Hello! seems to be the season for buying MINIs...
I've been lurking for a while doing my research. about 3 weeks ago we finally found the car we wanted and took the plunge.
My wife and I are now proud owners of a smart black facelift R53
MCS, not too many extras, chilli pack and slippy diff, just what we wanted
First impressions now that we've lived with it for a short time:
It's plenty quick! I'm sure the sensation will fade with time but I can't seriously see why you'd need anything much faster for road use. The supercharger whine is awesome.
Steering seems heavy compared to other cars I have driven, although it gives a nice level of feedback and comes across chunky rather than weighty (if that makes sense
) It's feels like it's been raining none stop since we picked it up so I've been taking it cautiously so far. The LSD is fantastic though, really confidence inspiring when accelerating out of turns.
The ride is pretty hard, it's great when you're pushing on but around town and over pot holes it's a bit much at times. I suspect a lot of this is due to the runflats. As soon as the fronts are worn out I'll be switching the whole lot for some goodyears Eagle F1's (my favourites).
Gearbox is again 'chunky' it hasn't exactly got the lightest clutch in the world either?! Rose tinted spectacles tell me this adds to the solid feeling of the car, but we'll see. 6 gears is a nice change though!
Brakes aren't that good, not much initial bite, but they stop the car so can't complain.
Interior is growing on me, when I first saw the mini interiors I though they had a touch of 'my first car' about them, but the more time I spend in it the more I like! There are one or two intermittent rattles (seems to be only when cold), the standard one from the rev counter, and a squeaky drivers side seatbelt mounting, so nothing major... yet.
The boot and back seats aren't as bad as we expected, only slightly more practical than the MX5 that made way for the MINI!
So overall really happy, I just need to go on some more MINI adventures!
