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The article represents the personal views of the author, and the minority has made only minor changes to the title and layout.
A kind of luck
Sometimes I think that the first car I drove in my life was the Mini Cooper, which in itself requires enough luck.
On the way home, he remembered Takumi, who borrowed the key from his father to soak natsuki, and understood Shigeno's youth as he grew up over the years. One day, too, we will become the best and worst of times, the ones who stare at the car in a daze late at night.
Always it is your turn to drive, your turn to see the vast world, and you must also carry friends and family together.
Mini seems to have changed a lot today after BMW (from small case to uppercase), and after a period of familiarity, the car is finally ready.
Such a classic 2011 three-door Mini Cooper Excitement (code name R56), powered by a 120 hp transverse in-line four-cylinder 1.6L naturally aspirated N12B16BA engine and Aisin 6-speed automatic transmission, originally equipped with Pirelli 195/45 R16 star-label explosion-proof tires, has traveled 110,000 kilometers so far.
This article only takes the 2021 minority offline gathering and Lao Mai's agreement as an opportunity, and is dedicated to all those who are still interested in Mini Cooper.
In the evening of Double 11 in 2021, I met Lao Mai again and finally had the opportunity to take a group photo with Q&A about Mini Cooper
Q: Do you like this car?
A: Love and hate. To say how deep love is, how much hate is cut. In fact, I didn't like driving, and even resisted driving because of parking difficulties and maintenance troubles. But the joy of racing and bending on the road is something I won't forget, and the Mini is certainly a great car that makes me laugh.
Q: Is Mini suitable for women?
A: Mini is for everyone, but not every generation. The women's label is one of the important features of mini, but it is not the most important. I've seen a silver-haired grumpy old lady in England with a pipe swallowing clouds and spitting fog across the intersection, and I've also seen a young girl in Guangxi who kicks the accelerator one foot after another... They all drive Mini, but the style is really completely different, and it really depends on what you want to "become" of what you want.
The same car, of course, to take pictures (this one on the right is a one)
Q: What are the biggest features of MIni?
A: "Not afraid to be defined" is the standard for all Mini, from "Stealing the Day" to "Mr. Bean", the Mini is a car that can be interpreted by anyone in any way. Although mini still has some Old School stuff in there, it doesn't affect the blend of bulldogs and British characteristics.
Of course, the more absolute Sense Old School is often used only to discuss the classic three-door model1. These three-door models also had a history of "sports cars" with a mid-wheeled steering wheel2.
Mini is also a special totem for "Stealing the Day"
Times are changing, and the soul is still the same.
- Copy of the instructions in the MINI owner's manual.
Q: Is mini Cooper easy to drive?
A: This R56 may not be a good car for novices (I have adapted to it for a month myself), except for the gearbox matching and steering wheel, this car may even help in the complete family needs. But her sense of mechanics and purity is unquestionable, and there is even a feeling of being a racer in a muddy arena when driving.
Q: Is there anything special about this car?
A: When I bought a car, just because my mother pointed to a car in the yard and asked me what it was, I pointed and said, "This is a Mini that you will never be mistaken." According to the salesman, this is the first Mini Cooper in Guangzhou with a white roof of the ×, which was transferred from Shenzhen and waited for at least three months.
The first day of the pick-up was marked in the university town; soon after getting the car, I went to Hong Kong to buy a full set of exterior modifications, but because it was strictly checked that year, it was not loaded until today; the license plate had my birthday, and the security guard always greeted me when I came home, which was a car that could be recognized at a glance by the nearby property.
The sales went to Porsche that year, and he was once a Mini owner, and I still remember the excitement of him taking us on a wild ride on the road. However, the joy of being like a friend at that time is now polished by the ruthlessness of life. Ten years later, the reason for buying a car can still be firmly said - if it is not rainy and messed up, who will suddenly want to buy a car?
From the notion record after taking over
Q: What are some of the features of mini that impressed you?
A: Super difficult cup holders, power windows, super hard power steering, old mechanical door locks, no spare tires, dogs are too small rear seats and rear suspension that can protrude the lumbar intervertebral discs upside down, and the mid-mounted speedometer3 at the bottom of the 260km/h meter inspired by American tankers. These can be said to be the outstanding features before the full BMW, and they are also the source of many people's first impression of mini.
