[Irlmin]

My Brother recently bought an R56 Cooper D and He finds the handling a bit weird in fact bordering on dangerous , let Me expand , on normal Irish 'B' roads while cornering if any bump is encountered mid corner the rear of the car just 'snaps' out with no warning ,as a comparison I am on My 3 rd MINI an R56 MC and its brilliant handling wise with no vices and I find spring and damper rates etc ideal for what I want and the type of roads I use BUT I also have no confidence in his MCD as regards handling , it looks to Me like spring / damper rates are not tested as much as the petrol and perhaps the weight of the diesel engine is upsetting the balance , Now I have spoken to 2 other D owners and both agree something is amiss and I was wondering if anyone else has noticed anything unsual with their Ds , the alignment is checked and is to spec btw . this is ruining what is a brilliant car otherwise .any thoughts would be appreciated .
G

[Paul]

The Cooper D is slightly lighter than the Cooper according to the specifications.

[sav112]

Never had a new Mini yet to drive but I was keen on there handling! Hope the D does not handle like cows behind. Surly its not the case other wise the D would just be a MPG waste of space……

[Irlmin]

Anyone know if the spring / damper rates are different in the D or the same spec as the petrol MC ?
G

[Goonery]

I'll have a word and see for you

[pob]

There's nothing wrong with the handling of the D but when I drove a D and an S over the same route back to back the S was noticeably different (and better) with its handling. They were both on 17" wheels and the S seemed less harsh than the D.

[ONED]

I've had the back move out!!!

[zwartsj]

personaly i think my one D had better handeling.
the cooper D is not bad still alot of fun but the back has steped out on me the odd time. good thing i got the DSC :P

[ONED]

Our OneD was alot less twitchy!

BTW......where about are you from zwartsj??

[ONED]

Oh I seen from your Photos on another thread, you bought from DP's In Purtydown, ...you can't be that far away then?



Have you seen this?

Irish / N Irish MINI Owners

Maybe this would interest you ?

MINI Club of Ireland

[zwartsj]

I sure did buy my Dooper in Portadown.
but I'm sort of between the north and the south for work. having to do the run between the Belfast office and the Dublin office.

i will look into this miniclub of Ireland. did a mini charity run about a month ago around Louth and it was a fun day out. and a super send off for my old oneD

[dalboyne]

I did find the handling of the D I test drove a bit different from my Cabrio. But it wans't the handling round corners, I just felt that the front tended to "dive" more under braking than my own car. Byut I suppose that would tend to unweight the back end, in which case a sudden loss of contact thanks to bumps or potholes could have a significant effect.....

Ian

[ONED]

The extra weight of the Diesel engine would cause the front to dive a bit on braking, ....but we're having problems when not braking!

[sav112]

thats rubbish if it's right i expect it to be great on the road!

Puts you right of the d so it does

[ONED]

Well you gotta try it I suppose!

Probably wouldn't annoy me as much if I was new to the scene, but after 3 & a half years of R50 ownership its just a bit disapointing in certain areas

[dalboyne]

Quote: Originally Posted by ONED (original)

The extra weight of the Diesel engine would cause the front to dive a bit on braking, ....but we're having problems when not braking!

Yes, but I had expected the suspension settings would be adjusted to take this into account....

[Irlmin]

Another Friend of mine driving a Cooper D has had a water hose fall off and loose all the coolant !!!!!!!!!!!!!! lucky He was switched on and realised what was happening . My Brothers Car is at the dealers and is being rejected His partners 1st MINI experience is proving to be a bad one . How could MINI get this wrong ? brilliant engine , brilliant design ,/ concept lots of experience with R50/53 production and still in the quest for more profit they throw it all away its infuriating, I can see the bloody accountants slashing the budgets for components , where will these as**ol*s be when the customers are gone and the marketing dept is looking for increased budgets to stem the outflow of loyal customers . potentially the MCD was the best of the range for everyday motoring but unfortunately the reality is they took shortcuts with suspension settings and poor component quality , I presume because the D was supposed to be only 5% of MINI sales and NOT available in the US market they would not see a return on testing etc . how they got that one wrong !!!!!
G

[ONED]

What are the conditions for rejection?

Has there been any attempt to sort the car Ger??

Will it be replaced?

[sav112]

Irlmin that does put me off even more on the D......I'm fussy as and if anything was wrong I'd be back and give them the keys and say nah no thanks....How do i get to the local Audi show room.

[Irlmin]

I certainly don't want to put anyone off buying what SHOULD be the best of the MINI range for everyday motoring and even though My current R56 MC has a few annoying features where 'cost cutting' and 'penny pinching' is evident I am really happy with the car . I just read another review on a Irish motor mag Today on the D and the Author praises the engine and the car in general BUT really criticises the suspension saying not alone would driving it "remove the enamel " from your teeth it would " Remove the teeth " altogether and this was without 'sport' suspension .No this is a case of not testing the product enough . I am sure time will sort the bits falling off and water leaks etc but unless someone at MINI has a look at damper / spring rates ' the handling problem will not go away , of course if someone is unfortunate to have one of these mid corner 'fits' and not be an experienced driver then the consequences will be interesting . as I have said please make up Your Own mind up and drive the car as I will say it again the MCD SHOULD be the best of the lot .
G