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[*Vikki*]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

I stopped posting on MINI2 over a month ago, but I have to come back to reply to this.

I am deeply concerned that posts should be under this threat. It is one thing to disallow posts because they break rules and quite another if it is because the viewpoint may be unacceptable.

Personally I feel that the view point of those that don't like the re-style of the new MINI is every bit as valid as those who like it; good luck to them all.

Personally, I feel very shortchanged by a redesign that I was looking forward to. There have been a lot of new designs recently that have improved on the original. Taking another small car, the Mercedes A class, it looks so similar to the original, but has improved its looks drastically.

Now, with the new MINI, they had to change it. BMW needed to keep the design fresh, to meet crash regs and make space for a larger new engine ( though, funnily enough, the K Series was originally dismissed for "being space inefficient and needing to raise the bonnet line of the accepted design").

To do the job properly, they needed to make major changes to the car to change lots of proportions, but they have kept the basic structure the same and have adapted the ends of the car.

To give you an example, look at the MINI concept car (Traveller) from all of the recent shows. They made major changes, including moving the leading edge of the windscreen further forward to very successfully disguise the bulk of the new front. They completely redesigned the doors to make them much larger with a wacky hinge to get rid of an extra shutline and make exit and entry really easy. They got rid of the B pillar completely. This is radical stuff, but very creative.

What we got was too much of the basic structure carried over and the faultless proportions of the original have been lost. The front is now too large for the rest of the car, the boot bulges out like an old generation Clio (always the old Clio's worst aspect) and the the windows (which were always as shallow as they could possibly get away with) are now too shallow and they look odd.

Much of the detail styling has become clumsy, especially the bulky lights with vulgar chrome trims at the back and the side vents. The mirrors look bloated and the "face" of the car has lost its unique charm and complete lack of aggression that meant that so many non enthusiasts loved it.

The R50 was always a very expensive way to buy a 3 door supermini but it didn't matter and every extra penny could be justified. It had lovely curvey glass in the rear windows which totally compensated for the fact that they didn't open. It had a unique clamshell bonnet that was nearly as radical as the Triumph Herald and the whole clamshell had very few shutlines. It had frameless windows (fortunately continued). It had headlamps mounted in the bonnet.

Much of this has been lost, yet the price has actually increased!

I really, really, wanted to like the R56. I feel deeply disappointed by what I've seen so far and that makes me very sad.

feel 100% how you do!