MINI2

We’ve had this book for a while and read it pretty quickly, so apologies to Rob for the late review.  This book is the latest instalment in the Mini/MINI story from Rob Golding, who has been writing about the Mini since his 1979 book entitled simply “Mini”.

In simple terms, MINI: 50 Years is one of the best Mini books we’ve ever had the pleasure to read.  It’s a fantastic mix of new and old, of story telling and fact.  Even if you’re not the most ardent of MINI anoraks you’ll find something to enjoy as Rob takes not only a technical and statistical approach to his books, but also gives a fascinating insight into the people behind the scenes, both from MINI/BMW and from the wider MINI scene worldwide.

There are possibly more complete encyclopaedia of MINI knowledge out there, and if you’re looking for advice on buying, selling, restoring or modifying your MINI then there is also probably better options, but if you want a really good yarn about the MINI (and Mini, although this book is aimed primarily at the “new MINI”) then you cant get much more complete, and more enjoyable to read and look at than Golding’s latest publication.

The book has a clever hardback design and is well illustrated with many interesting Mini and MINI photos.  Perfect for those who know little about the Mini and its history as well as those who are just hungry for MINI stories, this is book that no serious MINI fan should be without.

For those who like to buy online, here’s a link to Amazon (and Amazon UK).  So why not treat yourself (or the one you love, hey, it’s almost Christmas you know!).

Volvo. What image does that name put into your mind? We’re willing to bet it isn’t small, sporty, out of the ordinary. That is unless perhaps you’re familiar with the Volvo C30. The Volvo aimed at young minded 20-30 somethings and “empty nesters”, those who’s children have flown the coops and want to recapture a little of their youth. Although the appearance may lead you to beg to differ, Volvo are aiming their funky “love it or hate it” new Volvo squarely at the very market the MINI also appeals to. So we though that, following our review of the more obvious Fiat 500, our next MINI Challenger would be the Volvo.

The C30 is a challenging offering from Volvo, who up until now seem to have occupied a small, but comfortable (and profitable) place in the market. Volvo make estates, comfortable saloons and executive 4×4s, not ‘fun’ cars, and certainly not sporty hatchbacks. But while we’ve been keeping an eye over the small car segment, the Volvo, for good or bad, seems to be one of those cars that’s hard to ignore. Maybe because, like the MINI, it offers something different. It’s not a small family hatch that comes with a three door variant. It’s not an ultra-practical affording car that can do everything including lugging you and your brood off to the shops while trying to remain engaging enough to enjoy a jaunt along the country lanes. The C30 is a four seater only, two proper sculpted rear seats take care of that, and it’s not full of clever storage bins, smart rolling seats or adjustable seat backs, cubby holes all over the place. Volvo have really decided to go for it with this car and produce a car that people will want to drive and be driven in. So have they succeeded?

Lets start with the looks. The C30 puts a lot of faith in its design. The online marketing campaign plays heavily on the lines of the car, using a “love it or hate it” tag line heavily throughout. At first glance from the front the C30 looks very much like the rest of the Volvo range, although if you look more closely you can see there is extra curve and slightly more interesting lines than it’s bigger siblings. As you follow the shoulder line back, the passenger compartment curves inwards, while the shoulders stay proud and broad. The effect from many angles is quite dramatic, and many people we spoke to really liked the look of the car.

But all that hard work almost seems pointless when it is attached to a rear end as provocative as the C30’s. We didn’t think it would be so controversial, but when gauging the opinions of friends and family it really did divide opinion. And perhaps annoyingly for Volvo, the majority just didn’t really like it. The general consensus seemed to be that it looked “odd”, even those who did like it couldn’t deny it was quirky and unusual.

The C30 is within the price range of the MINI, in the UK at least, with prices starting at under £15,000 for a well equipped 1.6 litre petrol engine S variant. Our Sport model, which includes body coloured body kit, 18″ alloy wheels among its added features over standard, was loaded up to the tune of over £26,000, and while all but the most enthusiastic MINI speccer would struggle to reach those heights, it’s not unthinkable or unseen for MINIs to achieve that price.

The big difference here though is the standard equipment list. The Volvo trounces the MINI on this front, as, lets face it, do many other cars. Dual zone climate control, alloy wheels, dynamic stability control are among the rather impressive standard spec list right from the base model upwards, if you go for the second on the run SE model or upwards you’d find it hard to find additional options to add to the spec list.

Our test car managed quite well though. A Dynaudio Premium Sounds Audio System was an expensive disappointment at £1,400, the very good Bi-Xenon pack is pricey but well worth opting for at £850, the sunroof seems like a little glass for a lot of money at £700, especially when compared to the MINI’s much larger double sunroof. The most expensive option is the “Communications Pack”, which includes remote control satellite navigation with traffic information, “Volvo On Call” and a Dual Band Integrated GSM Telephone. This is good, but the Sat Nav sits in the glovebox, which is by design deep by low. This means losing a lot of storage space to fit the system, but it has to be said Volvo’s satellite navigation system is one of the best we’ve used, even if the female voice is a little stern as she commands you where to turn.

With a great deal of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel it’s pretty easy to get yourself comfortable. The Sport edition includes a leather sports steering wheel and gear stick. The steering wheel is nice, the controls for navigation and stereo easy and intuitive to use, however the shifter is lack lustre, but that doesn’t detract from the six speed manual gearbox, which is easy to work with at a crawl or at pace. The only real oddity, for all the minimalist and space age design in the cabin, is the position of the handbrake leaver, which sits away from the driver next to the passenger seat. The stares you get from your passenger as you hit their elbow for the umpteenth time make you curse the designer for that strange packaging decision.

The rear interior is, like the rear of the exterior, a little more challenging. The stylish rear end appears to have been designed with little regard for luggage. It’s not that the storage space isn’t large enough, compared to the MINI, or even the new MINI Clubman, it’s cavernous, but the rear interior looks best with no luggage cover in place, centre arm rest down. With the large rear glass panel this configuration makes the car feel even more expansive, and road noise is surprisingly well dampened even when the rear is opened up in this manner. You also offer those cars behind you on the road the chance to see straight down the middle of the vehicle all the way to the floating centre stack, which has become the staple of Volvo interior design in recent times (and it is very cool).

As standard the C30 comes with a soft load cover, not entirely unlike the flimsy piece of material we recently grumbled about in our MINI Clubman review. However in the C30 the cover can be held tight in place by elasticated string and hooks, and it actually works very well. It’s pretty much what you would expect to find in any Volvo estate, in fact the rear of the car is very much like an estate in many ways. So at least in that way Volvo are sticking to what they know. The rear load space could be much better though, the boot has a high lip, a relatively small opening through the glass hatch, and is very shallow. On the plus side, the seats fold flat and the space is wide. If you don’t opt for an optional space saving spare, there’s more storage under a “false floor” in the boot to hide items for prying eyes if you chose to keep the soft cover (or optional hard cover) out of the boot.

The interior of the C30 is all about the occupants, primarily those in the front seats, but the rear is also very much geared towards occupant comfort and, of course, safety. Sure there could be more room for storage, but what is provided is adequate, the seats are very comfortable, head room is good front and rear, and adjustment of the front seats is also extremely flexible to suit most shapes and sizes.

The real issue though, especially if you’re considering the C30 as a genuine MINI Challenger, is how well the car drives, how you feel behind the wheel.

For us this is where the C30 was probably most successful. The ride isn’t harsh or crashing in any way, even with the optional 18″ alloys fitted.  Compared to the MINI the drive feels very assured and not at all twitchy. But of course it should be, this is a much bigger car. But the C30 does have sporty aspirations, so the handling is very important.

The 2 litre diesel unit, combined with the smooth shifting six speed gearbox offers a great compromise between comfort when needed and smooth, well spaced shifts when you want to have a little fun. This isn’t the quickest of cars, with a 0-60 mph just under nine seconds, but it feels very strong and is ready to pull from most situations. Unfortunately with our driving, mostly short journeys on country lanes, the economy wasn’t brilliant, the C30 averaged around 37 mpg during our week together. That’s not at all bad, and matches to Volvo’s claimed return on the “urban” cycle.

