[I love MINI, Laura]

Heres some of my photos. Posted some in the next generation S speccing thread.

[I love MINI, Laura]

Nice to park Rachels MINI with all the other MINI2 MINIs. Shame I don't have mine anymore. Was nice to see the GP in the space right by the turn into the car park! Was that yours Goonery? Very nice!

[ButtonIt]

Quote: Originally Posted by I love MINI, Laura (original)

Shame I didn't win one of the original drawings so wanted one of those (Buttons will you take bids?)

I'll let you take a picture

Once again echoing everyone's thanks for a superbly organised day.

I've had the privilege of hearing the new S previously, but another chance to look at the car close up and listen to Marcus' presentation. The most fascinating part of the day was hearing about all the thought and consideration that goes into designing these cars. It's plain to see that the reason we love these cas so much is because the people that designed them love them just as much if not more.

The factory tour, as always, an absolute joy. I've only done the tour once before just as the Convertible was going into production, but seeing them build so many variants in sequence was amazing. R50's, R53's and R56's all built in sequence to order.

Catering was superb, thoroughly enjoyable Just ask Fevs how the Fruit Shot's tasted

Thanks MINI and thanks MINI2

[ButtonIt]

Now, my thoughts on the car.

Exterior: I like the meaty front and the beefier tail pipes. The angled window lines along the side of the car seem a bit peculiar, but I like symmetry. The axtra bit on the "bum" was a downside to me. The extra bit sticking out seemed a bit over the top, but it's something that I'll just get used to. All in all a good looking car, thankfully not too dissimilar to the R50.

Interior: The feel of the new leather is great, and the choice of colours and trims is fantastic. Very much an improvement. The layout of the dash is great and the door cards and very well layed out. The one thing I did noticed was that front AND rear side storage has been lost. The sat nav option follows very closely in the footsteps of the sytem fitted to the new 5 series. Whilst the maps diplay differently the rest of it is almost exaclty the same, very good I thought.

Another point was the lack of DIN slots for aftermarket sterios. I couldn't see any real way of fitting aftermarket equipment if that was the route you wanted to take. I'm sure someone will find a way.

All in all..... I WANT ONE!!!!

[rkw]

Quote: Originally Posted by ButtonIt (original)

Another point was the lack of DIN slots for aftermarket sterios. I couldn't see any real way of fitting aftermarket equipment if that was the route you wanted to take. I'm sure someone will find a way.

There is one DIN slot available, behind the dash panel where the CD changer is installed. It will be interesting to see what aftermarket vendors do with it. The attached image is from the newmini2006 site.

[SoggyCornFlakes]

Still gutted at being on a booze cruise for the weekend but the reports sounds great, really looking forward to the launch parties now

[KPKalle]

Quote: Originally Posted by SoggyCornFlakes (original)

Still gutted at being on a booze cruise for the weekend but the reports sounds great, really looking forward to the launch parties now

Serves you right - get your priorties sorted .

But i shall load up some photies soon. Embarassing ones first

[Hat]

unlike most people who opted for stuffing their faces, i took some photos

[Hat]

a couple of shots showing the side lights which are shaped like eyeballs - very nice






the double panel sunroof was a bit dissapointing - the tilt only went this far & when you go to the fully open position the rear section closes again as the front one slides over it.




the seatback storage nets are just as small & useless as the door pockets




that's where the end of the door ellipse went

[Jordan210]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hat (original)

unlike most people who opted for stuffing their faces, i took some photos

There is a suspicious group of people round the blue car

[Hat]

i assumed this is the alarm on indicator which is set into the top of the rev counter



poor shot but next to the joystick for the nav are 2 buttons - 1 takes the system back to the home page, the other i wasn't entirely sure about, i think it went back a screen at a time



the sat nav in entertainment mode. this was a very nice display & easy to use



the aux port under the centre stack toggles

[Hat]

& finally - now you know why they call them headlights




it just struck me how strange it was to be able to see through this hole with the bonnet up. it was also interesting to see on the assembly line that there was a section dedicated to bonnet alignment & each one was manually checked & adjusted

[I love MINI, Laura]

THANKS Hat for taking that photo of the Aux port. I have forgotten to look for this every time I've been near a R56! Great spot! Thanks!

[mikeythemini]

My turn
Firstly very grateful for being invited, had a great day & very interesting
Marcus was great - had an extended chat with him He was enthusing over the mesh in the rear bumper
The car;
Overall I prefer the current one, I am sure it will grow on me but I am hoping for changes at the facelift
The big wheel arches need 17" wheels at a very minimum
Liking the new sunroof
Like the bi xenon headlights, don't like the ones with the orange indicator
Think the lower sidelight/foglights are too big & the one with silver surrounds looked very cheap, what to you get down there if you dont spec fogs?
Rear lights - nice design touch, but they have really missed a trick by not making them LED, was very interested to see how they're wired though BMW style
Rear bumper - like the design & shape & the new bigger pipes fill it nicely (got to say the pic we saw of the aero/works rear bumper looked terrible - belongs on a max power saxo)
As mentioned above the exhaust looks much better & single rear box now
Filler cap looks fussy
Bonnet - don't like the chrome trim at the top of it or the nasty plastic scuttle panel behind it
Engine - looks very high tech but feel sorry for those who have to work on it as there is very little room
Interior - leather feels much better quality & seats more grippy
Stereo - as you would expect me to say - hate it, but am working on that . The buttons feel really cheap & nasty & did anyone try it?? It sounded awful, much worse than the current car, wish they had the upgraded one to try. I think the different front speaker mounting harms the sound.
Didn't like the climate buttons either
SOme of the dash materials feel & look much improved, but others really let it down
Accent lighting - bit of a let down

Factory - clean as ever & the tour guide was superb, so informative.

