[Paul]

Sort of a "Roll Call" and looking for opinions post on the preview event Yesterday (28th Oct '06) at Plant Oxford.

Who went, and what did you think of the event and more to the point, the car(s) on display?

[Paul]

Personally I thought it a shame we couldn't/didn't see/hear them driving about, and a little drive would have been nice (but too much to expect I'm sure!).

Also thought they should have had one with the Speaker System upgrade thingumy (new H/K type option) blasting out some tunes for all to enjoy/experience. Maybe that's because I've ordered that option though!?

[Washy]

Thought it was a fantastic day and very well organised. It was a privilege to meed Marcus the designer and it doesn't matter how many times I see it I still love watching the cars being built.

The R56 (still not sure what to call the new MINI) was the star of the show for me though. I think they have done a very good job and the changes have been well and carefully thought out. I love the new interior and can't wait to drive one.

Must apologise to MINI for virtually having to throw me out I was so interested in what Marcus had to say

[mad brummie]

Yup - was a great day.

Fantastic to hear from the chief designer, he answered my queries on the design issues i had with the car, very engaging and nice man to talk to. Good to hear he has mini/MINI history aswell.

The cars were great, lots of different options on show, lots to play with and look at.

I think the interior is made by the satnav. The screen and software architecture match the cars personality perfectly. Black plastic backing to the centre stack is a bit cheap looking but that shouldn't be a major problem. Worse when theres less pods intersecting it like on the non sat nav non auto ac versions. Loved the rest of the interior and plenty of room still for 6foot +++++ people!!! reach and rake steering wheel is much better.

Exterior i still think is made by a bright colour, walking around the factory the Astro Black just didn't look as good IMO. No DS or BRG cars on the line that i saw so can't comment on those. Sparkling Silver i was worried about looks really nice in real life, that could be a popular colour. Found out why Nightfire isn't on the S, it is seen as a heriatage colour not a sporty colour for the MCS.

Some lovely details on the car, i love the attention to detail on the rear lights and Marcus was clearly very proud of his mesh designs!!! Car looks far far better on minimum of 17" wheels 16" just too small with the overall growth of the car. Beauty spot ananlogy for the side light and spot light cluster was excellent i thought and very well detailed.

Overall I think the car looks great, saying that its not different enough for me to run out and buy one, which from what we heard was not the plan anyway, so thats nice to hear Apparently the Countryman/Traveller is special and the convertible is designed and i would imagine it won't be long till we see that!!!

Its all very exciting All in all a top day, thanks to whoever

[mad brummie]

Quote: Originally Posted by Washy (original)

Must apologise to MINI for virtually having to throw me out I was so interested in what Marcus had to say

i think that pretty much covered all us MINI2ers!!! Felt a bit sorry for him! But he was really engaging and great to listen to!

[ONED]

Good Coments Neil....sounds promising





PMSL @ having to be ejected though

[Paul]

Here's a few ropey happy snaps from the event.

http://www.mini2.com/galleries/showg....php/cat/2069/

Feel free to add your own (no doubt better quality) shots too.

[Hat]

i'll just echo what the other said, excellent day overall & very well organised. its great that mini go to these lengths to engage their customers - you could see marcus & the other mini people around were genuinely interested in our opinions, just could have done with a couple more marcus's to share around it was just a bit of a shae we couldnt go back to the cars after the factory tour but they had another group due & had to move us on.

I thought the cars looked & felt great, the upgraded interior materials are excellent, especially the leather trim. the sat nav/entertainment system looks great although the mapping wasn't anywhere near as good as you can get in aftermarket systems. the only area where the interior quality was a bit of a let down was on the non-sat nav stereo buttons & the air con/ventillation buttons - the plastic on these made them feel a bit low-rent & not in keeping with the rest of the car. i also felt the fan/heater controls were over fussy & an obvious example of 'form over function'.

the new colours look great & it was nice to get a sneaky look at nighfire red & lightning blue on the assembly line. lightning blue especially looks very nice - like indi but a good couple of shades lighter.

just a final note to say the catering was excellent & tonight's tea will be served in little bowls, with sprinkles

[KPKalle]

Same comment from me. My first visit to the factory - very impressive - and I had a great time. And I'm totally sold on the new model

Shame there wasn't a test drive. Or at least being able to hear the engine.

