[cooper4us]

http://autos.msn.com/vip/heraudover....=10641&src=vip

[grimster1284]

I just read the review and its obvious the guy has no clue what hes talking about. He states that the engine on the Cooper S is too noisy because of the turbocharger, I hate to tell the guy it has a supercharger. He also says the S has a ton of torque steer. How is this guy an expert in automobiles?

[AprilWhine]

And he says the MCS has a five speed.

[XSmall]

Since when is being impractical a "con"?

[MGB Boy]

With all due respect to the gentleman, who the hell is Daniel Heraud? His bio calls him "one of North America's leading automotive authorities". I read the car mags a fair bit, I check out all the big sites (autoweek, autoexpress, 4car, thecarconnection, etc.), I try and stay on top of things, and I can honestly say I've never heard of him. Am I that out of the loop?

I just have a hard time taking seriously a guy who could only get a 8.1 second 0-60 time out of an S and puts "no spare tire" as a con on a car that comes with runflats (which will get you farther down the road than a typical donut spare). He also dinged the roof-mounted antenna as impractical (what does that mean?!?) and claimed the rear defroster "requires over 8 minutes to clear of the rear window of morning mist". I presume by "morning mist" he means "several inches of ice", otherwise I have no idea what he's talking about. I also got a laugh from his performance summary: "It is disappointing with either model, and the figures are well under those that had been announced and published by so-called experts. Full-stop and passing acceleration times are dismal with the base model whose engine lacks low-range torque and only slightly more peppy with the S. In either case, the driver will need to use the shifter to create the impression of going fast."

I don't tend to be the sort that blindly jumps up to defend the MINI, I recognize that different people can have different opinions, but this is a complete hatchet job, and leaves one with the distinct impression that the author either had an axe to grind or simply doesn't have a clue...

-Ricardo

[Humourl3ss]

He's a tool. Plain and simple.

My Civic SiR (with about two-thirds the torque of my MCS) torque steered far worse than the MINI does.

He's a horrible launcher. 8.1 seconds to 60? 16.6 in the 1320? I'm sorry, but either he was doing it in the wet, or he's utterly devoid of skill.

As for a lack of practicality, perhaps a Miata or an MR2 would be more to his liking?

For the record, he did an equally abysmal job reviewing the RSX Type-S a year or so ago.

-CW

[Humourl3ss]

Quote:

Originally posted by MGB Boy
With all due respect to the gentleman, who the hell is Daniel Heraud? His bio calls him "one of North America's leading automotive authorities". I read the car mags a fair bit, I check out all the big sites (autoweek, autoexpress, 4car, thecarconnection, etc.), I try and stay on top of things, and I can honestly say I've never heard of him. Am I that out of the loop?
-Ricardo

No, you're not. I too read Motor Trend, Car, EVO, Road & Track, Car & Driver, Classic & Sports Car, Automobile, Auto Week, et al, and have yet to see his byline in any of those publications.

Those who can, do.

Those who can't, work for a freebie MSN-sponsored site.

-CW

[Humourl3ss]

Found another "d'oh"!

Quote:

The base engine is a 1.6-liter L4 with alloy block and cylinder head

Good job, Danny. Iron is an alloy now?

-CW

[cooper4us]

I have never seen Daniel Heraud's reviews been published outside of MSN's Carpoint.com website. I agree this guy sucks and he tends to evaluate cars in the same manner as one would evaluate a toaster or dishwasher machine = appliances.

By the way Motorweek just picked the MINI Cooper as the best small car for 2003. The awards keep piling up and poor Daniel is still in denial.

If you read the first paragraph, Heraud makes the false claim that the MINI was introduced in 2002 as a 2003 model.

I couldn't agree more...this is the cheapest and lowest hatchet job of a review I have ever seen.

Boycott carpoint.com!

[Humourl3ss]

I can't resist (just one more swipe at the guy)....

Under "Cons", it reads:

Quote:

Perfectible brakes

Now what, pray tell, is a "perfectible brake"?

per·fect·i·ble Pronunciation Key (pr-fkt-bl)
adj. Capable of becoming perfect or being made perfect

"Capable of being made perfect"? What's a perfect brake? 80-0mph in nil seconds with zero fade? How does one go about making these brakes perfect?

English > Danny boy.

-CW

[cooper4us]

Daniel Heraud is Canadian. He might be from Quebec but I am not sure. Ask him what "perfectible" means in Canadian English.

[Humourl3ss]

Hell, I speak Canadian English (note the spelling of "humour").

I can't say I've ever used "perfectible" in a negative context.

-CW

[vespa]

Yeah, first he made up words like "unpractical" and "perfectible".

The he made up stats like 5-speed, alloy block, inferior brakes on the Cooper, turbocharger, 4 airbags, front seatback are (sic) not fitted with a position "memory" system

Then he just got all confused: "shock absorbers that are more efficient in compression than in extension", "unpractical center console bin", "the car is not as wide as it is high", "[front seat] passengers will be rubbing shoulders", "seatbacks are heavily angled", "oddly placed [rear seat folding] controls".

OF course he was dead-on about the rattles and that horrible bar in the seat that pokes incessantly at one's lower spine. Still a moron though.

[cooper4us]

I think Daniel Heraud is a Consumer Reports "Reject"!.

[GadgetGav]

What do we really expect from a Micro$oft employee... a real car review..??
I can't even read the article without logging in to .net passport or whatever they're calling it now. What's that about..? (isn't .net their new programming suite anyway).
The worst thing about the internet is how much space there is to fill and we all know nature abhorrs a vacuum..!

[Humourl3ss]

Care to photoshop one of those little Consumer Reports black circles (with the white dot in the centre) on Danny boy's face?

-CW

[GadgetGav]

Not to go off on one about Microsoft, but can anyone explain this...

Quote:

MSN Autos uses Passport to verify your identity when you sign in. This benefits you because you can use your Passport sign-in name and password at MSN Autos as well as a fast-growing number of other major sites--such as MSN Money and MSN Hotmail©.

Am I the only one who fails to see how using a hotmail password to log into a car review web site is a benefit to *ME*...? I can see numerous ways its a benefit to *THEM* and the people they sell my details and web browsing habits too....
Of course, it's no good MINI buying the details of people who read that review because they won't want to go near it if they believe MSN...

[tip]

He's a tool. He probaly drives a Lada!

Charles

[cooper4us]

Or a Volga or a Chaika ex-soviet sedan!

[GMINI]

That's it. I'm never using MSN again!!!!

Just lost it's biggest fan. Pathetic reporting and p!ss-poor editing.