear pads
2 x front dampers
It's been serviced at MINI Hungerford as per the schedule and the costs have been cheap enough from them that I haven't bothered to get local indy to do it.
The plan is to keep it another couple of years but the dreaded C-virus might put paid to that. I'm currently entering month 3 on furlough and I suspect I may well be unemployed shortly. This car is funded by a car allowance and there is still a loan outstanding on it. If I'm unemployed for more than a couple o f months then I'll likely have to sell it to clear the finance and reduce my outgoings. I have enough other vehicles that are bought and paid for to be pressed into daily duties.
2001 Y reg R50 Cooper shed: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
2002 Cooper S Track Car: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
2006 2.0 Sport MX5: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
But even after 3 years I'd be gutted to have to part with it. It's such an unusual colour and spec with the JCW kit and its been reliable and cheap to run (ignoring depreciation!).
I took it out and gave it a wash and run round the b-roads of Hampshire.
Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrUntitled by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrGassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff