[Sejanus]

Mini-is-4-me's "coolest thing" thread got me thinking about what I really like about my MINI and what I don't as well. I really love this car, but sometimes I wonder how much of it is just that it is a new car or even just a modern car (compared to what I used to regularly drive). I mean it feels much tighter and smoother than I'm used to, but what wouldn't? I love having AC and (gasp!) a radio with presets and scanning, but none of those are exactly new, let alone MINI specific. So here goes, my self-indulgent list of MINI likes and dislikes. Some of these are not MINI specific per se, but are unusual in a car in the MINI's price range.
Likes: (in no real order)
Car's external appearence, handling, colour choices, safety features (multiple airbags, DSC, etc.,), instrument lay out (speedo, toggles, etc), interior color scheme (tartan red), MFSW, OBC, sports seats (with one exception), CVT (relatively fuel efficient and kinda fun to play around with), general Mini nostalgia appeal, the attention it draws oh, and handling.
Dislikes: (pretty much in order)
Roof line hinders visibility somewhat, I can't get seat quite right so that my right leg doesn't feel like the contour of the sports seat isn't pressing into it a bit too much, seat adjustment mechanisms are a bit overly complicated, inability to switch from AM to FM on MFSW, slight surging sensation at 10 mph, rear power outlet is loose (fault) and that is about it.
Ambivalences: Power-The MINI's power is more than adequate for my needs and the Sports mode on the CVT helps give it a bit of a boost, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't enjoy a bit more accelleration. Maybe, just maybe, a Works job is in my future. Gas Mileage-really not bad (roughly 27-30 US average) and much better than what I'm used to, but I had originally been led to expect something a bit more impressive (partially because the original figures I saw were in Imperial gallons and I didn't realize it initially.)

Looking over this list, my likes are fairly significant to me and most of my dislikes are relatively petty. I guess it really is the MINI itself I love.
Anyone else figure out what they like or dislike?

[m1les]

Likes? Coming up to a year old and I still consider it a great car.

Dislikes? Small cup holders, who's stupid idea was that then?

[dcfkan]

Quote:

Originally posted by m1les
Dislikes? Small cup holders, who's stupid idea was that then?

Short distance drivers who do have not thermal mugs

My dislike (now rectified) was not having a 12V socket in the boot (runflat +/- non smoker pack = no 12V socket in boot), and did not know about its non-existance until some months later

Now that I have retro fitted a 12V socket in the boot, Apple is a great car

DK

[AprilWhine]

Like: MFSW, putting the controls on the reverse was genius!

Dislike: Seats difficult to adjust. Hubby thought his friend had broken the passenger seat, he even went so far as to call the dealer to get it repaired before we were able to get it back in place.

[dietcokeplease]

Likes: Clamshell bonnet - pure genius
Classy, kewl, quality interior above dash
level in daylight and especially at night

Dislikes: The engine - give me a Honda 1.6 VTEC!
Low rent interior below dash level in daylight

[minirossa]

Likes: Alot of things! Styling. Handling. The car is very solid. You can really feel how rigid it is. The MFSW is great.

Dislikes: Mostly small things like the cup holders & the
rather small rear view mirror I DO agree with Sejanus about the lack of power. Sometimes I have to really rev the engine to scoot past a cabbie or make it up a hill.

Starting to think about getting an S; but I really prefer the Cooper's looks. The ride on the S is quite hard as well.

Maybe it is time for another S test drive??

[Sejanus]

As another Sac heat wave hits and bug life dies in droves upon my windshield let me add to the dislikes that the washer jets seem pretty inadequate. They blast a few points in the middle of the window and nothing above them gets any fluid and only a relatively narrow area below gets wet.

[xplode]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sejanus
They blast a few points in the middle of the window and nothing above them gets any fluid and only a relatively narrow area below gets wet.

why not adjust them to aim higher, the wiper motion would make the fluid reach a larger area that way, no?

[HarryHBMCC]

Quote:

Originally posted by minirossa
Likes: Alot of things! Styling. Handling. The car is very solid. You can really feel how rigid it is. The MFSW is great.

Dislikes: Mostly small things like the cup holders & the
rather small rear view mirror I DO agree with Sejanus about the lack of power. Sometimes I have to really rev the engine to scoot past a cabbie or make it up a hill.

Starting to think about getting an S; but I really prefer the Cooper's looks. The ride on the S is quite hard as well.

Maybe it is time for another S test drive??

