An excerpt of the article in Motor Trend:
Despite flaws that emerged throughout the year, our passion for the Mini hadn’t wavered after 12 months and 25,000 miles. The car’s limitations are obvious, though one editor noted, “At one time, I bought small cars out of necessity. The Mini is one to buy out of desire.” This sentiment held true for the staff, as proven by the 2005 Mini Cooper S taking first place in a February 2005 five-way comparison test. The second-generation Mini demonstrates that rich driving experiences needn’t be expensive.
[ Long-Term Test Verdict: 2003 Mini Cooper S ] Motor Trend
All things said the MT staff seemed to absolutely love their MINI In fact it would seem that MT’s biggest complaint about their 2003 MCS (off the line power) was solved with the 2005’s revised gearing. Unfortunately they don’t make a mention of this change to new models. They also sell the MC short yet again.
Thanks Tim!
<p>Note that the article mentions recall for rear shocks in the specs at the end. Has anyone heard of such a campaign? If so, what year models are affected/ details? My ’04 MCS has had a creaking rear shock for the past year..</p>
<p>“Despite using a blower and intercooler, the Mini has a notable lag off the line, requiring a learned technique for swift, non-NHRA-grade launches without hesitation or clutch roasting.”</p>
<p>OK, so what is the best way to launch this baby with minimal wear & tear? Better to ask than experiment with my own clutch…</p>
<p>If you disable the traction control, there is no lag off the line. At least, not the lag I think he’s refering to.</p>
<p>I’m a little confused since I looked in my June Motor Trend and there’s no write up for the MINI, only a W8 Passat.</p>
<p>I’ll read it online. I’m just a little confused at to why it’s not in the mag itself….</p>
<p>The article is bylined April 2005, do you have your back issues?</p>
<p>i am inclined to post a thread about just that on nam or mini2. i’ve been “through” two MINI clutches prematurely, on an 02 and an 04.</p>
<p>I just brought my latest MINI, a ’04 MCS, from Charlotte North Carolina and drove 2400 miles in 41 hours back home to SoCal. I did I 40 all the way across and found it to be a mess. </p>
<p>MT’s comment….. “The cyclopean speedometer annoyed with its optimistic 150-mph top speed, meaning that the useful portion of the gauge was limited to the left half. A 120-mph top end would suffice.”, ……..seems odd to me as I easily hit the 120 mph mark and had a few 135 mph runs near Needles Ca. I also felt there was more but my Escort 8500 was telling me I had better slow down. This I concede is better than my ’02 MCS which struggled at 125.</p>
<p>While snaking through a construction zone in Albuquerque, at 1 am, in a big rig sandwich, I slammed so hard coming off a road level change that the onboard computer went crazy alternately turning off and on the engine & lites. It hit so hard, about a 8″ drop off, I bruised my palm. Too make matters worse one of the trucks in front of me lost a piece of tire that seemed as big as the MINI that hit my right front lite and then spun around and slammed the right rear rim. I needed a POTTY break after all this and found just some Earnhardt style black marks and a blinking low tire pressure lite.</p>
<p>Got passed, near Needles, by a Panoz like I was parked.</p>
<p>ChrisW…. I don’t know what year your MCS is but my ’02 MCS never got rid of the stumble. It helped to turn off the DSC but really not that much, especially in hot weather. My ’04 launches just fine, thank you. </p>
<p>I put 44,000+ hard miles on my ’02 and never had a prob with the clutch.</p>
<p>Just bought my daughter a ’03 Cooper and need to find a shipper to get it from Peabody Mass to Pasadena Ca…Anybody?</p>
<p>Sorry Gabe for the SideBar.</p>
<p>I believe that the author is simply referring to the issues associated with the ’02-’04 MCS and it’s extra tall gearing. Now whether or not that’s truly an issue is of course a point of view :-)</p>
<p>BTW RB – you’re the only person I know of that still has the stumble. Have you tried to have your car flashed by another dealer perhaps?</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks the huge speedo in the MINI is ugly or hard to read is boring! The MINI is the only car here in the states with an interesting and unique dash. Every other car has the expected layout of the speedo, gauges, idiot lights and tach in front of the driver. The radio and climate controls are always in some sort of “Center console” with the same round knobs. What happened to the old days when cars all had wildly different dash layouts and odd shaped speedometers? How come all we get now is round or maybe some sort of arc? </p>
<p>Remember when fast food restaurants had spinning buckets of chicken as signs or the buildings were shaped like what the sold? How come everything today has to look the same and conform to some bland standardization? Most car companies only offer two interior colors, black and some sort of putty colored beige. Fast food places all have the same building shape; it’s just the sign that changes and the same can be said for almost all other cars. They’re all pretty much the same think but with a different badge. Boring. </p>
<p>Thank you MINI for making a car that stands out and is unique. It’s fun. I don’t care if I can read the speedometer (although I find it easier than some of the ones around even though they are right in front of you) because I’m motoring. I don’t want to look like everyone else looking at his or her speedometer!</p>
<p>Gabe, the ’02 MCS is gone…I sold it for nearly what I paid for it 2 years ago……is that sweet.</p>
<p>Paid less for the’04, than the’02 and it has even more stuff. Both were used cars.</p>
<p>Two dealers never could get the stumble out.</p>
<p>Nice work man!</p>
<p>The center speedo kind of reminds me of one of Flavor Flav’s fashion accesories. </p>
<p>But I do think its cool.</p>
<p>I may be driving through Chi Town.</p>
<p>Yeah, that kind’a irked me, too:</p>
<p>“A 120-mph top end would suffice.”</p>
<p>They obviously didn’t bother exploring the top of 5th gear! ;)</p>
<p>Right on Damon! The speedo is the BEST part of the car! I love it and it’s what attracted me right off the bat. You couldn’t GIVE me a nav system!</p>
<p>My ’04 S still has the stumble. It’s the thing that bothers me the most about the car. Haven’t been able to fix it. Taking off DCS only helps slightly. I still find myself pulling out into traffic and my heart stopping as the S stumbles, and it takes my foot on the floor and a lot of cursing to get out of the way in time. I also have noticed a lack of smoothness in the powerband. It tends to lurch and jerk a lot if I take my foot off the accelerator fast.</p>
<p>I know some people love the current powerplant, but I can’t wait for the turbo engines. If only they didn’t come attached to the redesigned MINI interior!</p>
<p>So, I love the speedo, too…but I’ve got one complaint about it—almost a philosphical issue, but I’ve kept my mouth shut for the two years I’ve been driving my MCS now…</p>
<p>For all its wonderfully huge size, it actually isn’t all that easy to tell exactly what your speed is—because there aren’t any markers between the 5mph increments.</p>
<p>The irony here is that the whole purpose for the center speedo existing, to begin with, was for rallying—so the navigator could accurately read the speed. My wife and I drive rallyes on occasion…and if there was ever a perfect car for rallying…it’d be the MINI, right? But…try putting your speed <em>between</em> 33 and 34 mph. We end up rallying in our Saab, for this reason.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell from the `06 photos if this is one of the changes on the new speedo?</p>
<p>Eeldrop –
Rally may have been one of the later reasons to retain the centre speedo, but initially it was to reduce production costs – if the cars were built for export (ie. driving on the right) only the steering had to be moved over. Also, during construction the car would be mounted on a rotisserie-style spit, thus allowing easy and quick access to the underside. The speedo filled the hole left by the ‘spit’. True enough about the large increments, however. I suspect it has something to do with most countries having a gauge in km’s, and a 5km difference is negligible compared to 5mph. Having said that, the UK still posts speed limits in mph, and it is the #1 market for MINI, with the US being #2.</p>