F56 Interior Spied in China
Another day another awkward looking spy photo of the new MINI – this time from China. Rest assured we’re told the F56 is rather attractive and proportionally correct by those who have spent time with the car. But these spy photos (again taken are odd angles) don’t quite show it off in the best light. However one little nugget they do expose is that the Cooper S hood scoop is once again non-functional. How do we know? It’s taped shut on this test mule.
We had a good indication of this a few years ago when some at MINI were openly asking us what we thought of a Cooper S without one. The fact it’s there now would indicate it’s a styling piece meant to better differentiate the Cooper S and JCW models from the rest of the line-up.
Inside once again we see the low-end spec interior without the large infotainment screen that we’ve heard is crucial to many of the optional features on the new car. We’ve heard rumblings that the US may not even see this low-end spec.
Also seen here for the first time is the automatic lever as well as new seat fabric reminiscent of the fantastic cloth pattern optional on the Paceman.
The 2014 MINI will debut in Oxford on November 18th with a US on-sale date of late March. For a full rundown on the new MINI, check out the MotoringFile F56 FAQ.
First photo source: Bitauto
<p>That is the BEST looking interior of any Yaris yet.</p>
<p>What if I told you that it isn’t the spy photo that is awkward?</p>
<p>So true! With an interior design like in the first picture (non-navigation version) it won’t matter which angle you take the photos from… One huge circle filled with corners and empty spaces are the same from every angle!</p>
<p>Wow, I was hopeful but the pictures on the external website show the current interior as well. While the new dash is slightly obfuscated, overall it looks like an incoherent mess compared to the current dash; which is saying something.</p>
<p>Looks like some flabby, fat slob’s stomach rolls. Call it Jabba the Hut styling .</p>
<p>well this is where listening to focus groups and surveys filled out by people who obly bought a mini because “everyone else wants one” gets you. Everyone always comments how the fiat 500 interior is better, even though the window switches are in the middle and the rev counter is inside the speedo! Why change something thats not broken?</p>
<p>So….if the scoop isn’t functional could you get a hood without a scoop? I suppose if it meant getting another hood no one would bother as it would be too expensive. I always liked the non-scoop hood on the Cooper myself, and hate the idea of a non-functional scoop (seems oddly silly to me as a styling cue).</p>
<p>The first-gen scoop is functional, the second (and apparently third) gen scoop is not.</p>
<p>The MINI Goodwood has an ‘S’ drivetrain with the base hood, though, so it’s definitely do-able on the second-gen cars.</p>
<p>actually the Goodwood hood is not from the cooper, its from the cooperD</p>
<p>Wow… there is literally almost nothing I like in these spy shots. I mean, I guess the new climate dials are decent, and the seat fabric is funky but ok. But aside from that, everything else seems overwrought, with some very heavy-handed styling choices.</p>
<p>I guess we don’t have a choice, either way, but this seems like an evolution in the wrong direction (i.e., the original Mini was a simple car, and this is becoming a very complex car–especially in the styling).</p>
<p>I certainly hope they haven’t lost knee room with that dash. I don’t fit well into a 3-series BMW because of that swooping curve from the dash down to the center post, my knee runs right into it. If they’ve done that, then I’m afraid my R56 will be my last MINI.</p>
<p>Also just noticed the front-adjustment on the seat. Last time I had a car with that was a Fox-body Mustang.</p>
<p>Honestly, I find it very Refreshing that they are stepping away from the Norm and this to me is amazing. I cant wait to get an F56 in my Garage!</p>
<p>What do you mean by stepping away from the the Norm? If by ‘norm’ you are referring to what is ‘normal’ for MINI then yes this dash is almost everything that has not be MINI. But MINI’s entire character is built on being “Not Normal”- Hence their own ad campaign. The down-tubes, circular vents, central window switches/door locks, central speedo- these are all the things that make a MINI different from a run of the mill ecobox.</p>
<p>If anything, the F56 is moving more <em>towards</em> the norm, of what is normal of typical run of the mill boring cars. This car seems 1/3 Mini, 1/3 BMW, 1/3 Corolla/Civic/boring eco box, and 100% confused on what its true identity character is. Certainly they’ll have to reverse their ad campaign to “MINI- fitting in is better than being ‘Not Normal”</p>
<p>That is your opinion. Personally I like it, and why people get so angry about a Car Company changing ? No one is forcing you to buy it.</p>
<p>Cut him some slack. He’s excited about a new model that will bring him into the MINI family. You don’t have to buy one but he wants to and that’s okay.</p>
