[cooperSMark]

Well, i've had the car for 3 weeks now and, after a shakey start with clutch problems, i can safely say i am loving it

I found a problem with the clutch within an hour of picking the car up but this has been sorted now and i got to try out a brand new cooper while it was being fixed. Williams Manchester replaced the slave cylinder link arm and the clutch plate itself free of charge so i mustn't grumble.

Since then, i've taken it easy, allowing the new clutch to bed in properly. It's only over the last couple of days i've found the extra power available further up the rev range I knew i'd bought a quick car but it's a bit of a beast once it's above 4500rpm or thereabouts.

I'm very pleased with the performance and that's comparing it with my old Z3 2.8! It may be slightly slower (half a second) to 60mph but it sticks to the road better and feels much more sure footed than the Z3.

The only thing i'm not too keen on is the run flats. The road noise is a bit excessive from these and they can hum like a Landrover given the right (or should that be wrong?!) road surface!

I can forgive the car for a bit of road noise though. It makes great noises which more than make up for it

[adams]

Good to hear you are enjoying it mate. My runflats are almost worn (about another 2 month left) so goodyear eagles will be going on i think. I scared myself the other day when it was dry for once, its quick but its when i got to the bends i really went for it for the first time. Wow it just didnt stop gripping despite the run flats, i dont think many normal things would of escaped!

[Hugo]

Fantastic car the R53 S. Still using the R53 S for racing due to not getting reliability or top end power out of the R56 S.

[adams]

I havent driven the new s, heard its a stormer as well although im more than happy for the time being in my r53

[cooperSMark]

Quote: Originally Posted by adams (original)

its quick but its when i got to the bends i really went for it for the first time. Wow it just didnt stop gripping despite the run flats, i dont think many normal things would of escaped!

too right... i've owned 3 BMW's before this and i reckon the mini is the best handling of the lot. The E39 5 series was pretty good but you could feel all that weight when it was on full chat in the twisties.

I do miss the feel of rear wheel drive but i don't miss the twitchy rear (mine and the car's) in the wet

[adams]

Haha yeah i bet I drove a 116i bmw as a loan car, that didnt have the power to get the back end out by any means, handling was good though if a little void of feedback

[Silent1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hugo (original)

Fantastic car the R53 S. Still using the R53 S for racing due to not getting reliability or top end power out of the R56 S.

Hugo, is this in the MINI challenge series? Or in another series? Are you racing against R56s, if so what diiferences are you seeing?

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooperSMark (original)

i got to try out a brand new cooper while it was being fixed.

I had a new Cooper for two days whilst my R53S was in for its only major warranty work (a revised flywheel). What an amazing difference getting back into the S Both my wife and I were completely amazed at how much better one was than the other

How did you find the contrast?

Tigger.

[cooperSMark]

i'm not a huge fan of the R56 cooper looks-wise. I just can't get used to that deep front end. Maybe it will be a grower. I didn't like the stereo being mounted in the speedo or the fact that they've taken away a couple of toggle switches and made them look more plasticky.

The car drove very well, but didn't have that special feel that i get from the R53 S. The steering was very light and didn't have the same sporty feel. Suspension felt slightly softer which meant the ride was less choppy, but i quite like the firm suspension on the R53.

I'd like to give an R56 S a whirl. The technicial at the BMW dealership said he prefers the R53 S and, while the new model is slightly quicker, you wouldn't notice the difference in the real world. He also said the new S suffers badly from torque steer when the Sport button is pressed

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

When I bought mine I went to the dealer and tried both the R53 S and R56 S back to back, a couple of times. I was expecting that, after a really good go in the R56, I would be able to see how it was better than the old one but, the harder I looked, the better the original seemed in comparison

I was in the lucky position of being able to choose between new examples of either car, at virtually the same cost, so I chose the R53 and I've been absolutely chuffed to bits with it over the 14 months and 22,000 miles that I've had it. Okay, the RFL is a real bu**er, but in the overall costs of running a car for 20,000 miles a year, the extra RFL cost is small beer.

Now that I'm really used to it, I'd quite like another go in an R56 S to see if I still feel the same way....

[Mor7s]

I too had a brand spanking 08 cooper a few weeks back while my 03 MCS JCW was having some major warranty repairs.

Chatting with other folks at work who have MINIs they asked what I thought of the new one and to me it just felt more 'grown up'; like the original MINI was a teenage tearaway and the new one a 30 something settling down with his new wife and mortgage. The new car was definately quieter, smoother (and slower, but then I was comparing to an S with JCW!) and generally more refined it was definately much less fun and couldn't wait to get mine back to feel every imperfection in road surface and hear that supercharger wail. The extra 10mpg was welcome for the 3 days I had it but certainly not enough to get me banging on the dealership door for a new one.

And what is with that auto engine stopping business, wound me up royally until I worked out how the turn the damn thing off .

[cooperSMark]

seems like a common theme appearing here then. The auto-stop thing is a good idea if it helps to reduce the road tax but it just makes people think you've stalled it at every set of lights!

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooperSMark (original)

seems like a common theme appearing here then. The auto-stop thing is a good idea if it helps to reduce the road tax but it just makes people think you've stalled it at every set of lights!

Stangely enough, I normally turn my engine off when I'm stationary! Do you think I can make a case for a reduction in my RFL?!

[cooperSMark]

could be worth a go.. don't fancy your chances though!