N16SHP
3rd February 2012, 06:03 PM
Well my car was in to John Clark's today to get the recall work carried out. Before I get on to my hire car, I must hold my hands up and say the last two dealings with JC's has been relatively pleasant...maybe someone has finally looked at the list of complaints about their service and done something about it.
I was given a Countryman One (see pics below) and although its not a Coupe (unlike some jammy someone on here) it is something different that I hadn't driven before and was keen to get a test drive later this year with the possibility of an expanding family. Apart from the seats not giving much support, I have to say the new interiors are much better put together. All of the controls, including the radio switches etc are all nicely weighted. Apart from a little road noise the engine was dead quiet also. I decided to take the Countryman on my normal routes to uni and to the gym (just outside Aberdeen) to give it a fair comparison to the hatch and also not to thrash it, as after all this will be someones car eventually, and although it had very little in the way of go about it (dead slow off of roundabouts) once up to speed it drove extremely well, and did not feel as big as it looked. I was also pleasantly surprised with the boot space and room in the back. I remember when I first looked at one in the showroom I still questioned the size of the boot, but once I'd launched my gym bag and uni bag in the boot I realised just how much more room there was over the hatch.
All in all, for someone who is used to driving an R56 Cooper S I really was pleasantly surprised by the ONE. It would not be my spec of choice, minimum I would take would be a Cooper with the Chili pack (for more go, better seats and the bi-xenons), and in all fairness, I think the £17,500 price tag for a ONE is a little steep. That said, the Countryman is now a real contender to replace my Cooper S later this year/early next year...watch this space.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6811486171_6683a9396e_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6811489613_f0851efd1a_b.jpg
I was given a Countryman One (see pics below) and although its not a Coupe (unlike some jammy someone on here) it is something different that I hadn't driven before and was keen to get a test drive later this year with the possibility of an expanding family. Apart from the seats not giving much support, I have to say the new interiors are much better put together. All of the controls, including the radio switches etc are all nicely weighted. Apart from a little road noise the engine was dead quiet also. I decided to take the Countryman on my normal routes to uni and to the gym (just outside Aberdeen) to give it a fair comparison to the hatch and also not to thrash it, as after all this will be someones car eventually, and although it had very little in the way of go about it (dead slow off of roundabouts) once up to speed it drove extremely well, and did not feel as big as it looked. I was also pleasantly surprised with the boot space and room in the back. I remember when I first looked at one in the showroom I still questioned the size of the boot, but once I'd launched my gym bag and uni bag in the boot I realised just how much more room there was over the hatch.
All in all, for someone who is used to driving an R56 Cooper S I really was pleasantly surprised by the ONE. It would not be my spec of choice, minimum I would take would be a Cooper with the Chili pack (for more go, better seats and the bi-xenons), and in all fairness, I think the £17,500 price tag for a ONE is a little steep. That said, the Countryman is now a real contender to replace my Cooper S later this year/early next year...watch this space.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6811486171_6683a9396e_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6811489613_f0851efd1a_b.jpg