We drove the C30 on all our usual test and fun routes, as well as around town and on the open road, and it proved extremely flexible. The high quality cabin is such that you feel relaxed and comfortable on longer journeys, the audio was of high enough quality you could drown out traffic stress by hearing your favourite tunes loud and clear (but not on a par with a similar system we’ve tested in the much bigger XC90, hence our initial disappointment), and sporty and clean enough to make you feel comfortable in the twisties. The seats could do with more side support from larger bolsters, especially for passengers who I soon learnt slid around a little more than I’ve become accustomed to in the MINI sports seats.

It’s hard to draw many strong conclusions on the C30, because aside from it’s exterior design there’s nothing much open for debate here. The “keyless” drive, which actually involves a small plastic key that stays in place at all times, is just a bit odd when the rest of the World are going ga-ga over start buttons, and storage when you opt for sat nav is pretty pitiful, but aside from that the Volvo does everything well. And I suppose that’s the main criticism, if you must make one. It doesn’t really do anything brilliantly. It’s not the cleverest packaging in a car, it’s not the most powerful or economical car of its ilk, it’s not the greatest drivers car for the money, and many would argue it isn’t the prettiest either. But overall we actually feel that, perhaps like the MINI, the C30 is more than the sum of its parts. We’d argue perhaps it’s a little over priced, but quality is top notch and there is very little to find fault with.

So despite coming from the company best known for “Boxy but good” safe and sensible cars, and size-wise being a step up from the MINI and even the Clubman, perhaps Volvo have produced a serious MINI Challenger with their C30. It seems to be developing a bit of a cult following on sites such as C30 World, and if Volvo could get more younger drivers through their doors to actually drive the C30, they could be onto a winner here.

Having driven the MINI for over six years, in all it’s derivatives, it was certainly a refreshing change to get behind the wheel of a MINI that is completely new, something very different. The MINI hatchback was and still is brilliant, considered by many a triumph of style, design and image backed by real substance. Once a car like the MINI is a hit, a Convertible surely has to follow, but where to go from there isn’t such an easy choice to make, especially when your name is MINI, when the car has to be small, and has a reputation for great handling and funky design to uphold.

As we all know, MINI went with the Clubman. Parent company BMW have always said that any and every new variant in the MINI range must serve a purpose, must fulfil a demand or niche that the current range doesn’t, must be something truly different, and whatever your views of the MINI Clubman and it’s rather unique configuration from the b-pillars back, it cannot be argued that it is not different. The questions then must be is this bigger ‘estate’, ’shooting brake’, call-it-what-you-will car still a MINI in spirit, and does it genuinely offer the MINI enthusiast something extra, something different to it’s smaller brother?

Our first impression, when greeted with a car park full of MINI Clubman waiting outside Madrid airport was that it certainly looks different. It looks big, yet is actually still remarkably compact, it looks almost like a child’s toy, it looks fun, and it definatley looks quirky. When you’re used to spending hours looking at ‘regular’ MINIs, it looks a little odd. As you walk around the vehicle it doesn’t get any more familiar, it’s asymmetric design and unusual black or silver ‘plastic wrap’ around the rear certainly dispel any feelings of monotony. Reaction at the launch event from the assembled British Media, and early question and answer sessions between MINIs development and management teams rather predictably focused around the ‘wrong sided’ and one sided Club Door. To their credit, the MINI team batted away these questions with great aptitude, the main arguments FOR the single Club Door were that it was something different, something extra. For right hand drive, it was argued, the driver is in complete control of access to the rear of the vehicle as he has to get out, open the front door, to let people out. Apparently some of the German media had complained it was on the wrong side, as drivers would have to walk around the vehicle to let their kids out. According to a MINI representative, two ’suicide doors’ was never really on the cards. They did experiment with and consider a more traditional four door MINI, but when that was ruled out for various reasons, the Club Door idea took to the fore.

Anyway, chances are you’re already well on your way to making your mind up on the appearance of the MINI Clubman, but do the Club Door, extended wheel base, larger boot and barn style rear doors really offer up much in the way of genuine practical uses for the MINI? Is it now a small family car? Could it be considered a compact load lugger? Is it all a terrible mess? We feel the answer to all of those is, in reality, ‘No’. Sure the Clubman offers more rear legroom, but not that much more, not enough that you get a good sense of it being any larger from the rear bench anyway. Rear access is improved by the Club Door, but the application is nowhere near as neat or slick as other ‘hidden hinged’ configurations seen on other cars. In fact, many aspect of the new Clubman felt a little ‘clunky’ in operation.

