jamiec
6th February 2008, 12:58 PM
The Cooper S is in getting serviced today so I've been given a 57plate Mini One. My S is 1st gen this is 2nd gen.
First impressions inside are that things seem to be harder to find. Heater controls are just wrong although they blend in better than the old ones. Cabin feels alot bigger which is nice. Radio took a bit of getting used too as did trying to find the computer. Nice touch that the one has it.
The seats are nasty and I don't know how anyone who drives their mini with a hint of passion around corners manages to stay in them. I know not everyone in a mini one will be needing side bolsters but how anyone can live without them...
Driving wise the ride was very nice coming from sports suspension. For town driving, and motorway, it was a quiet pleasent journey. Not the fine handling the 1st gen has but no spine braking judders over pot holes.
Performance obviously would feel slower but it was better than expected. Still enough power to overtake and accelerate quickly.
Now the best bit about the car...the brakes. Stopped much quicker than my car does and would be on par with my last car, Golf R32, which has huge brakes. I know the 1st gen's brakes were noted to be weak but the difference is night and day. My car is getting the brake fluid changed today so we will see if that helps.
So all in all I feel the 2nd gen Mini One is a nice little car and I'd glady have one over the Fiat 500 I saw last week :cool:
First impressions inside are that things seem to be harder to find. Heater controls are just wrong although they blend in better than the old ones. Cabin feels alot bigger which is nice. Radio took a bit of getting used too as did trying to find the computer. Nice touch that the one has it.
The seats are nasty and I don't know how anyone who drives their mini with a hint of passion around corners manages to stay in them. I know not everyone in a mini one will be needing side bolsters but how anyone can live without them...
Driving wise the ride was very nice coming from sports suspension. For town driving, and motorway, it was a quiet pleasent journey. Not the fine handling the 1st gen has but no spine braking judders over pot holes.
Performance obviously would feel slower but it was better than expected. Still enough power to overtake and accelerate quickly.
Now the best bit about the car...the brakes. Stopped much quicker than my car does and would be on par with my last car, Golf R32, which has huge brakes. I know the 1st gen's brakes were noted to be weak but the difference is night and day. My car is getting the brake fluid changed today so we will see if that helps.
So all in all I feel the 2nd gen Mini One is a nice little car and I'd glady have one over the Fiat 500 I saw last week :cool: