Eddie_JCW
22nd April 2014, 12:37 AM
F56 owners don't look!
Rachael decided to hire a F56 for the weekend I didn't know until the day before. We hired it from Gogeta rental car (Eastern) whom we had hired from before and that's the reason why I'm now a proud JCW owner.
Rachael had been told that it was a Volcanic Orange Cooper S it was one of the salesman's (who was willing to let us have it for the weekend) because they never had any on their rental fleet, I thought that was really nice of them. So we went to collect the car I asked if it was a Cooper S, it wasn't, they'd decided to give us a BMW service courtesy car – a VO F56 Cooper with Chili, black wheels and sport seats as the only options. I am disappointed with Eastern! I had originally wanted to compare it to the JCW but since I couldn't I decided to compare the car minus the engine to the R56 JCW and the whole car to Rachael's 2012 Fiesta Zetec S.
First impressions-
VO is a bold colour, I like it, although it's a shame it's not metallic. It does go very well with a black roof and black wheels, don't think it'd go with white as well. The looks of the car had grown on me quite a bit and I do think it's very worthy of the MINI badge. I, like most, disliked the way it looked before launch but most BMW/MINI cars do take a bit of time to get used to. The key I'm not a lover of – it's way too chunky and I don't think I'd order the car without Comfort access which ours didn't have, so you have to get the key out to unlock the car then put it away again or leave it below the centre console.
Inside the car as I already knew is a nice place to be – it seems well laid out and very BMW in term of style, quality and feel, which is a good thing and there is a fair bit more room in the back and the boot.
It is lovely to drive, comfortable and everything is where it should be. The 3 cylinder is quiet and smooth, pulls well.
After 1000 miles on a mix of roads-
It is a really good car, it didn't give me that thrill the R56 S did, so I won't be changing just yet thankfully, it feels too grown up and sensible now and it does seem they've rushed some things.
Things I like-
Driving modes, I found I had it in green mode when the roads weren't twisty which brings up a little gauge that reminds me of the BMW mpg dial which does help to save fuel. Sport mode had more of an effect on the throttle response than it does on the R56.
Ambient Lighting in the footwell, it's a nice touch.
Auto Start/stop, it starts a lot quicker to restart, it may be due to it being a 3 cylinder or it could be improved.
Cruise control, now allows gear changes without switching off and doesn't speed you up if you're going around a corner. It also has a limiter function which is basically the reverse of cruise.
As we know you can't wash the windscreen in the R56 with the window open (I hope that's not just my car :lol: ) now you can! No more trails of water/screen wash on the side windows. I never had it in the rain but I'm guessing they'll have fixed the wet seat issue. The little engine seems lively until you try to overtake which it doesn't like. It does sound quite nice, reminds me of the BMW 6 cyl Diesel engine, and when it rev matches it make a nice sound from the BOV, no where near as nice as pops and bangs though. Turbo is quite audible which I like.
The colour trip computer in the speedometer is excellent has everything an R56 has as well as a Temp gauge and you can choose a digital speedo with large clear numbers.
Rachael enjoyed the Dual-zone climate which she had at 28°C all weekend whilst mine was at 16° :lol:
Things that would drive me up the wall–
At night the ambient lighting from the door handles also lit up a bit of the A pillar I am very surprised at this l expected better from MINI.
The steering wheel controls are the wrong way round! Cruise on the left and audio on the right just as I got used to the R56. The buttons are easier to press 1st time, now it's individual buttons. Not only is the audio on the wrong side but the volume is left/right instead of up down. I can see their reasoning but it's annoying and not easy to get used to!
Although everything seems laid out well at first I'm not too sure now, the light switches aren't in view at all. Forget you're in a F56 rather than an R56 and instead of putting the window down you turn the DSC off!
You can't push hard and rely on the rev counter it's not easy to read when you're focused on the road ahead.
Every interior light on the car is LED apart from the glove box and boot. There's no lighting in the back,at night it's pitch black.
The vanity mirrors feel as they'd break much easier than a R56'.
Strange features-
When you double click unlock and open a door the window rolls more than half way down instead of a couple of mm, I don't know why. One theory I have is to get in the car in narrow spaces.
At night when you unlock the car the interior light comes on whatever colour you have the ambient lighting set at until you open the door, then the ambient lighting all goes white apart from the interior door handles and pockets.
There's no CD player which wasn't missed by us thanks to Spotify.
So, would I have one?
No, not just yet, but soon! I think there's a lot of teething troubles at the moment as expected from a new generation. The car we were in had it's CEL come on at less than 500 miles of it's life, no rev counter and limp home mode, turned the car off and it was fine after that, odd. I will however try get in a cooper S at some point hopefully if they'll allow me :lol: but in the future I will more than likely have an F56, I think I'll wait for the JCW.
I was really excited walking over to get my JCW which I've been without all weekend, probably the first car I've owned that I've missed after only a weekend away from it.
Sorry for the grammar, it never was a strong point for me.