Q: What do you think of mini's large-scale?
A: MINI is no longer a car, MINI large-scale like the hegemony of long-wheelbase models, is a stopgap measure to compromise the market. Although from a business point of view, it is not diaphragm, but in fact, it dilutes the image cognition of MINI, and the MINI with the long axis plus the side door is of course more practical, but since you want to buy MINI, practicality will certainly not be the first five most important indicators.
So does this "big" really have any additional meaning?
Q: Is mini really getting older, better?
A: It's not red wine, the old is more Mini, and the new is more BMW. But the problem encountered is to look at the face to see the person and look at the car - and the typical problem is basically not less, some 3,000 kilometers occur, some 30,000, and some... May be after 100,000. For R56, the thermostat, valve oil seal, valve chamber cover seal, machine filter base oil seal are typical problem points... My own joke: as long as it doesn't leak, it's lucky 4.
But if it's a simple styling, it's better to really be the old R generation.
There is only a bunny dog car in the back seat
Q: Would you recommend a cash MINI to someone else?
A: No, one is because the understanding of MINI is very "private", and the other is that the new generation of MINI into the bustling, electronic MINI is really not very eye-catching. I'm not very optimistic about the MINI of the F series, although it is easy to get started and more accessible, but it is more than one point less fun. The electronic gear lever is one of the things I'm most unaccustomed to (it's almost a paddle on the steering wheel), and the abandonment of the central speedometer and the complete change to the screen dilutes some of the tough and intuitive feeling of the car itself.
But in any case, if you have a test drive, it is recommended to try JCW - after all, this should be the smallest tonnage of legal Package Car (finished car) on the market.
Take you from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.1 seconds, with another heartbeat.
--Official JCW MINI copywriting
Q: This Mini has been around for 10 years, what's next? Are there any regrets about these past days?
A: Open for another two or three years, until you don't want to try it again last year, until you don't want to spend money to fix it. As a one-handed mother who has not attended a party and just ran to work commuting without stepping on the accelerator deeply, the car student 5 must be incomplete. At this stage, although I still want to change the wheel and tire, or find a friend to prostitute a set of TENI grinding teeth suspension (out of nowhere), there is a chance to drive more to participate in various activities that is the best...
Get close
From slowly adapting to the temper of the car, to driving on the road with confidence and boldly overtaking, the process is not smooth. But fortunately, at least there was no accident, and it was more like a car teaching me a lot of things for more than a year.
First of all, the daily driving habits, in the previous Q&A, in fact, the problem of matching has been mentioned, and the biggest flaw of this generation of R56 may come from the gearbox. The oil break point of the 2nd gear is very high, as long as it can be stepped on or even stepped on to 5600. In addition, the clutch junction is also on the high side, the acceleration delay when driving at low speed is very significant, and the original naturally aspirated thing can even drive the feeling of a large turbine.
So when driving every day, you have to use some methods to balance this somewhat neurotic gear ratio of 6. "Dare to step on the accelerator" is the only way to tame this strange temper, although it will not make the fuel consumption worse, but the temper of the car will certainly not compromise with the driver who cannot tame him.
The moment you pick up the key, you're already excited
So I actually figured out some "everyday" driving methods that are only suitable for this car in my driving.
Foot oil replenishment: replenish the oil at the junction of the downshift, loosen the throttle and immediately replenish a foot of oil, with the slow brake to jump over the clutch joint.
Manual 2/3 gear follow-up: Follow the car in 2 or 3 gears in the speed range of 10-30km/h, change gears after 3000 rpm, and control the distance to keep the throttle always at about 20%.
Early distribution of brakes: In long-distance follow-up driving, brakes at different depths several times to the final brake stop to reduce losses and short-distance emergency stop braking.
Cruise status preset: When you need to run at a high speed in the speed range of about 90km/h, step on the desired speed in advance and then start the cruise (so that there will be no sudden gear change).
Although it is a car, its vision cannot be compared with any generation of fit.
