This weekend, I put some serious miles on our long-term 2007 Mini Cooper S. Great little car. Spunky as hell, quick, a blast to drive. And despite its relative ubiquity in Southern California, people look at it...
We covered all kinds of territory, and the Mini impressed with its very direct steering and excellent power. High-speed highway cruising was a blast, and on tight roads through state parks, it gripped the road tightly. And whether appearing every bit its mini self against Morro Rock . . .
or happily surveying the magnificent dunes of Montana de Oro State Park...
it felt right at home. A couple minor quibbles surfaced, though. It's got a bit of torque steer. Which is not a bad thing. When you shift up from 1st to 2nd gear with your foot in it, it kicks a little, so you need a good grip on the wheel. Kinda like a horse feeling that you're just about to romp, it's letting you know it's eager and ready.
And for you music lovers, the stereo resets to the beginning of the CD when you restart the engine. Which frankly drove me nuts. In fact, the whole car seems to reset, because if you hit the "S" (Sport) button or disable the stability control, those immediately reset at restart.
And maybe it's me, but the car seems to fog up quickly. I realize I was wearing a heavy fleece and leaving a Central Coast beach at sunset in November, but several times I had to open the windows to defog the inside of the car.
Doug Lloyd, Senior Copy Editor @ 6,874 miles
SubyTrojan says:
07:08 PM, 11/13/07
Great photos, Doug!
cwalton1 says:
09:40 PM, 11/13/07
Suby beat me to it! It looks like Scott Jacobs's photo seminar really inspired you -- or maybe it was just the central coast. Either way, way to go, Doug. --C.W.
bobjonesesq says:
08:40 AM, 11/14/07
My wife's MINI has the same problem at times. Have you cleaned the inside of all the windows? I keep a travel pouch of Windex wipes for the windscreen (other windows are tinted, so a wet chamois works for those). Two good wipe-downs of the inside windscreen solves the problem.
scott65 says:
09:00 AM, 11/14/07
So if i'm listening to a CD on a road trip and have to stop and use a bathroom somewhere and come back into my car it starts the CD from the start?? How retarded is that. My cousin's Chevy Aveo even remembers where the CD was after a stop, that is just lazy BMW
blueguydotcom says:
10:03 AM, 11/14/07
Your stereo is broken. I just tested my 2007 Cooper S (borrowed a CD) and as I recalled from a painful experience when the wife wanted to listen to an Amy Whinerhouse CD, the stereo starts the CD up at exactly the spot you leave off. Go to track 5, listen, turn the car off, turn the car back on and it starts in the same place. Your stereo should get looked at by the dealership...it shouldn't behave that way. No BMW product I've owned does that (then again I never played a CD in my e90).
Plus, why are you using CDs on a roadtrip? 2001 is calling and they want their CDs back. There's an aux plug in the car...
Mileage?
Either you guys REALLY get on the throttle constantly or you just don't hold the wheel as I drive my Cooper S hard and I really never have torque steer issues...unless I forget to hit the S button (which is rarely).
boxermike says:
11:30 AM, 11/14/07
"2001 is calling and they want their CDs back." -- my thoughts exactly.
Thanks for the tip on your '07, blueguy. We'll look into the matter as a potential defect and not just another one of the Mini's many quirks.
greenpony says:
12:46 PM, 11/14/07
Not everyone wants to blow $250 on an iPod. If you already have the CDs, why not use them? And with better sound quality to boot.
crowb says:
03:39 PM, 11/14/07
Agreed. I already own the cds, and I don't want to spend hours sitting in front of my computer ripping them to my already brimming hard drive.
blueguydotcom says:
04:46 PM, 11/14/07
Rip your CDs and then sell them to a used CD shop. That will easily pay for the MP3 player. Did it years ago and never looked back.
We just took our Touch with us on a two week trip and that thing was a godsend. On long boat rides to distant islands for Scuba we could listen to music or watch a movie or two; back around town we had wifi/web access to check email, handle plane tix/hotel accommodations. We couldn't possibly take along 100s of CDs, DVDs and a laptop, but the Touch provided all 3 in an efficient package.
I can't imagine lugging around CDs or having to change a CD when I wanted to switch genres; plus we can go from our entire collection of Big Band to Industrial as a genre in just a few clicks.
jr1m90 says:
05:31 PM, 11/14/07
I've got to agree, the aux in or iPod interface beats the CD any day, and you can rip the CDs in lossless format (not the lossy format of MP3 or AAC) if you are really that concerned about quality.
penboy says:
06:25 PM, 11/15/07
Just because mp3 players are around doesn't make cd's irrelevant for the large number of people that still use them. I have a full iPod integration kit in my car and I still have 6 discs in my changer that I use fairly regularly.
blueguydotcom says:
10:10 PM, 11/15/07
Pen, why? Until about 2003 BMW kept putting tape decks in cars too...just because arcane tech is in a car doesn't mean people must use it.
eriches says:
01:00 PM, 11/19/07
I, too, have encountered and been annoyed the CD "track restarting" issue in our LT Cooper S. I think it may be a setting issue (similar to how the tuning knob can either be "seek" or manual tune), and I plan to sit down with the owner's manual the next time I drive the car.
I'm going to cast another vote for arcane CD technology. I have a Creative Zen, but haven't been impressed by the sound quality when I hook it up in cars. Plus, I like my CDs. The bands I like (Tool, Peeping Tom, Rammstein) have gotten very artistic with the case/disc design -- something I savor whenever I pop my discs in and out. --Erin
blueguydotcom says:
03:18 PM, 11/20/07
CDs come in cases still? Do they even CD shops anymore? ;)
My 5 year old niece in all likelihood will never buy a CD in her life as she just got a hand-me down iPod shuffle from her mom. Like 8-tracks and vinyl records from my childhood, CDs and eventually DVDs (we just ripped all her movies to an Archos 605 so she won't have to fiddle with DVDs anymore) will look like relics to her generation when they hit college age.