Pics to follow!
Eddie
Rachael decided to hire a F56 for the weekend I didn't know until the day before. We hired it from Gogeta rental car (Eastern) whom we had hired from before and that's the reason why I'm now a proud JCW owner.
Rachael had been told that it was a Volcanic Orange Cooper S it was one of the salesman's (who was willing to let us have it for the weekend) because they never had any on their rental fleet, I thought that was really nice of them. So we went to collect the car I asked if it was a Cooper S, it wasn't, they'd decided to give us a BMW service courtesy car – a VO F56 Cooper with Chili, black wheels and sport seats as the only options. I am disappointed with Eastern! I had originally wanted to compare it to the JCW but since I couldn't I decided to compare the car minus the engine to the R56 JCW and the whole car to Rachael's 2012 Fiesta Zetec S.
First impressions-
VO is a bold colour, I like it, although it's a shame it's not metallic. It does go very well with a black roof and black wheels, don't think it'd go with white as well. The looks of the car had grown on me quite a bit and I do think it's very worthy of the MINI badge. I, like most, disliked the way it looked before launch but most BMW/MINI cars do take a bit of time to get used to. The key I'm not a lover of – it's way too chunky and I don't think I'd order the car without Comfort access which ours didn't have, so you have to get the key out to unlock the car then put it away again or leave it below the centre console.
Inside the car as I already knew is a nice place to be – it seems well laid out and very BMW in term of style, quality and feel, which is a good thing and there is a fair bit more room in the back and the boot.
It is lovely to drive, comfortable and everything is where it should be. The 3 cylinder is quiet and smooth, pulls well.
After 1000 miles on a mix of roads-
It is a really good car, it didn't give me that thrill the R56 S did, so I won't be changing just yet thankfully, it feels too grown up and sensible now and it does seem they've rushed some things.
Things I like-
Driving modes, I found I had it in green mode when the roads weren't twisty which brings up a little gauge that reminds me of the BMW mpg dial which does help to save fuel. Sport mode had more of an effect on the throttle response than it does on the R56.
Ambient Lighting in the footwell, it's a nice touch.
Auto Start/stop, it starts a lot quicker to restart, it may be due to it being a 3 cylinder or it could be improved.
Cruise control, now allows gear changes without switching off and doesn't speed you up if you're going around a corner. It also has a limiter function which is basically the reverse of cruise.
As we know you can't wash the windscreen in the R56 with the window open (I hope that's not just my car :lol: ) now you can! No more trails of water/screen wash on the side windows. I never had it in the rain but I'm guessing they'll have fixed the wet seat issue. The little engine seems lively until you try to overtake which it doesn't like. It does sound quite nice, reminds me of the BMW 6 cyl Diesel engine, and when it rev matches it make a nice sound from the BOV, no where near as nice as pops and bangs though. Turbo is quite audible which I like.
The colour trip computer in the speedometer is excellent has everything an R56 has as well as a Temp gauge and you can choose a digital speedo with large clear numbers.
Rachael enjoyed the Dual-zone climate which she had at 28°C all weekend whilst mine was at 16° :lol:
Things that would drive me up the wall–
At night the ambient lighting from the door handles also lit up a bit of the A pillar I am very surprised at this l expected better from MINI.
The steering wheel controls are the wrong way round! Cruise on the left and audio on the right just as I got used to the R56. The buttons are easier to press 1st time, now it's individual buttons. Not only is the audio on the wrong side but the volume is left/right instead of up down. I can see their reasoning but it's annoying and not easy to get used to!
Although everything seems laid out well at first I'm not too sure now, the light switches aren't in view at all. Forget you're in a F56 rather than an R56 and instead of putting the window down you turn the DSC off!
You can't push hard and rely on the rev counter it's not easy to read when you're focused on the road ahead.
Every interior light on the car is LED apart from the glove box and boot. There's no lighting in the back,at night it's pitch black.
The vanity mirrors feel as they'd break much easier than a R56'.
Strange features-
When you double click unlock and open a door the window rolls more than half way down instead of a couple of mm, I don't know why. One theory I have is to get in the car in narrow spaces.
At night when you unlock the car the interior light comes on whatever colour you have the ambient lighting set at until you open the door, then the ambient lighting all goes white apart from the interior door handles and pockets.
There's no CD player which wasn't missed by us thanks to Spotify.
So, would I have one?
No, not just yet, but soon! I think there's a lot of teething troubles at the moment as expected from a new generation. The car we were in had it's CEL come on at less than 500 miles of it's life, no rev counter and limp home mode, turned the car off and it was fine after that, odd. I will however try get in a cooper S at some point hopefully if they'll allow me :lol: but in the future I will more than likely have an F56, I think I'll wait for the JCW.
I was really excited walking over to get my JCW which I've been without all weekend, probably the first car I've owned that I've missed after only a weekend away from it.
Sorry for the grammar, it never was a strong point for me.
Pics to follow!
Eddie