Key differences #2 (pros and cons of an R56)

After a week driving R56 GBMINI#5, here are some thoughts, and comparisons with GPMINI.
A few important points first: my list tends to focus on the less positive aspects of the R56! Doesn’t mean I don’t like it – but many people have already written at length that the R56 is wonderful. Also, remember that my comparison is against GPMINI, arguably the best R53 out there and with an amazing stereo system 🙂

Oh – a quick “aside” too …
Reminder: GBMINI#5 is “pre-owned” (the previous owner traded it for a GP!) He had spec’ed it well, with the Premium, Cold Weather and Sport packages – so it has auto a/c, sunroof, heated seats, Xenon headlights – he also spec’ed an LSD, dimming rearview mirror, and the navigation system, and he had the iPod adaptor added to it. Mileage was only 3,700, and MINI of Peabody added the MINI Next (CPO) extended warranty to it.
Which brings me to my “aside”: On an in-warranty car, the MINI Next warranty extends the factory warranty by two years to a maximum 100,000 miles. It is NOT an extension of the cars original warranty – for example you won’t be covered it bits of trim fall off, that sort of thing. But what really surprised me is that is DOES NOT cover the cars audio systems! That could be a big deal – especially on a car like this one with the integrated NAV system.
MINI Next are reasonably honest about it: you can read the brochure online and see it listed under accessories in “What’s Left For You”; it still surprised me though.
Anyway, on to the interesting stuff 🙂
First … have you read people online mentioning how the redesigned aerodynamics help to keep the back of the R56 clean? Well:

This is one night, 25 miles of driving in slush/rain. Of course, there’s a marked improvement over GPMINI because the rear wiper can clean off the crud 😉

Also poor weather related, I did notice that when the front wipers are in use, less water is pushed on to the side window of the drivers door. I think it’s because the A-pillar trim piece fits less flat, but it’s a good improvement.

Steering wheel control stalks take a little getting used to, but they’re not as bad as I had imagined. R56 indicator and wiper stalks don’t click to their “on” positions, you push them to indicate a selection, and they return to the center.
On the indicators, this really isn’t much of an issue. You click up to turn and they self-cancel. If you need to manually cancel, you push slightly in the other direction. Just like you do on “normal” stalks – except the stalk is always in the neutral position when you reach for it.
The R56 also has a feature where a quick touch of the indicators will do three flashes instead of just one. Initially I turned this off, but quickly decided it was quite a nice feature and turned it on again! It’s useful when lane changing to provide a warning for other drivers (except around Boston, where there’s no point doing it!)

I also noticed that the lighting control has changed slightly – if you exit the car with the lights left turned on, they will fully turn off and there is no “bell” to warn you. Not sure how you leave the parking lights on, if you wish to (maybe I should read the manual!)

The wiper stalk is a bit more strange. You push up once and get intermittent wipers, a second push gives slow and a third push gives fast. To cancel, you now have to push down one, two or three times, rather than the more logical push-down-all-the-way-to-neutral that you’d do in GPMINI.
Thankfully, when the wipers are off, a push down gives the expected single wipe.
I’ve always cursed auto a/c – all based on my experience back in 2002 with GBMINI#1 which would determinedly blow freezing cold air at me in the winter mornings, not bothering to wait for the engine to heat up before trying to warm me. It would blow noisy, and often not where I wanted it. I used to adjust the “auto” controls so often, I’ve always ordered manual controls since then.
The R56 auto a/c is massively improved – and I like it 🙂
It doesn’t blow till the engine is warm enough to provide heat. It doesn’t blow as noisily as GPMINI (even when blowing hard). It seems to successfully warm me up without my needing to adjust controls excessively – my only habit so far is to select the “face” direction in the morning when it starts blowing warm, to warm my hands (if I’m not wearing gloves); and very nicely, when I de-select “face”, it reverts to full auto control.
Of course, I have turned the a/c off! It’s going to be a long time before I test that feature 😉

Talking of heat, the heated seats are a little different: they now have three settings. Curiously though, my experience so far is that the three settings are too hot, too hot and too hot!
The R56 seats themselves, are much improved over those of GPMINI (and GPMINIs seats in turn are better than those I had in GBMINI#2); the R56 seats are firmer, yet more comfortable … more supportive I suppose. Of course different shaped people will probably have different opinions (it’ll be interesting to see what Margaret thinks of them).
And now, some thoughts on performance – I bet many readers wanted this information first! But GBMINI#5 was supposed to be a more refined (quieter, more comfortable) ride, so performance was less high on my agenda.
Off the line, I’d say the R56 would definitely beat GPMINI! There really is a lot of torque low down in the rev range … but at higher speeds GPMINI is much better (when passing cars on the highway, for example).
What really surprised me was how noisy the R56 is! At higher revs (4000+) it’s very noisy and sounds unrefined; in no way is the sound as good as GPMINI, there’s no sweet supercharger whine, the engine and exhaust sounds simply noisy with no pleasureable note to it. I don’t know if GPMINI is actually quieter, or if it’s simply that GPMINI makes nicer noises – whatever, GBMINI#5 is not pleasant to listen to when you’re driving hard.

As for the ride, it’s very similar. On a jarring bump or pothole, the R56 is much more comfortable – I often have to check GPMINIs wheels after hitting a pothole, because it sounds like the car must have been damaged! On regular bumpy roads, however, both cars feel very similar, and I have as much confidence taking corners quickly in either car.
Side note: GPMINI has always lost traction on corners due to the stock 18″ runflats; possibly better tires in the spring will change this comparison.

One other thing about performance: it seems that torque steer is much worse in the R56! I do notice torque steer with GPMINI, under very hard acceleration you feel the steering wheel pulling a little – but on the R56 under medium-to-hard acceleration you’ll get sudden unexpected torque steer that pulls away much more, it’s much less predictable than in GPMINI, and worse when it happens.
Finally, a re-visit about the R56 “key”. It’s quite a step backwards, I think.
In GPMINI, I get in the car, push the clutch in while inserting and turning the key – and we go! It’s really one fluid motion to insert the key and start the engine, and it feels very natural. Similarly when parked, you turn the key and pull it out in a single motion. It’s how cars work.
Now with the R56: you get in the car, push the clutch, push the key in to the hole in the dash (of course you have to make sure it’s the right way up, it’s not ambidextrous like a traditional key), then you move your fingers over to the START button and push. I know the button is near the hole, but it’s still two separate actions.
Worse still when you want to stop – you push the button to stop the engine, then you push the key to un-latch it, and finally you pull it out of the hole.

Something else about the key – it’s hard to use in the dark! MINIs previous keys have buttons that are shaped differently for the lock and unlock functions; it’s easy to feel the button you want without seeing it. On the R56 “key”, the buttons are all the same shape. You have to feel for where your finger is in relation to the key – that is, you basically feel where the ring clip is on the other side, then to unlock you feel straight across the key from the ring clip, and press; to lock, you feel across the key and then sort of left a bit, and press.
I think the whole key design has been biased in favour of owners having to buy the convenience opening package, because without it, the key is anything but convenient!

In future exciting installments, I’ll waffle about the R56 stereo, Sirius satellite radio, iPod control and navigation – believe me, they’re not pretty!