We Have the F55 MINI Four Door For a Week – What Do you Want to Know?
After months of anticipation we finally have the MINI with all those extra doors. What do you MINI enthusiasts want to know about the F55? Hit us up in the comments below.
In the meantime here’s the sticker with all options and packages listed.
<p>How is your F55 equipped?</p>
<p>“In the meantime here’s the sticker with all options and packages listed.”</p>
<ol>
<li>How does it feel to ride in the back seats on a long trip?</li>
<li>How is the ride compared to the 2 door cooper? To the Countryman?
3.
Does the wind noise create a loud and unpleasant resonance when the
back windows are fully or partially rolled down while the front windows
remain fully closed? Some 4-door cars I’ve owned in the past makes a
vibrating wind noise when the back windows are rolled down and front
windows fully closed.</li>
<li>Is there one or more electrical outlet in the back seat area and the boot?</li>
<li>How noticeable is the difference in terms of engine response between AC on and off?</li>
</ol>
<p>how many doors?</p>
<p>How easy/difficult is it for you to get into the front seat? How about the back seat? How many times did you hit your head getting into or out of the front seat? How about the back seat?</p>
<p>Finally, compare/contrast the ride/noise/etc between your long-term F56 and the F55. It appears you have 18″ wheels on the F55, and 16″ on the F56, so I’d expect some ride differences.</p>
<p>I am in an F55 Cooper (non-S) loaner at the moment. Getting in and out of the front seats feels to me a lot like getting in and out of a Countryman in that the door is shorter and if you have the seat pushed back (6’4″ here, so yes, I do) you have to go around the B pillar to find the seat back. As for getting in and out of the back seats… yeah, um, no.</p>
<p>Is the HUD worth it?</p>
<p>We have the HUD in our long term 2-door MINI Cooper S hardtop, which I’m having a go at while Gabe spends some time with the four door. I was skeptical at first, but paired with the Nav (which is night and day better in this newest MINI) the HUD is fantastic. Without nav, probably not worth the expense, IMO.</p>
<p>Huh, good to know. I’m kinda/sorta thinking I might get the JCW in another year or two and was debating speccing this. (Especially with issue with polarized glasses) Then again, I’m not Corey Hart, so it’ll still come in handy half the time…</p>
<p>After you adjust both front seats to your comfort level. How easy/difficult is it to get in and out of the rear seat? Does you knee touch the back rest of the front seats? With 4 people in the car and the AC on, how sluggish is the engine compared to 2 people with AC on? Does the car feel like it could use another say 30-40hp?</p>
<p>I’ve looked the F55 over pretty thoroughly a few months ago, but did not have a chance to drive it. I have a 2009 fJCW Clubman. Realizing that it is a bit of an apples and oranged situation, how would you compare the F55 S model?</p>
<p>Interesting that the MINI has now grown to a point where 18″ wheels look about right.</p>
<p>Why is the stated mileage on the window sticker so low (26 city, 33 highway)? I thought on highway this car was supposed to get close to the 2-door’s 40mpg. Maybe the sport auto transmission reduces mileage?</p>
<p>Are you thinking of the 3-cyl. Cooper? BTW on the MINI website the mpg ratings are still shown as TBD. Odd.</p>
<p>Will it blend?</p>
<p>I’ve had my fully equipped F55S for over 3.5 months & 3000 miles. The ride is surprisingly much smoother & quieter than my former 2012 JCWCoupe & 2008 MCS hatch. The smoother ride may be partly due to the longer wheelbase. All 3 had 17″ wheels & run flats but the 1st two had Continentals while my F55S came with Dunlops.</p>
<p>Despite the smaller front doors compared to the 2 door models, the in/out of the front seats is very easy even with the sport seats. I’m only 5’8″ & just over 180 lbs. Re the back seats access….I’ve found the easiest way to enter is sit on the seat & swing the legs in. Just the reverse for exiting…swing get the legs out before get up out of the seat.</p>
<p>Recently had 4 in the car for the 1st time….my wife was in back & found very sufficient leg room with the front seat 1/2 way forward. But she said getting in/out was a little tight. She’s 5’6″ tall & slender.</p>
<p>The ride & performance with 2 or 4 person onboard is very good. Still has plenty of grunt with 4 people. And this is with the 6 speed auto with paddles!</p>
<p>I’ve been using the green mode most of the time & get just over 30 MPG U.S. for my local mixed driving. On a 800 mile round trip mainly interstate highway back in Feb, I got 37.2 MPG heading out & 38.0 MPG on the trip back keeping within 5 miles of the 70 MPH speed limit in green mode. That was with 2 of us in the car along with luggage for a week, golf clubs, & other misc in the back with the rear seats folded down.</p>
