GBMINI#6 … first peek

Posted on by Ian C.

As I wrote yesterday, the R56 simply isn’t my kind of MINI … but having owned GBMINI#5 for less than two months, and due to some other unrelated reasons, I felt that replacing it had to be a zero-cost option – a “straight swap”!

My original plan with the R56 was to evaluate what features I did and did not like, in preparation to trade it in next year for a perfectly spec’ed ’09 Convertible – a Convertible would be a nice alternate drive to GPMINI, and I felt that the R56+ features were worth waiting for.
But, it turned out, the R56 was not worth (me) waiting for!

So I checked around locally to see what R52 Convertible options might be available … having two local & friendly dealerships helps a lot, and with the help of Kerry & Ian at Herb Chambers MINI of Boston, I have found what I need, a “straight swap” into a low mileage MCS Convertible!

It’s not quite spec’ed as I would if ordering from scratch – no Xenons for example … but then GPMINI doesn’t have Xenons either! Kerry will have the 17″ wheels swapped for 16″, and I’ll probably fit a new toggle switch panel to fill up the missing switches (everyone knows how important that is!); the armrest & cupholder are on their way out, too!

The stereo includes the H/K upgrade which I feel is quite important in a Convertible – there’s very little space available to give over to an aftermarket upgrade (and of course, I know how to install an aftermarket HU with H/K, if I want to!); interestingly the previous owner installed a factory iPod adaptor (and yes I know it’s nothing like as useable as the Alpine in GPMINI, or even the R56 interface – but hopefully it’s faster than the R56 interface!)

It’ll be a few days yet till GBMINI#6 is sorted and ready to pick up … Watch this space, as they say.

Bridgette keeps warm

Posted on by Ian C.

More and more these days, Bridgette needs to keep warm (she’s about 15 years old now). We have a heated cat bed that she sleeps in for much of the day, but she also searches for other heat sources – for example she’s figured that the hottest base board (radiator) in the house is at the bottom of the stairs (it happens to have two hot pipes running through it), and in the mornings she’ll often stand next to it with her head about as close as she can get!

But the best way to get warm is to sit in the sun – she spends much of any sunny winter morning on the corner of the bed in the guest room, where the sun shines in:

But if we’re home, she knows to ask us to open the front door so she can sit behind the glass storm door:

Eventually even she gets too hot and retreats to somewhere more shady – but this is one of her favourite places in the winter 🙂

If you don’t love it …

Posted on by Ian C.

… then it’s just a rather expensive, small car!

No doubt, there will be MINI owners – R56 owners especially – that are shocked by this post. You have been warned 😉

Ever since I first saw a MINI back in 2002, and certainly ever since I first drove one, it’s been a love-love relationship with MINIs. Everyone agrees that they are not perfect cars: the rear seats are hardly practical, the ride over rough roads is shocking, and I’m sure that more can be added to that list. But, there’s something about driving them, for me at least, that is simply pure pleasure. The connectedness I think – you feel so in control of the car, the road; you get feedback from steering, from the engine, from the clutch and gears, everything. Which is why I’ve been driving nothing else from mid 2002 till now.

I bought GBMINI#5 to get experience with the new engine and functionality of an R56, so that in a years time I’ll be able to order a new-design convertible knowing exactly what features I do and don’t want. In the meantime, I’d have some fun driving an R56.
Well, the evaluation is over and I know now exactly what new-design convertible I’d order: NONE!

For me, the R56 has lost it’s “MINI genes”; I simply don’t love driving it.
It’s a fine car … but it’s not a MINI. And if I’m going to drive something that’s not a MINI, there’s loads of other choices out there …
But I’m not ready to not drive a MINI; I still love MINIs. I just don’t love R56’s. I don’t feel “connected” to GBMINI#5 like I did with my other MINIs.

One of the worst things about the R56 is the clutch; apparently they removed it 😦
It’s hard to describe exactly what’s wrong, but whether it’s the feel of the clutch pedal, the clutch plate itself, or the lack of engine sound to give feedback – whatever it is, it’s not a thrill to deal with it.
Curiously, when I spoke to someone on Friday about this same issue – and she has recently switched from an R52 to an R56 – one of the first things she said was “I can’t get used to the clutch”. So it’s not just me 😉

The engine sound is a step back for me, too. I’m sure new-to-MINI owners prefer it, but I “grew up” with the supercharger whine and it’s a huge thing to lose.
The steering, also, seems to be a step backwards. The default (non-Sports) mode is very light and easy, but it’s not what I’m used to. And turning on Sports mode doesn’t really improve it much, it simply makes it heavier (presumably it reduces the level of assist, but it can’t change the physical connection between steering wheel and road).

The default gas pedal responsiveness is also odd – although here the Sports mode does significantly improve it. But still, the engine response is too different from the R50/53/52 engine; maybe it doesn’t have turbo lag as they claim, but it still behaves curiously like it needs a bit of time to get going sometimes.
I’ll freely admit that the R56 engine has masses of power once you find it, and it can accelerate quite impressively. But even then, it doesn’t give me the “love” that I want from a MINI.
Power isn’t everything – not to me, at least.

So, something has to be done … sorry, something has been done. At they say, “watch this space”.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention – the stereo in the R56 is appalling too! and since it’s so heavily integrated to the car, you can’t replace it. The previous generation is much more amenable to stereo upgrades.

(and yes, I’m probably mad, so there’s no need to point it out in the comments 😉 )