[Gazzer J]

Test drove a Cooper today, so that's another step closer!! , seem a great little car but I just want to check a couple of things that concerned me slightly.

The first one was that I managed to select reverse instead of first gear whilst waiting to pull way from a roundabout - oops! Probably just me being heavy handed, but I was a little surprised how easliy I pushed throgh the gate into reverse, no need to push down or pull up the gearstick to engage reverse gear!. I just wondered whether anyone else has a problem with this or is something you adjust to?

The other thing I noticed was a grumbling noise from the transmission when under load in lower revs, this has been reported elsewhere, but would be interested to hear whether this is considered to be a common issue or just a feature of the new mini!, it did sound a bit disconcerting to me.

Cheers

nb still chaging the spec, its just impossible to decide, decisions decisions!

[wiggis]

1) Never had a problem 'accidentally' going into reverse. You must have been heavy handed !

2) No grumbling noise on my car, although when cold, you do get a bit of 'boiling' noise from the engine and transmission. I think this is a feature of the drivetrain, and nothing to worry about. Sounds more like labouring the engine than anything else. Certainly nothing I'm going to worry about - especially while under warranty.

Go for it. My R56 Cooper is now just over 1250 miles, and officially 'run in'. In truth, it's a little flying machine, and I'm very pleased with it. Can do 0-60 in 8.1 seconds according to my GTech Pro - which rather smashes the official 0-62 quote of 9.1 seconds. Try the Cooper S before you decide, which also smashes through its published figures, doing the 0-60 in 6.6 rather than 0-62 in 7.1, but then you'll decide to buy the Cooper, because you won't need the extra power in 95% of situations on British roads, and the extra 8 mpg is more worthwhile.

Performance wise - nothing, and I mean nothing, has so far overtaken me it in, and I've overtaken plenty - getting good performance out of this car is easy, and it delivers it without trauma.

If you buy with your mind, you'll get the Cooper. If you buy with your heart, you'll get the Cooper S, if you blend the both, you'll wait for the Cooper Diesel and then chip it !

Whatever you do, one piece of advice - when specifying your MINI, make sure to buy the Xenon lights option - I wish I'd done that with mine, as the standard headlights are rubbish - even borderline dangerous, and even with upgraded bulbs, they are not great ......

[Gazzer J]

Hey, thanks that makes me feel a bit better, the cars for my wife, she didn't have problem with the gears, I guess I must have been a bit brutal putting it into first!

Glad to here you're enjoying the Cooper, I was a bit reluctant to test drive the Cooper S in case I or my wife get addicted to the extra power. I think you summed it up pretty well though, I think we're happy to settle on the Cooper. I'll give the xenons some thought, its a hefty sum of cash though, but I can see I might regret it if I don't spec them now!

[South Shore Lad]

Wow Wiggis, you really don't like the standard lights eh! (other thread as well)

I must be lucky in that I really only encounter dark driving conditions on my work commute from end of Oct until mid Feb and then that's mostly on lit roads. So for most of my driving I don't need lights at all (perhaps I ought to get out more!!)

Perhaps for those who are dirty stop out sand are out in the dark in the middle of summer on miles and miles of country lanes then the lack of xenons could be a prob

It's also probably a case of what you've never had, you'll never miss!

SSL