<p>Exactly. It seems there are a lot of R53 owners replying here. The same people who don’t think MINI should build any other model than…..the R53. Get over it people. MINI IS different in their designs. They change! You didn’t like the Coupe, you didn’t like the CM, and then you hated the PM. All great cars btw. Hell most of you hate the R56 when it was released!</p>
<p>Go on MINI keep doing what you do!</p>
<p>It really is the details that make this car look terrible. There are so many details that are just odd, rectangles inside circle elements. That odd bump on the right side of the speedo is strange. My guess is warning lights but come on, it could have been done better, looks like an afterthought. The way that the patterned dash just ends makes the center vents look like cheap plastic. The way that the center stack just ends and floats there in space, or appears to at least. This is the first time I have seen the lock/unlock detail on the door handle and it is terrible. The lighting controls on the knee bolster like every other BMW.</p>
<p>If I wanted a car that looks like every other car on the road I would buy one that is WAY cheaper than a MINI. Yes, from a distance the MINI looks like a MINI is supposed to look but when you get near and see all these terrible details it looks less and less like a MINI.</p>
<p>I actually think that some of the photos are quite encouraging, and certainly more so than when the first photos started emerging.
Good points – climate control and switches underneath look good (with the starter button), seats look good, and I actually like the speedometer and rev counter arrangement behind the steering wheel.
With all cars transitioning to central infotainment systems, the MINI was never going to keep the central speedometer long term, although the second generation sat nav set up with the speedometer is attractive.
Yes, I agree that the central arrangement with the small screen is ugly, but if one specifies the larger screen with higher-end spec finishes/materials, I suspect that the end result will be a lot better than we all think will be the case.</p>
<p>Guys, all these ‘awkward angle’ apologies are indicating one thing to me. It’s just an awkward looking car!</p>
<p>I might be the minority, but I love it. Mini Connected (if they still call it that) makes it look even better.</p>
<p>NO youre not in the minority. There will be thousands and thousands just like you as MINI sells container ship loads of these great little cars!</p>
<p>Never, ever ask the customer what’s wrong with your product. Especially when you have a unique and popular one like the MINI.</p>
<p>Yes, the ergonomics, central speedo and vent design were less than perfect but apart from not really being all that important, they were part of the quirky character of the MINI. The same character that made the car stand out as a boutique product and made it so popular.</p>
<p>By refining out the quirks to please the customer clinics while trying to keep some MINI styling elements, you end up with the absolute dog’s dinner we see in these photos.</p>
<p>What a shame.</p>
<p>adjustable thigh support on that seat.</p>
<p>I noticed that too. The first time I experienced that feature was on a 1988 325ix. Used it a lot.</p>
<p>Precisely why we hopped on it and upgraded the 2006 with a 2013 instead of waiting for a 2014…</p>
<p>I am willing to swallow everything, but the fact that the speedometer is now the large dial. I always loved the Porsche-esque dials on the Cooper. If they only kept the tach in the middle and the speedometer in that half circle next to it…</p>
<p>Oh Dear Lord … the one for the seemingly “base” car dash is almost gaudy on purpose just so people will step up to the hopefully slicker versions. Pretty lame move if that’s the case.</p>
<p>And those seats? with the fabric? what’s going on there? …</p>
<p>If they had a center speedo as standard and the giant info screen as an option this would make sense, as they did in the R53. Better yet (in theory not execution), the R56 speedo wraps around the nav. If they had improved on the R56 design and made the trim/wrap speedo sleeker they would have a winner here.</p>
<p>The seats look odd to me. The seating surfaces should be in fabric, and the side bolsters in leather not the other way around.</p>
<p>Am glad I bought a 2013.</p>
<p>Fire the whole interior designer team. Apologize to your fan base. Redraw from scratch.</p>
<p>And there is the problem. The fan base is not the primary target any more. I understand that from a business standpoint, it’s just a damn shame from an enthusiast’s standpoint.</p>
<p>But if you think about it, the fan base was never the direct target. MINI does what it does and earns fans when it earns them, not by pandering to the boards. It’s not like this community existed BEFORE the R50 came out and they designed the car just for us.</p>
<p>But the difference is, between now and then, is that the designers and engineers were in charge, not the marketeers, bean counters and focus groups. To me it is amazing that something like the R50/53 could ever seen the light of day given the mayhem that was rampant during its development between the troubled BMW and Rover marriage.