The field of view is small, and the blind area is large. Looking down at the vehicle information on the tachometer is also a bit anxious, and in many road conditions, it is not even possible to see the traffic lights by yourself. The rearview mirror has a small field of view (especially on the right), the blind spot under the right A column affects the car, and there is also a very strange blind spot behind the B column (and there is no blind spot warning), the rearview mirror and the right rearview mirror in the car cannot be seen, and it is necessary to resolutely "turn the head" to ensure safety.
The right-back view is even worse on rainy nights
This also leads to another problem, even if it is a three-door classic Mini, its "small" can only be counted as small on the Chinese road full of "long wheelbase". The non-recyclable rearview mirrors also bring the car's actual width to 1.8m (almost equivalent to the Yatsushiro Camry)... Under such conditions, the field of vision on the right side cannot easily let down one's guard.
After all, for the roads of Florence, the Mini is a "big car".
It looks like a short wheelbase, which is another illusion that this car will bring to people - such a small car must have a small turning radius, right? It must be easy to park, right?
NO!
From the first day we came home, the car was spat upon countless times by this confusing turning radius. Yes, always walk to the almost outermost lane after hitting the full direction (the actual radius is similar to most B-Class cars)... And it's not an illusion that manifests itself in the driving level.
The experience of these elements is indeed similar to that of "karting", and even some front-facing road racing cars have such characteristics. But as the owner of the Mini, you must always remember that this is not a road race car in the strict sense of "full of blood".
Because I know that there are legal road racing cars like the Abarth 695 that use a sequential gearbox, or gryaris, a purebred rally "special car"8, even if mini's expectations are placed there, they are no longer a product of the same era.
This is another kind of car I am looking forward to, and the probability of the introduction of domestic channels is a capital "0"
Because a good car can make you willing for just a few reasons. Because you only need to turn on the sport mode, this car will have a big change of temperament -
The speed will rise sharply by more than 1,000 revolutions, and the response to the upshift will be more frequent; the landing throttle will become sensitive and slender, and the tap can trigger the "head-up" dynamic that is transmitted to the toes; and the linear brakes like a tram are always clenched, remaining tight and firm.
When the road is clear and there are no cars on the ramp, I will choose to make the throttle deeper and the steering wheel twist input larger. After a round of war, the palms of the hands are also full of sweat, and the unobstructed stimulation is directly transmitted to the hands through the steering wheel, and when you look at the speedometer, it is still as quiet as a chicken sixty or seventy.
The Mini tucked away in every corner
In such a car with a low limit, but a little urging can make the corners of the mouth rise wildly - the heartbeat of the other calculation is an extra bonus to play like this for a while. Although the 1.6L displacement limits the ability to re-accelerate, the 1.2-ton body weight and 120 horsepower output is not very "powerful", whether on the lip or on the wheels, the ten-year car can no longer step on all its potential at the moment.
A long-standing problem these days – ECU failures
Compared to the fun of driving, these problems on the inside do not seem to be a problem.
Mobile phone navigation has nowhere to be placed, and it is busy when encountering scenes such as paying for payment and changing navigation locations;
The window lifting position is not very smooth, and the storage space under the central control is very tight, and even a cup of coffee cannot be put down;
The original wiper is very dish, and the start is a dirtier and dirtier scraper;
At night, the big truck that follows behind puts the glittering and colorful six squads to break the wall (and it is not recommended to apply a film).
The new generation of MINI F56 has almost no these small shortcomings, but without these shortcomings it seems to be the biggest shortcomings of the new generation. Although it is better to open, smoother, more powered, more electronically controlled equipment and RGB interiors, suspension and chassis tuning are not overly compromising comfort - but something is missing.
Although the steering wheel is still almost the same, the feeling of input from the direction is like a layer of yarn... There is some lack of intuitive level of communication.
Putting aside these things that look mechanical at the moment, the 3 Series on the other side of the store may be more attractive for almost the same price - the same 2.0T, with an extra door and an extra row of people sitting in the back row. And the 3 Series of the G Generation also nailed this more convincing label with sales that surpassed the Camry...
The "One" car
Like many Mini owners, they bought it, but they didn't change it. Even if 100,000 miles have passed and it cost a lot of money to repair the car, it seems that there is no regret.
