[Lurcher1]

Ok,
Had several Minis since the new shape came out in 2001 , both the D & One plus the wife had a S.
Mine were used as driving school cars but I was persuaded away to a Seat TDI a year ago , thinking about a return to Mini and am considering the 1.4 One ( Cooper D too dear as a school car ).
Wanted feedback from new One owners re MPG and general driving/performance partic in comparison to the old 1.6 One.

TIA

[Paul]

I've only driven a one for testing purposes (so not too many miles), but it left me pretty cold compared to the others in the range. The old One (we had our own for years) was still perky and I thought fun to drive, even when our other car was an S, but the new One for me feels a little too calm, perhaps even a little limp and lifeless.






Sure lots will disagree, but that's my 'neutrals perspective' having spent time in all the current MINIs. Personally I like the S, then the Cooper D, then the Cooper then the One in terms of their 'character' to drive.

[Nerrep]

I'm getting about 38-39 mpg from mine at the moment - still running it in, so not driving hard (though I could be gentler, I suppose).

In comparison to the 1.6 One, it feels very pretty similar to me. 0-60 time is supposedly the same. Fundamentally, it isn't a massively quick car, and that is reflected in the price and the insurance. It doesn't feel sluggish to me in any way, though clearly a Cooper or an S will be faster!

[rochie]

I am currently learning to drive in my mini one and my instrustors mg zr. I find the one is quick enough to learn in, and compared to the mg (2 litre diesel) clutch conrtrol is a lot easier. However you do have to change gear a lot more as it can quite easily get bogged down in 3rd/2nd (3rd esecially) at round-a-bouts. One last thing the indicator takes a bit of getting used to when you are using it as much as you are supposed to as a learner, and has a habbit of not canceling.

Both my sisters have the 1.6 MINI ones and they prefer the performance and ride of mine so i think oppinions varry a lot. I would say go for a test drive. Hope that helps, alex.

[Nerrep]

Quote: Originally Posted by rochie (original)

has a habbit of not canceling.

Watch out for that... I failed a driving test with three minors because my indicator didn't cancel after I came off a roundabout (and the examiner was an arse).

[Lurcher1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nerrep (original)

Watch out for that... I failed a driving test with three minors because my indicator didn't cancel after I came off a roundabout (and the examiner was an arse).

Is the indicator a known problem on the 2nd gen Mini ?

[Nerrep]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lurcher1 (original)

Is the indicator a known problem on the 2nd gen Mini ?

Not at all - actually happened to me in a first gen - only posted about it as rochie said he was learning!

The one touch thing on the second gen does take a while to get used to, but is absolutely fine when you have.

[rochie]

yer it is all right when u get used to it. I failed my driving test yesterday cos the examiner thought my car was the size of a bus and gave me a mayor for judgement of on coming traffic and apart from that i only got one minor so am in a real state of depression at the moment . mind you that was my first test only 3 and a half weeks after my 17th lol.

[Paul]

You can switch off the 'one touch, three flashes' option easy enough anyway.

[supa-dupa-cooper]

The indicators arent as bad as in the new Agila I drove the other day, they refused to cancel to the point I was still indicating left half a mile down the road

[mister.t]

I cannot compare the R50 One to the R56 One - But I can compare the R56 One to the Cooper. I learnt in an R56 One, and the throttle response IMO was un-acceptable - You could be left in the middle of a roundabout with no drive - You really have to drive it through the gears! The R56 Cooper is much much quicker - The throttle response is much sharper, and it feels much quicker. Once the One was up to speed and in its torque band, its quite quick for a car of the size, but if your caught out, your in trouble!

[KenL]

Could some of this not be down to your inexperience mister.t? Not being cheeky, it is just that you said you were learning at the time.

[Lurcher1]

I think I"ll try and test drive one this week (pun intended) , not looking or expecting mega performance , it just for teaching.
On paper the performance is similar to my current Ibiza TDI Sport 100bhp , but I would expect the One to be a little less responsive.

[Lurcher1]

Well I had a test drive of One today , Nov 07 with 2600 on it. Did motorway and town centre driving (Stockport) and was reasonably impressed. Yes the indicators took a few mins to get used to , performance wise for intended use (learners) its fine.
Bit of a backward step putting the bonnet release on the passenger side I thought. It was so quiet on tickover I thought I had stalled ( used to Seat TDI noise).
Might buy the demo model (MY) pepper/and a few extras and save on a new one.
Alloys would be stored in garage and steelies put on though.

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul (original)

You can switch off the 'one touch, three flashes' option easy enough anyway.

I've not driven an R56 MINI yet, but I had a BMW 1-series courtesy car with the odd indicators. I went driving down the road indicating left, then right, then left again, and couldn't figure out how to cancel the things.

I ended up pulling over and reading the instruction manual... still couldn't get the things to work properly, so I just stopped indicating altogether out of fear that a police officer would think me a drunk. Give me a proper indicator any day - so it's good if you can turn off that weird feature (assuming it's as problematic to use as the early 1-series BMWs).

Was pretty glad to get my own car back in the end.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lurcher1 (original)

Alloys would be stored in garage and steelies put on though.

Probably a sensible option.