The passion and attention to detail of that first generation was never to be seen ever again in subsequent generations of the product. I know that Frank Stephenson is a frequent visitor to this blog and still give him the tip of the hat for having the “cojones” to see his timeless rendition see the showroom floor back in 2001. Thank you Frank for the work you did at BMW. You are LEGEND.</p>
<p>“To me it is amazing that something like the R50/53 could ever seen the light of day”</p>
<p>Agree. I view the 1st Generation MINI as a statement. Now I get the feeling BMW is chasing after something.</p>
<p>“Thank you Frank for the work you did at BMW. You are LEGEND.”</p>
<p>In spades.</p>
<p>Oh please! You R50-53 folks drive me nuts with your nostalgia for something that never existed. What exactly were Stephenson’s choices? They had little money to develop the car so they worked with what they had not knowing if they’d ever sell in the US. The cheap gamble paid off and now it’s a company with sustainment. That’s only in part due to the 50-53.</p>
<p>I will thank Stephenson for his work though……on the P1!</p>
<p>I’m not digging it, but I’ll hold judgement until I see it in person. At this point, i’m really hoping there will still be some lot 2013’s available just in case when my lease is up next July…</p>
<p>I have wondered if the center speedo is really going away entirely. I look at that big center circle, and I see those lines, and I have to wonder, “Do those serve a purpose?” I wonder if those correspond to speed. I am hopeful that the “light show” that we’ve been promised actually serves a purpose. I will reserve judgment until I sit in the thing, but my first impression is that this interior is just too busy for my taste. I do like the seats, and the climate control knobs. I wish it was simpler, and I am I’m glad I’m not alone in that thinking.</p>
<p>I saw the dash before it was installed during our factory tour this week. It didn’t have the center section installed though. They did mention that the center wasn’t fully decided on what they were doing. They said it does have a bmw1 or 3 feel to it… The speedo is currently located on top of the steering wheel. I doubt that will change, but they may change what the center looks like.</p>
<p>I would have dropped the hood scoop if I was Mini, after all the Cooper will be turbo charged now, and it will have no hood sccop. There are plenty of other queus between the Cooper and the S that the hood scoop does not really mean anything.</p>
<p>Agreed, it’s basically down to the size of a mail slot in the spy pics. With the gaping fish mouth, the brake ducts and oversize fog lights there is enough going on already.</p>
<p>Ok Panic mode I need to find a late R56 2013 as that is shocking….All the nice MINI touches are being lost, I got the car for its Retro looks, I’ll go to a fiat 50 Arbarth at this rate!</p>
<p>Edit that should be Fiat 500.</p>
<p>Go ahead, lol! Buy a car for it’s “retro” looks alone. Good decision.</p>
<p>I’m waiting for the final reveal too, but I must just observe that IF that top photo is what will be the final design, the big center circle with the dash going above and around it… Looks like a turtle starting to poke his head out.</p>
<p>Will these photographs also be blamed on the angle and size of the camera lens?</p>
<p>One thing that is very apparent is that the treatment of the center dial, bulging out of the top of the dash, which appears to be deformed by this – this is directly from the original R50/R53 dash which had a similar layered look.</p>
<p>I see the similarity you’re pointing out, but I find this particular design (be it production or otherwise) taking the “one-louder” approach in that context.</p>
<p>The center dial protrudes more and appears very busy. The touch points on the vents protrude further. The below dash padding protrudes further and is more sculpted (very BMW-like, imho). The auto (?) shift knob is, well, what is that exactly? I do find that steering wheel very consistent with previous MINI’s designs, and I like it…there’s something positive :-)</p>
<p>Ha, ha, ha…</p>
<p>When I first bought my 2012 Abarth I had some buyers remorse that it wasn’t a MINI. Now I’m so glad I bought my wonderful Fiat 500 Abarth.</p>
<p>What a mess MINI has become. Gads that dash is an abomination!</p>