Nice to see a lot of familiar faces too

[poppet]

I had a fantastic day from start (9.30am) to the finish (11.30pm)

I would love MINI to arrange more event's like that as it makes us feel like they care and keeps us coming back for more.....DOH

The day was especially great for me as my new s is being built next week and I finally saw my yellow in the flesh and I wasn't disappointed (lucky)

Thanks MINI

[Ady]

The event was great, very interesting talk with marcus, very passionate about the new car. From a personal point of view the R56 is growing on me but i still have some sticking points, perhaps the added bits of the traveller will get over that. Some parts of the interior are ver classy and some not so, i can't help feeling that som cost cutting has gone on.Over all i have a better opinion of the R56 than i had before seeing it in the flesh, those that know me could tell you just how much i hated the R50/53 before seeing one in the flesh. The catering was very good esp theos little choc squares , plenty of them vanished my way. At last the yellow is a proper shade, not "vishy vashy"
yellow traveller it is then

Ady

[minicabrio]

Brilliant day - well done MINI for putting it on and inviting us!

Marcus' speech and presentation was excellent. He's clearly very proud of the new car - and rightly so. The cars on display were very impressive. The door 'clunk' is mcuh better than the current model - a point which sums up the vast improvement in quality over the R50/R53 generation.

The one thing I didn't like on the pre-production models was the 'scuttle panel' or lack thereof between the bonnet and windscreen. The cars on display though had a high quality plastic insert and actually looked good!

Sparkling silver I was impressed with - especially with the 'redwood' leather interior world option.

I think the lunches deserve their own special mention too! Three dishes which were all (apparently ) excellent! ....with the exception perhaps of the 'fruit shot'

[mad brummie]

right a few pics, spent most of the time talking to Marcus, so didn't take as many as i'd have liked!

[Lewis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Mullett (original)

Here's a few ropey happy snaps from the event.

http://www.mini2.com/galleries/showg....php/cat/2069/

Feel free to add your own (no doubt better quality) shots too.

Oi watch, some of those were my dodgy happy snaps!!!

I had a great day. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to talk to one of the people involved in designing the mini, to gain an insight into what their motivation was behind some of the design aspects of the car and to also hear about where they had taken some of their inspiration.

Marcus drew lots of design references from the original mini and the design ideas of Alex Issigonis as wall as other manufacturers such as Porsche and the design evolution of the 911.

Again who gets bored of seeing cars being built, not me i loved the factory tour.

I now have a problem; I want to buy a new R56 cooper s...

I hope they do this again for other launches as i think mini owners and enthusiast will greatly benefit from this kind of event in the future.

[Rakey]

had a great day, really pleased to have been invited, hope MINI do more of this preview launches

The highlight for me was of course seeing the new MkII MINI, but also to have the design changes explained by Marcus, who you could see had an obvious passion for his role as head of design for MINI. With the attention to detail, the focus on the mini as well as the R50 it was made more clear as to how the R56 has evolved from the R50

The 10 iconic features of the MINI have been improved upon, the quality increased, and to hear all this from someone so close to the product really made me fall for the new MINI MkII

The sparkling silver was better in the metal than I expected (no longer to referred to as old people silver), Lounge leather seats are very classy, sat nav is awesome but also echo Hats point about the mapping not been as clear as the current, but good to see it has its own system rather than a BMW one.

Down points, not enough time there, felt rushed, and would have liked to have drive or hear the car, or be driven in the car. Was also annoying that we couldn't go back into the R56 room at the end of the tour as we didn't get to see enough detail on the lines, the natural order would have been to see it been made and then get to look at the car in more detail when you realise the complexity of the build.

[Paul]

What I thought was interesting on the production line, which I have not seen before, was the way the rear hatch is no longer coloured to reflect the roof at the top (for example white, black, or body coloured). In fact the rear hatch at the top is incomplete until the spoiler is bolted on, and that part forms the roof as well as the "spoiler" itself. This is how the Cooper spoiler in particular looks so complete with the car, because it is! I guess this saves both production time and cost.

[mad brummie]

a few 'history' pics





and the new traveller

[Jordan210]

Same comment from me from me really.

Was Nice to see the changes they had made in the factory. The production line looked very nice and the new bits look flash. lots of colors on the line. Evan a T car in Nightfire red. Tho i dint see a Yellow on the line...

Marcus Syring talk was amazing. Great to hear from some one that axially know about the car and how it has changes and how they use the human body as examples on the car like the baby's eyes and so on.

Every time i see an R56 its grows more and more on me.

The Sat Nav looks Nice how its in the spedo. Also basically has Idrive like the BMW's do. The Sport seats looked very nice. Dint really like the door cars with the lack of. Space to put things.

Like most people have said. Shame there was no test drives or being driven around in one. The only time i herd the Cooper S engine was in the factory just comming of the line. Did sound good tho.

All in all was a great time. Hope MINI do some thing like it again.

[LMB]

Quote: Originally Posted by poppet (original)

The day was especially great for me as my new s is being built next week and I finally saw my yellow in the flesh and I wasn't disappointed (lucky)

From the pics the Yellow doesn't look too different to the old Yellow..

Is it any darker? i.e. Like a Honda yellow?

[Washy]

Quote: Originally Posted by LMB (original)