23 replies to this topic

[CityEPete]

I think the drive is spoilt on some with huge wheels, just like old minis!

[TheFabMini]

Ive got a 2009 cooper D and my 1984 city e

The Dooper is £20 a year road tax
I get 70+mpg without really trying and get what I think is something that stands out more than the rest of the hatchback options..
I know red MINIs with white roofs are seen on every street but when I get in a new focus/Clio/Astra id much sooner be back in the MINI. Even if the ride is a bit firm!

The latest 5 door MINIs I do agree are far far from being anything like the minis we all love on here but Id still have one of them over any other 5 door hatchback on the market purely because it stands out as a MINI and not just an anonymous hatchback.

[TheFabMini]

That an its fun when people see my old mini and say
much better than the new s#*% ones, I hate them BMW MINIS...

then I say I also have a new Mini and it all gets a bit awkward

[rkde]

Love them all and good picture, 

 

My classics looked small against my R50 and R53 but now I also have an F54 clubman the R50 & R53 look small against that and the classic looks like a dot - love them all and BMW really has done what rover could not, shame really but we are 17 years on with new minis...

[mab01uk]

Here is my 2002 MINI parked in 'Issigonis Way' during a return visit to the Cowley Oxford Mini factory.......the Y Reg R50 and early R53 are even starting to appear in classic car magazine articles as a car worth buying while prices are low and are being tipped to become a future classic! They do drive, steer and handle well especially if you get rid of the run flat tyres which were a late addition by BMW and spoilt the steering, ride and handling that Rover test engineers originally set the car up with at Gaydon, to get as near as possible to the feel of a classic Mini in a modern package with power steering, etc.

(R=Rover model code, R50 = Mk1 MINI One & Cooper, R53 = Mk1 MINI Cooper S)

 

"Rover" MINI Prototype Launch video 1997:-

http://www.theminifo...pe-launch-1997/

 

 

 

 

John Cooper pictured below at Gaydon with a classic Mini Cooper MPi and an early prototype of the New MINI Cooper in August 1998 both with the Rover style winged Mini badges.

 

 

John Cooper unveils the new MINI Cooper

Edited by mab01uk, 28 September 2017 - 07:25 PM.

[brownspeed]

I grudgingly admire the original R53 style MINIs. I was considering one for Mrs Brownspeed recently, but was put off by horror stories of chocolate gearboxes. I didn't fancy engineering even more unreliability into my fleet!

I think the latest incarnation is fugly. a bit like having a fat grandchild of the original svelte grandparent.

[Sean C]

All the cars in my fleet are Minis. I have a 2004 R50, 2 R55 Cooper D Clubmans (one is the wifes) and also a classic mini and I have to say I enjoy every single one of them. The "R" in the modern minis (up to 2014) stood for Rover. 

[greenmini1275]

Ive driven a Bini. A 211bhp John Cooper Works. For a car they are very nice, just like driving a BMW and because that is what they are, small BMWs. If I was in the market for a small modern car at the prices that the Bini is sold for, Id buy a 1 or 2 series BMW. If you want to drive a Mini, then drive a Mini (built in longbridge before 2000) not a small BMW. Hell half of these Binis are bigger than most mid sized Hatchbacks, kinda takes the mick out of calling it a MINI.

Edited by greenmini1275, 30 September 2017 - 06:05 PM.

[mab01uk]

I grudgingly admire the original R53 style MINIs. I was considering one for Mrs Brownspeed recently, but was put off by horror stories of chocolate gearboxes. I didn't fancy engineering even more unreliability into my fleet!

I think the latest incarnation is fugly. a bit like having a fat grandchild of the original svelte grandparent.

 

The only chocolate gearboxes were fitted to early R50 MINI One and Cooper which had the 5-speed 'Rover Midland' gearbox 2001-2004 before changing to a 5-speed Getrag.

The R53 MINI Cooper S was always fitted with the bullet proof 6-speed Getrag gearbox from its launch in 2002.

Edited by mab01uk, 30 September 2017 - 06:12 PM.