Newsweek Road Tests the R56

Sections: In the Press | R56 (Hatch) Feb 28th, 2007 14 Comments

You will actually be able to check this out in the March 05 issue.

When the Mini Cooper folks took me and a few other automotive journalists to a racetrack to test these new second-generation coupes, it had the trappings of a joke. We’re talking about a subcompact city car, not a Ferrari, right? But instead of laughing, I whooped it up. Ninety-five miles per hour in a hair over 15 seconds, and 0 to 60 in a respectable 6.7 seconds. Yeah, baby.

I really liked the electric steering, which took the shimmy out of the steering wheel while traveling over bumpy terrain. But it’s the whimsy that devotees of this English charmer clamor over.

[ Road Test: MINI Cooper ] Newsweek

Written By: DB

http://www.minicooperinfo.com steve stein

Supercharged? Tightens shocks? Oh well – good press and that is what we need.

Best… Steve
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

I think that’s actually the worst review of anything I’ve ever read.
Nick

Go Newsweek!! Supercharged engine for the ’07? And they paid this bloke to go to Arizona and drive the car. Makes you wonder what other “factual” things they report are accurate.
Drill

Hmmm, “This redone four-seater comes in a choice of two engines: a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder, 118hp version, or the S, which is supercharged and makes 172hp.”

“Super”charged, “Turbo”charged, same thing, right?!? LOL.
http://www.minipeople.ru Dimitri

Short, but sweet.

Though I think that they got mixed up with figures for acceleration and power ratings. Still another good review, which the car deserves.
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/ Josh Wardell

Don’t forget it’s not a car magazine, and the reviewer might not even be a car guy. Most newsweek readers won’t notice (or care) about the turbo/sc mistake. What’s nice is you have a positive review in a mass media publication that will be read by a much wider audience than the typical car magazine reviews.
Micah

Tightens the shocks, eh? Don’t remember that from the press intro.
Jim (Zyamfier)

Ascot and pipe. Good press for the MINI though.
GZ

MCSC by year end? errrr yeah.
ragcat612

I posted this same story on NAM yesterday, bothered by the 2 erroneous statements about the supercharger and the “rumored” new convertible. But I agree with Josh – it was a very positive article in a mainstream publication read by probably tens of thousands of people.
Brendan

Jeez.. Nice article. Bad journalism. It would have only taken a small amount of fact checking to fix those huge mistakes. FWIW a salesperson I talked with thought the sport button tightened up the suspension too. I told him it didn’t, but I’m not sure he believed me.
http://whitemaleconsumer.com Zeke

People surprised that Newsweek is trash?
GZ

True Zeke. Never trust Newsweek or Time.
Nextmoon

Are these people sure that they tested a ’07 R52 MCSC instead of a R56 hardtop?

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