New car

joelsim

Test drove a Mini Clubman today. Loved it.

Not a single squeak or rattle in the hour, big enough boot to get a bike in without taking a wheel off.

Very impressed.

Going to go for a silver Cooper with black roof, alloys and stripes.

ballysmate

Some on here will be surprised there was no whining though.

joelsim

ballysmate wrote:

Some on here will be surprised there was no whining though.

Aye. It's an EU owned company...but let's not go there.

briantrumpet

joelsim wrote:

Test drove a Mini Clubman today. Loved it.

Not a single squeak or rattle in the hour, big enough boot to get a bike in without taking a wheel off.

I hate to point out that it's not really a Mini if you can fit a bike in the back. Unless the bike is a Brompton.

joelsim

Times have moved on. And exactly why I'm going for a Clubman rather than the 3 door which is still totally impractical for anything but a 2nd car.

That's a Countryman you've pictured there.

briantrumpet

joelsim wrote:

Times have moved on. And exactly why I'm going for a Clubman rather than the 3 door which is still totally impractical for anything but a 2nd car.

I wouldn't mind if they called it a Maxi.

And if all cars are getting bigger, why are Toblerones getting smaller?

Pituophis

I have been a complete mini snob all of my driving life, to the totally childish point of not even considering the "new" mini (how long have they been around, 15-20 years?) to even be a mini!!! :roll: I spent 18 months or so completely rebuilding mine from the floor up, and I don't have a single photo of it, to my eternal disgust.
I must be going senile though, as I've started to have a mild craving to own one recently. It could even happen!


Not a clubman though! They're like a fe*kin' Transit van! :shock:

veronese68

briantrumpet wrote:

I wouldn't mind if they called it a Maxi.

Oi! That's my line.
Got a proper Mini now that the boy's driving, still eye wateringly expensive to insure. But he loves it and he can learn how to fix stuff as he goes. Great fun to drive, can't help but smile. Drove it up to Brackley hen he had his work experience, that was hard on the bladder with that suspension.

briantrumpet

veronese68 wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

I wouldn't mind if they called it a Maxi.

Oi! That's my line.
Got a proper Mini now that the boy's driving, still eye wateringly expensive to insure. But he loves it and he can learn how to fix stuff as he goes. Great fun to drive, can't help but smile. Drove it up to Brackley hen he had his work experience, that was hard on the bladder with that suspension.

Sorry.

I remember four of us going up the M5 in one, and the two of us in the back discovered that if we moved left & right in unison we could make the whole Mini wiggle quite noticeably.

andcp

Pituophis wrote:

I have been a complete mini snob all of my driving life,

So was I - owned an 850 van (teal blue, slidey windows, magic wand gear stick) and a Clubman (tobacco brown, three speed auto) then years later I drove a 'new' Cooper - I was converted straight away, cracking piece of kit.

Pituophis

andcp wrote:

Pituophis wrote:

I have been a complete mini snob all of my driving life,

So was I - owned an 850 van (teal blue, slidey windows, magic wand gear stick) and a Clubman (tobacco brown, three speed auto) then years later I drove a 'new' Cooper - I was converted straight away, cracking piece of kit.

Yeah, that's what I've secretly known all along. :oops:

briantrumpet

I don't like having to own cars, but admit they are useful. I'm not a snob, as you can tell from the cars I've owned over the past 35 years: Chrysler Sunbeam, Ford Escort, Ford Escort Van (diesel), Rover 414i, Renault Clio. That's it.

Pituophis

briantrumpet wrote:

I don't like having to own cars, but admit they are useful. I'm not a snob, as you can tell from the cars I've owned over the past 35 years: Chrysler Sunbeam, Ford Escort, Ford Escort Van (diesel), Rover 414i, Renault Clio. That's it.

Ha ha, I've had average to censored cars ever since, but that mini was something a bit special (to me, perhaps not so much the neighbours at the time!) God, I would genuinely love to have it now, as impractical as it was.
I think I'm filling up a bit here.

veronese68

Pituophis wrote:

andcp wrote:

Pituophis wrote:

I have been a complete mini snob all of my driving life,

So was I - owned an 850 van (teal blue, slidey windows, magic wand gear stick) and a Clubman (tobacco brown, three speed auto) then years later I drove a 'new' Cooper - I was converted straight away, cracking piece of kit.

