..And yes, guess what.. I still have it 
I thought i'd do a little Mini review (Excuse the pun) for those that would want to read it.
For those that don't know what 'it' is this is it:
54' Chilli Red R53 Mini Cooper S
Spec:
Chilli Pack Inclusive of:
17" Crown Spoke Alloys
Half Leather Interior/Sport Seats
Red Dash Inserts
Xenon Headlamps (With LED side lights to match)
Manual A/C
Denison ICE Link cable
Personalised Reg
The Stats:
1.6l Supercharged 16v @ 170bhp
Torque 220 Nm/162 lb-ft
0 > 60 = Aprox 7.2 Seconds
Living with it:
Being a single bloke still at home, I very rarely need to use it for anything other than going to work, the boot pretty much carries my Work Stuff, back seats are pretty much useless if i'm driving, but again I only ever have one passenger.. covered about 1,500 miles now and still very happy.
Problems/Niggles:
As with all of the 3 Mini's i've had now, i've had problems, but nothing near as serious as the problems I had with my R56 Cooper. The main niggle was the rattle the dash started to make after i'd had it for a week, that has now been rectified and the car is running perfectly, I thought there was a problem with the clutch, but it was nothing. Also whilst they've had it they've had to sort a couple of minor leaks in the engine.. but everything was covered by the Mini's great warrenty.
The rear screen fiasco was sorted, the glass company damaged the windscreen washer, which is also being replaced tomorrow.
Driving/Handling:
The car feels fantastic, I will say that it wasn't as overwelming as I thought it would be power wise but you don't have to do too much to get things done with it.. it makes brilliant noises especially in the lower gears, the supercharger when you're giving it the beans certainly sounds good as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxoJy6tqr-Q << Exhaust love
Handling deffinatley as good as it always has been, more so in the S as it's slightly lower than the Cooper and One.. so you can really throw it about and it barely flinches.. i'm only just getting to the point where i'm confident to throw it about, but always keeps a smile on my face every time I sit down. Performance though is more than enough to keep a 20 year old happy..
Fuel Economy:
The journey I take to work is about 18 miles, and most days i'm leaniant with the right foot.. at the moment the T/C is telling me 26.1mpg and i'm getting just shy of 300 Miles per tank, meaning I have to refuel once a week or so.. costing me around £150-£170 a month in fuel, depending on other journeys I make.
Modifications:
Nothing but the LED lights at the moment and the personalised registration.. but i'm shortly to be doing a fair bit of overtime to get a few other bits sorted, mainly cosmetic (Some proper white stripes for the bonnet and some spot lamps) performance will be next year somtime once the drop in insurance comes, main things I plan to improve on are the Exhaust (Probably will be a Borla or a Milltek cat-back system) getting the 17% Charge Pulley reduction as well as improving induction and cooling.
Overall:
Even though at first I thought the car to be going in the same direction as the other one, there have been no major mechanical problems at all, the car feels solid (Now more so that the dash rattle is sorted!!) and provides enough noise and power to keep me a happy chappy for a while to come.. boot space is somewhat spartan, but you don't buy a Mini for carrying a boot load of shopping..
Thanks for reading, please let me know your oppinions and if theres anything more you'd like to know, please ask
I thought i'd do a little Mini review (Excuse the pun) for those that would want to read it.For those that don't know what 'it' is this is it:
54' Chilli Red R53 Mini Cooper S
Spec:
Chilli Pack Inclusive of:
17" Crown Spoke Alloys
Half Leather Interior/Sport Seats
Red Dash Inserts
Xenon Headlamps (With LED side lights to match)
Manual A/C
Denison ICE Link cable
Personalised Reg
The Stats:
1.6l Supercharged 16v @ 170bhp
Torque 220 Nm/162 lb-ft
0 > 60 = Aprox 7.2 Seconds
Living with it:
Being a single bloke still at home, I very rarely need to use it for anything other than going to work, the boot pretty much carries my Work Stuff, back seats are pretty much useless if i'm driving, but again I only ever have one passenger.. covered about 1,500 miles now and still very happy.
Problems/Niggles:
As with all of the 3 Mini's i've had now, i've had problems, but nothing near as serious as the problems I had with my R56 Cooper. The main niggle was the rattle the dash started to make after i'd had it for a week, that has now been rectified and the car is running perfectly, I thought there was a problem with the clutch, but it was nothing. Also whilst they've had it they've had to sort a couple of minor leaks in the engine.. but everything was covered by the Mini's great warrenty.
The rear screen fiasco was sorted, the glass company damaged the windscreen washer, which is also being replaced tomorrow.
Driving/Handling:
The car feels fantastic, I will say that it wasn't as overwelming as I thought it would be power wise but you don't have to do too much to get things done with it.. it makes brilliant noises especially in the lower gears, the supercharger when you're giving it the beans certainly sounds good as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxoJy6tqr-Q << Exhaust love
Handling deffinatley as good as it always has been, more so in the S as it's slightly lower than the Cooper and One.. so you can really throw it about and it barely flinches.. i'm only just getting to the point where i'm confident to throw it about, but always keeps a smile on my face every time I sit down. Performance though is more than enough to keep a 20 year old happy..
Fuel Economy:
The journey I take to work is about 18 miles, and most days i'm leaniant with the right foot.. at the moment the T/C is telling me 26.1mpg and i'm getting just shy of 300 Miles per tank, meaning I have to refuel once a week or so.. costing me around £150-£170 a month in fuel, depending on other journeys I make.
Modifications:
Nothing but the LED lights at the moment and the personalised registration.. but i'm shortly to be doing a fair bit of overtime to get a few other bits sorted, mainly cosmetic (Some proper white stripes for the bonnet and some spot lamps) performance will be next year somtime once the drop in insurance comes, main things I plan to improve on are the Exhaust (Probably will be a Borla or a Milltek cat-back system) getting the 17% Charge Pulley reduction as well as improving induction and cooling.
Overall:
Even though at first I thought the car to be going in the same direction as the other one, there have been no major mechanical problems at all, the car feels solid (Now more so that the dash rattle is sorted!!) and provides enough noise and power to keep me a happy chappy for a while to come.. boot space is somewhat spartan, but you don't buy a Mini for carrying a boot load of shopping..
Thanks for reading, please let me know your oppinions and if theres anything more you'd like to know, please ask
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