Driving yourself, from near travel to distant affairs, I gradually have the experience of sharing this car, and it seems that I have gradually accepted the footsteps of this four noodle tire, and the 45L fuel tank is not large, but it is enough to run away fully on the open road.
Someone will always ask, why did you choose a Mini?
Of course I would say, "This is the yellow car that our family loves, and liking is all."
Bean and Mini seem to be a pair of film and television symbols that achieve each other
Even when meeting friends and occasionally missing opportunities for conversations other than "long time no see", the Mini always seems to be able to pry open a door and smash a few windows along the way. Whether it's the difficult cup holder or the steering wheel wrapped in pulp, it's like a special symbol that saved me from my solitary words.
Even if she is limited by the short suspension and the width of the tire 195, her actual driving limit is bound to be inferior to hardcore sports cars such as 1M and M2, but this is not a high limit and a low "acquisition cost" can be exchanged for full fun. While playing like a child in the car, you can also find an excuse to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the 1.6L self-priming engine that will be excited for more than 3,000 revolutions.
Even if the smartest device in the car is my mobile phone, the most intimate voice is Lao Luo's "the front is the most urgent sharp turn in the Eastern Hemisphere", which will not affect the direct and wonderful communication with the car.
2020 in Chiang Mai, Rover Mini Cooper
We've seen many minis with a history, including the "boldest" veteran of the "behemoth" seen in Chiang Mai above, the Rover Mini with the hot melt tires of the pseudo-Watanabe rims for the Port of Canang AR1 race.
This unique interpretation embodied in each MINI enthusiast is also the deconstruction of the word "One" 9 by car owners: the MINI interpreted by each owner is different, and this "One" is a complete self-promotion for them, putting aside all past understanding of personality, as if everything is only related to the feelings of "me".
It sounds philosophical, but it's true.
Mini's ubiquity, taken in the UK in 2017
One day, too, we will become the best and worst of times, the ones who stare at the car in a daze late at night.
Even when I stopped at night, I would still stand in the garage doorway pondering and nagging about the entry I wanted to change. Z's SuperTurismo LM, Blackened Midnet, Blackened Decorative Strip, TENI's Tooth Grinding Shock Absorber, Lemon Green Mist Light, Blackened Instrument...
Even if it's pasted like this, I still know it's a JCW
Every time she stepped out of the car, such thoughts jumped up, but she felt that if she fixed this "One", she would become a solitary and isolated car again, rather than the Mini who was not afraid of any definition. At least my friends around me, not everyone thinks that such a "yellow" car should be taken to change its face... And one of the best tips is still to simply clean the pair of small leather shoes (tires and shock absorbers).
After all, it has become the appearance of blue sky and white clouds, from isolation to completely unabashed, MINI is always changing.
Photographed at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show
After that, it was perfectly normal to drive around on a certain day, the same night, the same get out of the car, lock the car. Maybe the thing to say is to brush a macho exclusive pink...
This kind of anticipation, which is always full of imagination, is enough to make almost every ordinary trip have a reason to calm down and stop in a daze. Because the mini itself gives pleasure beyond the outer edge of a "tool".
Summer and four laps to go to the university town to play treasure, his full A4L will also be changed
Every weekend, looking for a day and a half, or even a short afternoon, just drive out and around, catch one or two people, and after experiencing the safety and pleasure of floor oil, I still laugh and laugh.
I am afraid that no one will know how resistant, bored, repulsive, repulsive, and disgusted I am about driving before driving on the Mini, and how much I hate the noise and disorder on the city roads. The help of many coincidences made driving and even enjoying the car another possibility for me, and this Mini was an absolute contributor to breaking my stereotyped ideas that were plagued by negativity.
Nowadays, whenever you see a Mini driving a little pyrotechnic on the road, you will flash the lights and then play for a short time. The other party also understands that no communication can also contribute to this difficult fun. No one said greasy, no one said cowering, although occasionally encountered cautious driving female car owners, but smile, hang up gears, in a foot on the accelerator and go away is still happy.
Go out and play with the car with your best friends
Not sure if this is the Mini you're looking for,
It is also the "One" in my heart.