Yeah, that's what I've secretly known all along. :oops:

I still am, but I sell bits for old English cars for a living so I have to be. The company had an early BMW Cooper S a while ago and it was a hoot. The funny thing about it was they also seemed to have opted to keep the jittery ride, less sporty ones were probably better. But it was fast as hell and had quite a drink problem, tiny boot as well so I can see why Joel didn't go for a standard one. Like all modern cars they are very good, do they lose a bit of character as a result?

briantrumpet

Pituophis wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

I don't like having to own cars, but admit they are useful. I'm not a snob, as you can tell from the cars I've owned over the past 35 years: Chrysler Sunbeam, Ford Escort, Ford Escort Van (diesel), Rover 414i, Renault Clio. That's it.

Ha ha, I've had average to censored cars ever since, but that mini was something a bit special (to me, perhaps not so much the neighbours at the time!) God, I would genuinely love to have it now, as impractical as it was.
I think I'm filling up a bit here.

You'll be surprised that I don't get terribly nostalgic about any of the cars in that list, though the Clio has been a decent workhorse, now up to 175k, of which I've done 100k in ten years.

CiB

briantrumpet wrote:

I don't like having to own cars, but admit they are useful. I'm not a snob, as you can tell from the cars I've owned over the past 35 years: Chrysler Sunbeam, Ford Escort, Ford Escort Van (diesel), Rover 414i, Renault Clio. That's it.

Oh. So close to having a stable of the best there was at the time... Sunbeam Lotus. Escort RS anything (2, 1800, Mexico), Clio Williams. Like the rest of us, if only you'd had a few grand more to throw around, how much better could it have been.

andcp

veronese68 wrote:

Like all modern cars they are very good, do they lose a bit of character as a result?

Yes I think they do......however......as you don't have to mess with the points every three weeks, nor fill the dash pot every month, nor have the clothes pegs to make it start (younger readers ask your parents/grandparents), and have demisters that work, and windscreen wipers that work, and not have 'the Lord of Darkness' lights I'll go with a bit less character thanks!

briantrumpet

CiB wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

I don't like having to own cars, but admit they are useful. I'm not a snob, as you can tell from the cars I've owned over the past 35 years: Chrysler Sunbeam, Ford Escort, Ford Escort Van (diesel), Rover 414i, Renault Clio. That's it.

Oh. So close to having a stable of the best there was at the time... Sunbeam Lotus. Escort RS anything (2, 1800, Mexico), Clio Williams. Like the rest of us, if only you'd had a few grand more to throw around, how much better could it have been.

I did change the Sunbeam's 1.3l engine to a 1.6l... I think had I put in the Lotus engine I'd have put my foot down to pull away in a fog of burning rubber, but the engine would have launched itself out of the car and along the road all by itself. The Rover was just a pile of steaming rusty poo.

briantrumpet

andcp wrote:

veronese68 wrote:

Like all modern cars they are very good, do they lose a bit of character as a result?

Yes I think they do......however......as you don't have to mess with the points every three weeks, nor fill the dash pot every month, nor have the clothes pegs to make it start (younger readers ask your parents/grandparents), and have demisters that work, and windscreen wipers that work, and not have 'the Lord of Darkness' lights I'll go with a bit less character thanks!

I used to drive my next-door-neighbour farmer's Maestro occasionally, and you sometimes had to jump out of the car and lift the bonnet if the gear linkage popped apart as you drove along...

joelsim

Well the one I drove today was basically a BMW. Extremely refined although it has a 1.5 3 cylinder turbo engine that's pretty frugal and pretty pokey.

Very very nice indeed, interior is pure lux, and yet it still drives like a go cart, albeit a very smooth one. Notchy little short-shift gears (6) and 3 modes, Eco, Normal and Sport.

Very impressive indeed.

It's also got a lighting mode that lights up dashboard and doors in a range of colours depending on your mood. Ha!

joelsim

The door lighting here.

https://youtu.be/URK5X1J1_0Y

The big centre instrument lights up too.

What's more the keyless entry as well as opening the doors allows you to open the two gate back doors by simply kicking your foot under the bumper, so if you have your hands full of shopping you can simply walk up to the boot, key in pocket, hands full, and open the boot with a leg gesture.