How old is your Cooper? 5-speed I assume? How many miles on it? My Cooper's engine opened up well after 3200km (2000 miles) and kept opening up for another 2000km (1500 miles) or so. Now (7500km) I find it quite powerful.

You have to keep the revs up to really accelerate quickly but taking first and second gear to redline gets me to over 100km/h in what seems like no time. With a small engine, having to keep the revs up is to be expected. This means that you pass in 2nd or 3rd gear depending on the speed, or even in 4th if you are going over 150km/h

If you want more power without having to rev the engine then the forced induction solution of the S will give it to you. Me, I find it fun to really run the revs up at times.

Harry

[zwoman]

LOVE the car! Not ecstatic about the stereo. I think that the sound could be crisper and cleaner. I LOVE listening to music in my car, so I'm not sure how I'm going to resolve this. Maybe the HK system would have cleaned it up in which case, I should have waited

[Sejanus]

Quote:

Originally posted by xplode

why not adjust them to aim higher, the wiper motion would make the fluid reach a larger area that way, no?

Sounds reasonable. How?

[lightbody]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sejanus


Sounds reasonable. How?

Stick a pin in the hole in the end of the nozzle and adjust as necessary... I thought all cars did this?!

[Sejanus]

Quote:

Originally posted by lightbody


Stick a pin in the hole in the end of the nozzle and adjust as necessary... I thought all cars did this?!

Could be, the washers haven't worked on my Mustang for about a decade so I'm about out of practice with such things. The ones on the MINI seem kinda solidly in there, but I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[DaveH]

Quote:

My dislike (now rectified) was not having a 12V socket in the boot (runflat +/- non smoker pack = no 12V socket in boot), and did not know about its non-existance until some months later

DK why did you want a 12v socket in the boot? is there any advantage, I think the 2003 model s does not have it installed.

[Mark_Ohio]

I have a 2002 MINI Cooper and it has a 12v in the boot. It's also loose like someone mentioned earlier. But I never use it so I haven't taken it in the have it fixed.

I have to agree with the person who said their engine really opened up the more they drove it. I have about 2110 miles on it and it seems like the more miles I put on it the better and faster it runs. Mine really seemed to open up after about 1700 miles and keeps getting better. The sound of the engine has changed to, it sounds alot deeper, sexier, I don't know how else to explain it. So get motoring guys.

Mark_Ohio

[HarryHBMCC]

I have used the 12V plug in the boot of my MINI to power my compressor to increase the pressure in my rear tires -- they were starting to squeal more than usual and it turned out that I was about 5PSI low all around. Mine is not loose and works fine.

My MC's engine broke in a lot until 3200km (2000 miles) or so, the power, the gas mileage and the sound all improving. I'd say it continued breaking in noticably but not quite as dramatically for another 1500km (1000 miles) or so and is still getting a little better at over 7500km. It now rips around and the sound of it doing 0 to over 100km/h (1st gear to redline then 2nd gear to redline) is just wonderful. I must get a line-level microphone for my Creative Jukebox sometime to record it (and heck, I could even use it as a rough timing).

Harry

[Sejanus]

Yeah, mine seems to have a bit more zip to it as I've gotten up around 2,000 miles and the mpg does seem to have improved about 1-1.5 miles per gallon.

[RickB]

Likes: Styling (inside and out), handling, easy cruising, dash lay-out.
Dislikes: Still haven't found the perfect seating position - keep fiddling with all the adjustments, trying to find one that is just right. Dirty wheels. Impossible-to-read dipstick. I would have expected better mileage; my Honda had a 1.6 liter engine and got 37mpg. While the Cooper S has a lot more horsepower, when the car is being driven gently and/or on the freeway, it should return better than 27-28mpg(US). My mileage has gone down as the miles have built up. Eveni if the specific fuel consumption has improved with breeak-in, I'm also driving the car more aggresively than when new. I averaged over 30mpg for the first five fill-ups.

[HarryHBMCC]

There is no free lunch with a supercharger. The penalty for having the power when you want it is never having the same gas mileage even if you baby it. You are always expending energy to spin up the compressor and it is always giving you _some_ boost; after all it is only an 8.3:1 engine while the Cooper is 10.6:1 so with the supercharger not working at all you'd have less power.

Harry

[Roscoe76]

Looks, feel, taking corners nice and tight.

Having big feet that can sometimes hit the break pedal when I really want to clutch - they're too close together for a sasquatch like me!