Fashion car (BMW Mini One)

Member Name: commanderbond

Product:	BMW Mini One
Date:	24/07/08 (301 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun handling, cute looks, good resale values.

Disadvantages: Tiring on a long journey, hard ride, expensive, gearbox problems, no space.

The new Mini, its a cute looking car, a fashion car, like the new Beetle. Is it more about style than substance??

Its all quite well put together, very stylish. Some areas of trim are a bit flimsy though. Its great fun to drive on short journeys, lovely sharp steering, responsive handling. But on a longer journey, its tiring, that ride, oh, its just too firm and fidgets all time, you constantly have to correct the steering, after an hour its pretty tiring.

Something like a boring Ford Focus copes with a motorway journey so much better.

Spacious? well not really, up in the front is OK, but the back seats are a joke and the boot is only suitable for a few designer carrier bags. There seems to be a lot of wasted space with a massive dashboard.

The Chrysler engine, built in Brazil, is actually pretty good, its quite responsive and has a pleasant exhaust note, the same cant be said for the gearbox. The gears have a pleasant short change, but isnt the g'box noisy? Especially from cold start, it whines like mad, almost as bad as the old Austin Mini. I've heard quite a few owners have had the gearboxes changed under warranty.

So all in all, a mixed bag, fun to drive on short trips, cute to look at, expensive and not without a few problems.

Summary: Fun for short journeys, but not an all round capable car.

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