Love it!

Wheelspinner

joelsim wrote:

Well the one I drove today was basically a BMW. Extremely refined although it has a 1.5 3 cylinder turbo engine that's pretty frugal and pretty pokey.

Very very nice indeed, interior is pure lux, and yet it still drives like a go cart, albeit a very smooth one. Notchy little short-shift gears (6) and 3 modes, Eco, Normal and Sport.

Very impressive indeed.

It's also got a lighting mode that lights up dashboard and doors in a range of colours depending on your mood. Ha!

Has it passed the CAT scan test though? 8)

I like them too, if I ever get round to a new car will seriously consider one.

joelsim

Wheelspinner wrote:

joelsim wrote:

Well the one I drove today was basically a BMW. Extremely refined although it has a 1.5 3 cylinder turbo engine that's pretty frugal and pretty pokey.

Very very nice indeed, interior is pure lux, and yet it still drives like a go cart, albeit a very smooth one. Notchy little short-shift gears (6) and 3 modes, Eco, Normal and Sport.

Very impressive indeed.

It's also got a lighting mode that lights up dashboard and doors in a range of colours depending on your mood. Ha!

Has it passed the CAT scan test though? 8)

I like them too, if I ever get round to a new car will seriously consider one.

Yep the cats will love it.

https://youtu.be/jFqjKHfsrQo

veronese68

joelsim wrote:

It's also got a lighting mode that lights up dashboard and doors in a range of colours depending on your mood. Ha!

That's nothing. In our Mini the lights may turn on or not when you press the switch depending on their mood.
What was I saying about character? :?
There's a reason our everyday car is soulless and dull as ditchwater.

joelsim

veronese68 wrote:

joelsim wrote:

It's also got a lighting mode that lights up dashboard and doors in a range of colours depending on your mood. Ha!

That's nothing. In our Mini the lights may turn on or not when you press the switch depending on their mood.
What was I saying about character? :?
There's a reason our everyday car is soulless and dull as ditchwater.

Sounds like you have a new Alfa.

Pituophis

joelsim wrote:

Well the one I drove today was basically a BMW. Extremely refined although it has a 1.5 3 cylinder turbo engine that's pretty frugal and pretty pokey.

Very very nice indeed, interior is pure lux, and yet it still drives like a go cart, albeit a very smooth one. Notchy little short-shift gears (6) and 3 modes, Eco, Normal and Sport.

Very impressive indeed.

It's also got a lighting mode that lights up dashboard and doors in a range of colours depending on your mood. Ha!

Door lighting, ha! I put a radio/cassette in mine. Now that's what you call bling.
Now my eyes have dried from the nostalgic tears, I do have to admit that I did have to "mess about with it" a bit to keep it running. Performance tuning modifications do not make for a smooth running, every day car. At 21 though, that was the least of my worries. Looking back, it seems that it was my only hobby at the time!
Might be why I seem to have lost all interest in fixing cars since.

secretsam

LOL first time I saw one of those Mini 4 doors I thought someone had "stretched" a regular Mini

Not exactly "mini" any more, are they? The Countryman is massive, bigger than my mid-size Kia Cee'd.

fenix

Oh the possibilities of twanging a small child with those automatic doors !

(wouldnt a hatch be more practical ? )

veronese68

fenix wrote:

(wouldnt a hatch be more practical ? )

But that wouldn't be a nod to the original. Although that was the Traveller not the Clubman, they seem to have lost that name. I see they haven't done a van or pick up of the new Mini, I'd have thought a van would be quite funky, but doesn't fit with the image.

veronese68

joelsim wrote:

Sounds like you have a new Alfa.

Believe it or not my 50,000 mile Audi is more unreliable than my 100,000 mile Alfa was. The Alfa was comfortable and looked good, two features the Audi is sadly lacking. The Audi is horrible.
Anybody want to buy an Audi A4 estate? One careful owner (and two dreadful ones).

joelsim

fenix wrote:

Oh the possibilities of twanging a small child with those automatic doors !

(wouldnt a hatch be more practical ? )

No. It'll be the only car in my household and sometimes I need to carry more than 2 bags of shopping.

EDIT: Just realised what you meant.