<p>13,000 miles and NO problems…. that’s…NO PROBLEMS! Tony Fixed It! No cracked windscreens, not failed engines, no failed trans, no broken shock mounts, no cracked leather seats, no bad clutch, all window motors working….NO BMW warranty BS…</p>
<p>I will say that I added a 28mm, stock was 22, torsion bar to my Abarth to get the handling closer to the MINI and my next purchase will be shock replacement to lower the car to handle better, I think, that an S though not a GP. Still thousands of $$$ cheaper than a S with near the same, sorta, equipment plus I got a free Abarth Drivers Experience Day with an instructor for buying the car that showed me how well this crazy little car handles and how bad a driver I am.</p>
<p>Put that in your pipe and smoke it…;-)</p>
<p>BTW.. I owned and loved my ’02 and a ’04 MCS’ so I do speak with some knowledge of the MINI Cult.</p>
<p>Best quote here…”That is the BEST looking interior of any Yaris yet.”</p>
<p>So you’re talking about lots of maintenance problems with MINIs. Guess I must be the exception to that rule. I’ve had 2 MINIs…a new 2008 MCS hatch that I put 42K miles on it over 4 years. Had only ONE issue during that time at about 2 years into ownership…the AC compressor. Problem solved in 1 visit to my dealer.</p>
<p>My 2nd & current MINI is a 2012 JCW Coupe, which now has 22K miles since Oct 2011. Again, have had only 1 issue… car’s bluetooth wasn’t syncing with my phone at around 15K miles. Problem solved in 1 visit to my dealer. THAT’s it!! Two issues over nearly 6 years & 64K miles driven in my 2 MINIs. I’d say that’s a pretty good record!!!</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m something like $400 out of pocket on repairs to my 2006 MINI with nearly 100,000 miles on the clock.</p>
<p>Lucky you…but my experiences and maaany others I knew didn’t. Motor on. Bad I had fewer problems and they made a car I could or like I’d still own one. If you’re happy that’s wonderful.</p>
<p>I like my MINI, but parts of the interior feel pretty cheap. I also like the Fiat, but ALL of its interior feels cheap.</p>
<p>MINI hasn’t become a mess. It’s about to take its next step. The eventual design is more than likely going to impress. I remember the transition from R50/R53 to R56; it divided opinion then and now the R56 seems to be the more coherent design.
State of the art engines, full LED headlights, heads up displays, electronic damper control, radar guided cruise control, self parking – the F56 should be a great premium small car. I’d bet money on it receiving great reviews in six months’ time.
I’m glad you like the 500, they’re good little cars.</p>
<p>I’m suddenly a little ashamed of my Yaris joke, if it appeals to a piece of shit like this guy.</p>
<p>Well Roberto, my 2004 MCS had 164,000 miles on it when I sold it for $8k and it was still running strong – original supercharger too. I’ve never had a failed engine, trans, broken shock mount, cracked seat, bad clutch or failed window motor and that includes my two MINIs and my wife’s Clubman.</p>
<p>Anytime you want to introduce your Abarth to my JCW Coupe on a track, let me know. We can go to New Hampshire and compare times and see if we got what we paid for.</p>
<p>Dude you can keep your Abarth! Screw that! I drove one at the dealer when they first came out and compared to my JCW Coupe that thing was a TONKA truck with a lawnmower engine. NO THANKS! I’ve got 35000 miles on the Coupe and 10,000 on the Paceman and not one problem yet. Let me peruse the Fiat boards and I bet I can find plenty of bitching about that cars troubles……does anyone care enough to have a Fiat message board?</p>
<p>Since you are seemingly bashing the 14’s looks, how do you like that new abortion Fiat is trying to sham people in the US on? That Countryman ripoff? That has to be the ugliest looking people carrier on the road today…trying to make a 500 into a wagon without the slightest of design changes. Just tack on a longer back end. Looks like minivan, ugh!</p>
<p>At least your happy though!</p>
<p>Believe it or not, the 500L looks even worse in person.</p>
<p>BTW… the scoop comments are still lame as hell. Give it up the scoop makes it look kool.</p>
<p>I can’t wait for this article to get pushed off the bottom of the page so I don’t ever have to see that godawful photograph again; it looks worse every time I lay eyes on it.</p>