<p>Was extremely smooth & quiet running on that trip….like a completely different more refined feel than my former 2 MINIS. Yet, at times when I used the sport mode, it showed that it had lots of reserve power to get out & go along with the exhaust sounds to go with it!!!</p>
<p>Other stuff….I have the HUD which is great when using the NAV. Without the NAV, it may not be a needed option. Had to swap out my polarized sunglasses for non polarized to be able to use the HUD.</p>
<p>I find my F55S to be a great 3rd MINI & very different in a good way compared to my previous JCWCoupe & MCS hatch. Has lots of the fun of the others combined with the added versatility of the added rear room. No regrets at all!!!!!</p>
<p>Sharp ride Bob, I like it. I’ve got the 2015 f56s in thunder gray. Got mine end of Dec and have 2500 miles. Loving it..happy motoring.</p>
<p>My F55S is also in Thunder Gray (with black roof) per the attached photo on my previous long note. Had ordered it in early Nov & took delivery on Dec 31st. Soon after that, I added blackout rings for the headlights & taillights. I went for the the more understated black hood stripes instead of white but the pin stripes border still delineate them nicely. Have also since added similar stripes on the boot.</p>
<p>Hey Bob, would like to see a picture of the stripes on the boot of your f55s. Thought about adding them to my f56s but doesn’t seem like a lot of room back there</p>
<p>Dayna….attached are a couple of photos of the stripes I added to the boot on my F55S. Believe I ordered them from Outmotoring.com. They were for the bonnet & already cut to size for that application so I had to cut them further for the boot.
Originally, I was planning to place them very close to each side of the license plate. But that area has the curves, especially along the outer edges that make that application tough to keep the strips smooth. So I placed them just outside of the license plate depression area which is much flatter. Worked out fine.
I didn’t remove the Cooper S logo badge. But cut the stripes to bypass the badge. Came out very good! They match the bonnet strips…black with the white pinstrip edges.</p>
<p>Very nice, thanks for the information</p>
<p>Bob – You say that the ride on your F55S is, “surprisingly much smoother and quieter than my former 2012 JCW Coupe & 2008 MCS hatch”. Surely you mean, unsurprisingly :)</p>
<p>Nick….although I was hoping the ride would be smoother & quieter on my new F55S compared to my previous 2 MINIS due to the longer wheelbase (and other factors), I was ‘surprised’ it met (and exceeded) my initial hopes.</p>
<p>Are you still considering the F55 as a possibility for your next MINI? Think I recall you mentioning waiting for the F54 Clubman to come out before making a decision which could be the one. Based on the limited 3.5 months & 3K miles with only one 800 mile road trip, so far, I REALLY like this 4 door S. Meets or exceeds all my wants! Will really put it to the test in less than 2 weeks for this year’s MInis On The Dragon Event.</p>
<p>In my opinion….only one negative with this F55S ( and I include the F56 series), is the reduced size of the fuel tank by almost 3 U.S. gals. Use to go up near 380 miles of mixed local driving on my 08 MCS hatch before looking for a fill up. Now it’s barely 300 miles of mixed driving before fill up & that’s with getting only about 1 MPG less on the 4 door compared to my 08 2 door hatch…..31+ for the 08 MCS & 30+ on my F55S for about 70/30 city/hwy driving.</p>
<p>Bob</p>
<p>Thanks for that Bob – now I understand.</p>
<p>The F55 Cooper is still very much on my short-list for my next MINI, and so too is the F54 Cooper. I still haven’t driven the F55 Cooper yet, because I want to do so back to back with the F54 Cooper, due in the UK this October. I have, however, examined the F55 at my local dealer and I am, so far, suitably impressed. Sitting alongside the F56 in the showroom, the F55 looks fantastic value for money for just an extra £600. I’m not planning to take delivery until April 2016, because I shall be abroad over the winter, so there is plenty of time in which to make a decision on what is likely to be a fairly long-term purchase.</p>
<p>BTW, I suspect that the smaller fuel tank is to do with safety regulations requiring a stipulated amount of crushable space around the tank.</p>
<p>Hope you have fun at Minis On The Dragon Event :)</p>
<p>Nick…Out of curiousity, I was just comparing the ‘old’ R55 Clubman size specs with the new F55 4 door. Except for height at 56.1″ which is the same, the F55 is slightly larger in all other dimensions by about 1.3″-1.7″ (length, width, track) & .8″ longer wheelbase. With those larger dimensions the weight is up a bit also by about 48 lbs for the base models.