[ASTON]

was a fab day out

[wheyaye2]

First of all have put some piccies up at:

http://www.mini2.com/galleries/showgallery.php/cat/2071

On a whole thought it was an excellent, enjoyable day, well worth the trip down from Newcastle.

Mini did a great job of organising it, and the day went very smoothly - they obviously went to great detail in setting up the various exhibits of the car modules.

It's obviously they have improved the interior immensely, both in ergonomic layout and also in the quality of materials used. It seemed the new interior was much more spacious, probably due to the narrowing of the centre console.

It's good to see that they are using the costs saved to improve qualities of the car, such as the use of real aluminium for the dashboard. I worry about the integration of the car's audio system into the dashboard, it may prohibit the upgrade of the system at a later date for a second hand buyer. It does work well though, the new sat nav software looked excellent.

During the presentation, it was good to see the summary of why change was necessary. Performance and safety are key issues that were covered, however there was no mention of enviromental issues. The new engine has a gain of approximately 10 MPG and a large reduction in CO2 emissions, so this would have been a good point to raise. In addition, it would have been interesting to hear of the upcoming diesel variant, and what technologies that would employ.

Excellent event, well done Mini!

[Foxy Mini]

It was really nice to catch up with old friends again, and meet new ones

It was nice to be able to look round the R56 again, with a bit more time and a lot less people than in Paris! Was also nice to show my boyfriend all the stuff I've been talking about for months!

Was the first time I'd actually been on a factory tour too! So now I've lost my tour virginity, I'll be going again next year...

I still maintain that I am totally in love with almost every aspect of the interior, but reserve judgement on the exterior. I like the look of the new kitted out JCW S though. I just feel that if the headlights were the current version, all the other changes wouldn't bother me so much. It's just them darn headlights!
And I very much like Nightfire red I bet that will look awesome in the sun!

[Mini_One_Too]

Hi guys.

Firstly, I would like to say thanks for being given the opportunity to attend such a great day.
Secondly, the NAUGHTY people at MINI are making it really hard for me to resist the urge to go and place an order for an R56 (or New New MINI, or 2nd Gen MINI, or MKII MINI which is it to be!?!)

It was so interesting to see how the process of designing the MINI goes from ideas on paper, to the finished product.
It was also very interesting to find out that the changes that they have made aren't simply to save money, or to keep up with the times. Marcus made several references to the original 'Classic' Minis, and how they are trying to make some of the features on the R56 (such as the headlights) more true to the orignal design, something which I thought will either please or **** off classic owners!! It's also really interesting that the MINI is designed along some human characteristics, like a baby's eyes, a woman's torso, and a man's shoulders, and that the looks of the MINI appeal to 90% of people!

I think we scared one of the girls that work for MINI, I don't think she quite realised how dedicated and knowledgable we are about the MINI, especially you Laura! I'd be surprised if she doesn't get in touch to try and pick our brains about MINIs!!

I also really enjoyed the factory tour, despite having to wear a funny coat and goggles and poke an earplug in my ear!!!
The machines that press the metals and assemble all the parts seemed frighteningly real to me in a weird kind of way, but maybe that's my overactive imagination from watching the Citroen Zsara Picasso advert too many times!!!!

I have to disagree about the Astro Black though. This is growing on me more and more, especially with a white roof.
There was an AB at the Paris Motorshow with beige leather interior, which I can imagine some people being horrified at, but I personally think it looks great!

I am also going to disagree about the sunroof. I think it's a nice touch that it now opens in the rear as well, and the front panel is so large that when open fully, I don't think you need to have both panels open to get a draught!!! Also, if the rear panel opened too, then the glass would probably over-hang further than the spoiler!!
I'm also liking the fact that the blind slides only as far as you pull it, so you can have it open 1/2 way 3/4 way etc. And it also doesn't ping back so forcefully, which might save a few fingers!!!

Someone also wrote in another thread somewhere about the indicator/headlight stalks looking cheaper. I prefer the new darker stalks, but I think this is because my MINI has anthracite interior, so I think darker stalks/knobs/buttons would co-ordinate better (a bit girlie I know!!)

All in all, a great day out. I even had a little bit of fun chasing/being chased by another MINI on the way home.

Now all we need is for BMW/MINI to sort the website out
so I can configure my next MINI!!!!!
The good news is, we won the Euro Millions on Friday, the bad new is it was only £6.40!

Some more pictures to add Flickr: Photos from roz.rachel (first 2 pages only, the rest are random ones from Paris!!)

[I love MINI, Laura]

Hi Rachel! Thanks for posting those photos! Stupid posing from me in some! Just called for it at the time!

[Mini_One_Too]

Nah, nto stupid posing, we were just enjoying ourselves.

Now if we had been in TKMaxx then there would have been some stupid posing!!!