Todd “Mr.-Man-On-The-Street” Pearson took his mic and recording gear to Baron MINI’s recent James-Bond-Themed R56 release party to get some input from MINI owners about the new MINI.
If you are going to AMVIV, watch for this sight, and possibly, the WRR/Motoringfile flagged microphone to show up!
Todd with MINI owners on the R56:
Download | 14:37 | 13.4MB
Nice job, Todd. Can I get one of those official WRR mic flag things?
=R=
That was a fun pod-cast – you guys should do more stuff like that. Is it really any surprise though that most R50/53 owners like their cars better than the R56? It would not say much for the gen1 cars if all the owners were eager for a new one. The reciprocal is not true in this case. The fact that R50/53 owners prefer their own cars does not constitute a failing of the R56.
I did hear Todd say at one point in there that he liked the R56 (with JCW kit). But I doubt he could afford a third Mini and a second wife.
I think Lavardera summed it up very well. There are too many R50/53 owners out there that love their cars, and having them give up something they love (assuming the vehicle is still in good condition) is going to be very difficult.
However, for that same reason, I think you will eventually see many R50/53 owners get an R56 when their R50/53 starts getting up there in miles and they need a new car.
Based on that, I would like to propose theoretical, and potentially tougher, question to R50/53 owners:
If you were given the choice of buying an R56 when you bought your R50/53, would you still have bought an R50/53?
As a happy owner of a 2004 MCS, I honestly don’t know what my answer would be.