The boot also presented a bit of a mixed bag. While the Clubman clearly offers greatly improved storage, in practice the 100 litre improvement isn’t earth shattering. The balancing act of keeping the car small, but making the luggage room bigger was clearly a difficult one. The soft load cover is a bit of an oddity and felt flimsy in operation, perhaps a little over complicated, and, unusually you might say for a product from the BMW group, a slightly under engineered. Without a manual to hand, we couldn’t figure out the operation of the ‘false floor’ in the boot, which offers up a level load area when the seats are folded forward, as well as ‘hidden’ storage beneath. The rear barn doors though really are a clever and neat touch. Once you open the right handed door a little the pneumatics do the rest, and the left sided door opens all the way at the touch of a button, very slick, and very much more in keeping with MINI’s image and reputation for quirkiness with quality.

The more time we spent with the Clubman, the more we played with the new toys this MINI variant offers up the more we came to enjoy it. Sure it’s no MINI limo, but during our night drive through the crowded city streets of Madrid our carriage coped amiably with it’s three full sized occupants. It was also during this city escapade we really appreciated the simplistic joy of the stop-start system of our Cooper S Clubman. Many have expressed concerns about this system, how it could feel unpredictable and even possibly unsafe. But it isn’t either, it’s brilliant, slick and once you are used to the car cutting and starting its own engine you really don’t bat an eyelid as the smart electronics do their thing.
As much as the night driving was amusing (to a point, you can only bear to be be stuck in so much traffic, late at night on an empty stomach), for us the MINI Cooper S has always been about the joys of the open roads, and as every Clubman on offer was a Cooper S model, it was excellent of Spain to provide, and BMW to find such excellent roads for us to put the car through its paces on.

Our time was spent largely on twisting, undulating hillside. The views, if you could spare a second to take them in, were suitably sublime, but the best thing we discovered was that in terms of the driving experience, it was excellent. You can’t stick **kg extra weight on a car, put an extra door at the back and one side and not expect a change, but while the Clubman driving experience is different from a hatchback MINI, it’s still got the same feeling, the same sure footed assurance in it’s manners that the MINI has. Extra work and development of the body in white stages of MINI manufacturing (when the car is unpainted steel panels being welded together by clever robots) means that both sides of the Clubman have the same rigidity and torsional strength. When driving the car you’re looking for the difference, you almost expect it to feel a little uneven, maybe quirky driving characteristics to match the styling, but the Clubman is spot on.

For the duration of our drives we drove a MINI Cooper S Clubman, they did not feature the sport button, or Sports suspension, but did include DSC and the optional Limited Slip Differential. We threw the Clubman through many a tight twist and turn, incredibly fun roads, and taxing on any car, but the Clubman just ate it all up. There is understeer present at the limits, and it can feel a little squirmy when on the edge, but there’s nothing here you could pin on the car being too long or too rear heavy. The weight distribution seems to lend itself a little to a more balanced feel to the Clubman, the rear doesn’t feel heavy, nothing feels odd.

All is not rosy in the garden though. The rear ‘parcel shelf’ really is a bit of a cock up, and if you thought the rear view in the MINI Convertible could be bad, then the Clubman is little short of shocking. No point making any hand gestures at the car behind you, they ain’t gonna see it. That said, if they’re on a motorbike, or may not see them anyway. Our co-driver commented on finding himself trying to shake of a phantom biker, when actually it was just the join line at the back. But what can you do, if you have barn doors you have to have a join, and where there’s a join, there going to be a lack of glass. The operation of the rear doors, to us at least, justifies this inconvenience, but we didn’t really have to park the thing, if we did, our views may have changed.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Your view on the Clubman overall is probably going to be decided by your attitude. Is the glass half empty, or is it half full? If it’s half empty the Clubman could easily be dismissed as comedy of errors, a freak of a car, a half hearted half baked attempt at a bigger MINI that’s all style and very little real substance. Or, you could take the glass half full approach. The Clubman is still every bit a MINI, when you’re driving around most of the time, until you check the rear view MINI, you’re in a MINI, no different from any other. When you want some fun, you can throw it about and have a good time every bit as much as you can with the hatch, but if you want a little extra space in the rear, an extra door to help people get in and out, and almost double the boot space, then it’s all there for you, and for a relatively small price premium.