Will be interesting to see how the new F54 Clubman compares in size/weight with the F55 & ‘old’ Clubman. Understand it’ll have more interior room than the Countryman but it’s height will be more like the F56/55 series.
Re the smaller tank….your suspect that it may be due to the crushable space might be correct but I haven’t heard/read anything from MINI that said why they cut that tank down so much for the F series.
Bob</p>
<p>Thanks for that Bob – I agree with all your dimensions.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the unladen weight for both the R55 Cooper Clubman manual, and the F55 Cooper 5-Dr Hatch manual are quoted as being the same at 1220 kgs – 2690 lbs. Bearing in mind the extra length, width and height of the F55, clearly there has been some clever weight saving. The F55 is usefully taller than the R55, because the height of the R55 includes its roof buttresses. The F55 has a top speed of 129mph and 0-60mph in 8.2secs (auto 8.1secs).</p>
<p>The 2-series Active Tourer, shares its longer and wider UKL platform with the F54 and, powered by the same 1.5T engine and gearbox, has an unladen weight of 1395 kgs – 3075 lbs, and a top speed of 127mph and 0-60mph in 9.2secs. Hopefully, with its considerably lower height, the F54 will be lighter and thus faster, probably about the same performance as the 218i Coupé which powered by the same engine achieves 130mph and 0-60mph 8.8secs.</p>
<p>Purely on statistics, the F55 is looking more and more attractive.</p>
<p>Nick…..I had forgotten about the rails on the R55 being part of the height measurement so the F55 roofline would give more interior head room in comparison.</p>
<p>Re weight….you mentioned 2690 lbs for the F55 manual. I’ve seen weight specs for my F55S with auto up about 2910 lbs which is about 200 lbs heavier than my former ’12 JCW Coupe with manual. Even with that added 200 lbs, my F55S auto has 0-60 stats at 6.5 secs, only .4 secs slower than the 6.1 secs the JCW Coupe had. Of course the torque on the 2L S is higher than the 1.6L JCW.</p>
<p>I feel that the F55S is the right car at the right time in my life…now only 2.5 months short of my 75th B.D. Having experienced the ’08 MCS hatch & ’12 JCW Coupe, both quite different than my F55S, I’ve had a great transition of MINIS to this point. But this one, along with still having that fun, performance, & handling, I also mow have more usability & practicality added to those other positives. And for the icing on the cake, my wife of 3+ months is part of this MINI ‘journey’!</p>
<p>Bob – I was surprised to read that your F55S auto achieves 0-60mph in 6.5secs, when the official time in the UK is quoted at 6.8secs for the auto. However, I overlooked the fact that here in Europe BMW/MINI quotes all acceleration times in kilometres per hour, and 0-100kph equates to 0-62mph. All the acceleration times I quoted in my previous comment are actually for 0-62mph, so I have edited them accordingly.</p>
<p>2015 certainly is a landmark year for you – celebrating your 75th Birthday with your new wife, and a new MINI. What more could a man ask for – Congratulations!</p>
<p>Nick…the 0-60 MPG in 6.5 sec for the F55S auto were figures I saw on different sites (including MF?) when that MINI was being introduced late last year. I think the auto was a couple of tenths quicker than the manual (surprise turnaround). So 0-100kph or 0-62 MPH could be 6.8 sec for the auto.
Recently bought a GoPro & am trying to learn its video basics for the upcoming MOTD events next week….also deciding where to mount it, preferably inside the car to see the road ahead as well as the dash area. Have visor mounts, large suction cups for windows etc, adhesive dash mount (may be tough to remove at a later date), even a small octopus tripod that wraps around anything. Any experience with the GoPro usage for driving?</p>
<p>Sorry Bob, I have no previous experience with GoPro. However, I’ve just looked it up and been reading about it – you’ve got me interested.</p>