http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2014-mini-cooper-s-spy-shots/#photo-1251781

Hmmmm looks very surprised to have been "papped"!! Maybe it may look better in the metal?

I love it. Only thing I'm unsure of is those DRLs.

I like it as well Phil

It just looks surprised

Still waiting to see what the JCW version will look like

It kind of like it but not fully sold. Gonna need to see it person

Get one of the last r56 minis. As I said on Facebook, how did they get this so wrong when they got the r56 so right?!

Moon wrote:

Get one of the last r56 minis.  As I said on Facebook, how did they get this so wrong when they got the r56 so right?!

If they got it so right why didn't you get one during its run?

It's incredibly unfair to slate a car that no one has seen in the metal, before it's been officially launched. Whilst I think initially the lower intake looks like an afterthought, and I'm not convinced about the DRLs I still think it looks like the right evolution from the R56.

If I didn't reserve judgment and listened to my first impressions, I would never have got my first MINI. When they were launched in 2001 I had the opinion that they weren't MINI, and they  should have been called a 1 series. It took a while but I  changed that opinion and bought an R56 hatch.

Then I bought an R55 Clubman which when I first saw one I thought was a step too far. Yet I ended up buying one after falling in love after seeing one at my first MINI meet (which actually ended up being the Clubman I bought).

And then the Coupé. I saw the pictures and thought it just wasn't going to work. That roofline just didn't sit right. Then I test drove one when they were launched, saw the roof and thought this car just works. 2 years later I'm driving one of them too.

I can go on about the Countryman and Paceman, both of which I wasn't sure about but when I see them and feel the build quality, I see their purpose in the range and they are selling well.

So why do we slate the F56 before ANY of us have got close to it? If we go look up close and don't like it fair enough but a pap shot is never going to sell it is it?

PhilK wrote:

Moon wrote:

Get one of the last r56 minis.  As I said on Facebook, how did they get this so wrong when they got the r56 so right?!

If they got it so right why didn't you get one during its run?

It's incredibly unfair to slate a car that no one has seen in the metal, before it's been officially launched. Whilst I think initially the lower intake looks like an afterthought, and I'm not convinced about the DRLs I still think it looks like the right evolution from the R56.

If I didn't reserve judgment and listened to my first impressions, I would never have got my first MINI. When they were launched in 2001 I had the opinion that they weren't MINI, and they  should have been called a 1 series. It took a while but I  changed that opinion and bought an R56 hatch.

Then I bought an R55 Clubman which when I first saw one I thought was a step too far. Yet I ended up buying one after falling in love after seeing one at my first MINI meet (which actually ended up being the Clubman I bought).

And then the Coupé. I saw the pictures and thought it just wasn't going to work. That roofline just didn't sit right. Then I test drove one when they were launched, saw the roof and thought this car just works. 2 years later I'm driving one of them too.

I can go on about the Countryman and Paceman, both of which I wasn't sure about but when I see them and feel the build quality, I see their purpose in the range and they are selling well.

So why do we slate the F56 before ANY of us have got close to it? If we go look up close and don't like it fair enough but a pap shot is never going to sell it is it?

Couldnt have said it better!!  


I like it too. Its no way as far of a change from when they updated the R50 to the R56.

I think people will grow to like it and I think you have put your point over well Phil.

Rarely to people take an instant like to things and then still like them years later.

These shots looks somewhat better than the last lot in a way that may prove the point. Time will tell.

I'm interested in seeing whether the interior keeps the trade mark MINI styling - I hope it does.

Yes thats what I am hoping too Phil more than anything else on the car!

Very well said PhilK.

I said from day one that until the final metal version is seen then nobody can know....

I heard it all when the MINI was first launched then the Gen2 yet they have been big successes.

Why do people feel the need to slag of these things before they have seen them, if they don't like then go and buy a different make I say!

Books are still open for R56 orders Phil

No likey, no lighty

I like it too, I'm looking forward to actually seeing it in the metal, you can't judge it just on pictures alone. It was the same when the 2nd gen was launched, all the first gen owners called it fat said it wasn't a MINI, and basically their reaction to it was the same as we get from the die hard classic fans now, but 7 years on look how it's changed - the 3rd gen MINI is just the new face of the MINI brand, and with that we'll see more new models added to the lineup, and some of the current models will change (not just the face of them).

I'm looking forward to seeing what the 3rd gen will bring us

Still not a fan of that front bumper, but the tech is sounding interesting:

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=28544

Codenamed F56, the new MINI Mk3 will ride on BMW's all new, front-wheel-drive UKL chassis.......and it has the Mk3 classic Mini shaped front grille!  
All-new Mini spied undisguised | Autocar

Adaptive dampers
Electronically adjustable dampers make their first appearance on a Mini. Two driving modes will be offered: one “emphatically sporty”, the other “balanced and comfortable”. These will be controlled by a switch in the interior.

Safety
An active bonnet is a new standard safety feature for the Mini 3. The bonnet is automatically raised in the event of a collision with a pedestrian at speeds between 12mph and 34mph. Extra crumple zones also feature.

Well said Phillis! That is exactly the stance that I am taking with the third gen. In some respects I really quite like it, and then other times I am not so sure - definitely a decision I will be making after seeing in the metal in person. I'm sure most of us will grow to love them as they become a more common sight on the roads.

Was parked next to one this morning in the trafic

 

is it launched yet for the roads?

jack_st wrote:

is it launched yet for the roads?

No not yet

See Today I..... Forum

I was told today there is NO central speedo.......

The big face will be there but it will house other things.