The MINI Clubman will, we’re sure, win people over. It will help those lusting after a MINI to justify the purchase to themselves (or their partners) that little bit more easily, it could also appeal to those who thought the 2nd generation was a little too ’same again’ and lacked originality. MINI aims to achieve a new customer rate of around 80% with the Clubman, we’re not sure how realistic that is, this car could be as much about retaining enthusiasts as it will be winning new people over. Clubman production is expected to account for 25% of all MINIs, and the Cooper is expected to lead the way in terms of sales volume. Time will tell if they have got their predictions right, but one thing seems certain, despite it’s detractors, the MINI Clubman will be a hit, and we thing deservedly so.

And what about the future? Nobody was saying very much, we did have a good conversation with Detler Welters, Head of Product Marketing over dinner about the future direction of MINI, and the Clubman in particular, but really very little was revealed. The Cooper Diesel is undergoing continual development, and will have improved sound deadening in the firewall and other areas as a response to feedback from customers complaining it was too noisy while for the Clubman we can expect “roof rails” as an option in 2008, and seeing a panel van concept at motor shows soon is also apparently on the cards. Although the panel van will “definitely not” be something brought into production!

Probing questions were being thrown about concerning the possibility of a 4×4, or “bigger MINI”, “MINI SUV”, but as you can expect at official events very little was given away, and most was dismissed out of hand as simply not happening. The strongest rebuttal came when the rumours of MINI teaming up with Mercedes for the next generation platform were mentioned. And if you’re considering holding out for a Clubman with a matching pair of rear doors, I wouldn’t hold your breath. The platform apparently just isn’t flexible enough to make the required production changes affordable. “Maybe in the next generation” this could be considered, when BMW will rebuild the MINI platform once again from the ground up.

We’ll be the first to admit we were highly sceptical about the MINI Clubman, especially some of the design decisions which MINI brand Vice President Dr Kay Segler describes as “extrovert”, and we have to disagree with Kay when he calls the additional rear leg room “sensational”. But with that all said, for a little extra money you get a little extra MINI, and that surely can only be a good thing. The Clubman has a unique character and style, and many quirks that will both enthuse and annoy people, but we’ve been sold, we think it’s a winner.

This is the last time we’ll review a new first generation MINI, and the Sidewalk limited editions are a sort of “final hurrah” from MINI for the Convertible range, a special edition to see it through until it’s replaced by the second generation Convertible.

We doubt they’ve sold too many this summer in the UK though, and not because savvy buyers are holding out for the new more powerful, more economical make over that’s already happened across the rest of the range. No, it’s just been a pretty terrible summer here in Britain, and as I sit here writing this review, rain beating against the window outside, I need no further reminder of the blessed life I live, which was highlighted by a full week of unbroken good weather that coincided perfectly with our time with the MINI Convertible.

The heavens were certainly shining on us during our week with the Sidewalk, and when the sun is out and and you’re driving along, the wind in your hair, the supercharger whining ahead and the exhaust burbling away merrily behind it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want any other MINI than a Cooper S Convertible. It’s only when you get your head back out from the clouds you begin to appreciate the drawbacks and compromises the soft top MINI undoubtedly presents it’s owners.

We’ve reviewed the MINI Convertible many times before, and we really do have a soft spot for the soft top. But it has to be said, when the roof is up, it is dark, it is noisy, and while the handling is brilliant it’s all a bit wobbly compared to the steel topped siblings. So, thank goodness we had a week with the roof down.

What did we learn from our time with the Cooper S? Quite a lot actually. The seats in the Sidewalk certainly divided opinion. My mother-in-law thought they looked great, a co-worker commented they looked like, well, lets not go there, the brownish tone wasn’t a winner with everyone for sure. But to actually sit on them was far from a delight. We’ve never experienced a problem with any MINI seats, until now. Even a relatively short 80 mile round trip left us feeling quite uncomfortable, and even a little sore. Compared to the leather sports seats in our own MINI Cooper S these more “plush” seats didn’t feel right at all, and no amount of adjustment changed that.

