The Dutch NewMINIclub.nl was officially invited by MINI Netherlands to attended the official R56 Media Launch. This included a plant tour in Oxford and driving the R56 around Barcelona.
Thanks MF Reader Berthil for sending this in
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Where’d they get the song for the soundtrack?
Cool to see the cars “out of the paint”.
How come it took so many tries for the engine to start properly??
I’ve seen many photos and videos of plant tours and none show what that one show…did they get an extra special tour, or were they recording where they weren’t supposed to… VERY interesting and entertaining watching everything.
It was painful hearing the starter crank so much but I suppose it takes a bit for the fuel to get through all the lines etc. Then again with the new ethanol gas mine’s not too far from that…
. . . sing it now, “I love my MINI, I want my MINI . . .” gee, that’s subtle! 😉
was anyone getting really nervous when it wouldnt start up right away?
I’m hopin to see the Oxford plant in person one day…could be next year.
<blockquote>I’ve seen many photos and videos of plant tours and none show what that one show…did they get an extra special tour, or were they recording where they weren’t supposed to</blockquote>
I took the factory tour 4 months ago, and saw everything the video showed (and actually I even saw a bare R56 bodyshell sitting on the floor near some of the then-current R51/R53 bodyshells) But photography and video were strictly prohibited.
As for the MINI not starting at the end of the production line, we were told it was fairly common and easy to sort out, but they had to keep the line moving. During our tour, we saw one MINI fail to start after a couple of tries and they brought over a thing that kind of looked like a big pallet jack, lifted the front of the car up, and towed the it out of the way. At that time, it only took 10 seconds of non-responsive cranking before they declared it dead and called in a tow. But on the video I wonder if they intentionally avoided towing away the non-starter because it was being filmed and could be considered bad publicity?
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The starting thing was a bit nervous, but I’m guessing a brand new car with no fuel pressure in the lines probably needs to crank a few times.
I do have to say this video has some of the best sound from inside the cabin. That exhaust note is awesome. I’m not sure what reviewers have been complaining about with respect to the ‘muted’ sound. I guess they are just used to a supercharger sound.
i got the song
The song which I have used for the video is “I Love My Mini” performed by Mary Black.
The review of the testdrive is translated to English 🙂
It was a great experience and a good oppertunity for our NewMINIClub!