As for the rest of the style of the Black Sidewalk? We loved it, from the wheels to the paint finish to the dash, it all fitted together well and looked stunning. The MINI Convertible certainly still proved to be a head turner, which was a real surprise considering how long this car has been about now, and a credit to the MINIs continuing appeal.

The best thing about the Convertible Cooper S though is actually driving the car. Our favourite places quickly became tree lined country lanes, underpasses, bridges and just any enclosed spaces. When entering such places, try as we might the urge to play with the throttle to induce whines, pops and burbles (and accompanying childish grin) was just too much to resist. This car is just one big giggle. Forget the pose factor, the “coolness” of the MINI brand. Hurtling around in the Cooper S Convertible is what motoring is all about. Fun!

So are the sacrifices in boot space, rearward vision, sound deadening and comfort really worth it for the thrill of the open topped open roads? Well, we’ve never been able to justify it, not when sat in the comfort of a warm home considering the pros and cons of a soft top versus a hard top MINI. But if you’re the impulsive type, and you really, really enjoy driving, the the Cooper S Convertible is a great place to spend your time on the roads, and the Sidewalk, with it’s unique trim, upholstery and wheels will no doubt appeal to many. The Cooper S version certainly provides unparalleled aural pleasure for the price. If only the seats weren’t so uncomfortable.

The MINI Tries to be Fun, Yet Frugal. Can it pull it off?

We never quite got the MINI One D. As you can see in our report from the original launch, so the idea of the historic, racing pedigree name of Cooper being placed next to the now familiar MINI “D” logo did leave us with some doubts when rumours first began of this unholy matrimony.

Turns out though we really need not have worried, at least, not that much.

The first thing that impressed us about the original MINI One D was the noise. Or rather, the lack of noise. This, however was not the case with the new Cooper D. In fact if one criticism could be leveled at the new car it’s that the refinement we found with the original, less gutsy One D doesn’t seem quite as good.

Continue reading Exclusive: MINI2 Drives the MINI Cooper Diesel

Little Engine, Little Car. A Match Made in Heaven?

The MINI One first time around was an interesting little motor. Basically it was figured out very early on after it’s release to market that the 1.6 litre version of the MINI One was basically a MINI Cooper with an “un tweaked” ECU and more basic trim. Although never as popular as the Cooper, probably purely as a result of lower performance figures and the lack of the heritage appeal the Cooper badge carries, the MINI One was a popular choice. This was no doubt enhanced by the fact for a relatively small outlay you could have the engine management poked about to give performance equal to or better than the more expensive Cooper.

First time around the MINI One and MINI Cooper came first, the S we all had to wait for. For the second generation the base model is one of the last (alongside the Cooper Diesel) to come to market.

Continue reading Exclusive: MINI2 Drives the new MINI One

In case anyone was wondering “Where’s the updates”, we thought we’d better you fill you in.

In January we filed what we planned to be the first of many reports on our first hand experience owning and living with the second generation MINI Cooper S. If you were watching, and waiting with baited breath for the next chapter, I’m sorry to report it wont be coming.

You can see our initial problems in the previous report, in particular the fact the car was not water tight and the steering was making a strange noise that nobody seemed able to pin-point (in addition to some iffy finishing touches). Sadly, within a very short time the problems didn’t improve, and after quite a disparaging and disheartening encounter with MINI Customer services, MINI agreed that the car was faulty from the start, and, in short, wasn’t of the quality anybody should expect from a premium brand such as BMW/MINI.

Continue reading Long Term Short Term Cooper S Report - The First 1000 Miles

Although A-Glaze is a paint protection system, and therefore a product most suited to a long term review, we thought we’d share our first impressions.

Continue reading A-Glaze Paint Sealant Application

We’ve owned many MINIs, too many MINIs, since our first in 2002. This time, however, we’re going to share our experiences of “real life” MINI ownership every 1,000 miles on MINI2.

Continue reading Long Term Cooper S Report - The First 1000 Miles

In the lead up to Christmas we had the use of a new 2nd Generation MINI Cooper for a week. Finally we share how we got on.

Continue reading Living with the 2nd Generation MINI Cooper