650+ miles in an R56 Cooper over the weekend

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   Took our first big road trip this weekend in the Mini Cooper. Mercer Island to Walla Walla.
Some impressions:

Even with the 121 hp 1.6 liter and 6-speed auto, the Cooper has plenty of power. The steepest hills required a downshift to 5th gear to maintain speed, but that's it.

The ride that I initially carped about around town as being overly stiff isn't so bad on I-90 and I-82, even over the worst sections. One thing I did notice, when going over bad pavement at 70+ mph on the interstate, there's a lot of road noise. On par with a 1st gen Subaru Outback I used to own. Still not bad for a 2500 pound car; I guess there's only so much sound deadening material that can be fitted.

The Mini is more poised at highway speeds than it has a right to be. The BMW heritage really shines through in that respect.

Handling around cloverleafs is freakin' great 

Unlike any other car I've driven, huge pickups seem to love blowing by the Mini, even if I'm already going at a good clip, i.e. 5 to 7 mph over the speed limit per my GPS. I lost track of how many times I'd pass a pickup only to have him blast past 30 seconds later at 85-90 mph. It started to get hilarious after a while. If the car was an S or a JCW, I'd have been tempted to do some very bad things 

Only saw a few other Minis in Eastern Washington. A blue R50 and a grey R52 in Walla Walla, and a bright blue R53 with a loud supercharger on Nob Hill Blvd in Yakima.

Can't wait until the car passes 1200 miles (it has 850 now) so we can use the full rev range and not be restricted by the 4000 rpm break in limit. 

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swpars Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Master PSMINI Member Joined: August/07/11 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 169	Post Options Post Reply Quote swpars Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: 650+ miles in an R56 Cooper over the weekend Posted: October/10/11 at 6:34am
	Took our first big road trip this weekend in the Mini Cooper. Mercer Island to Walla Walla. Some impressions: Even with the 121 hp 1.6 liter and 6-speed auto, the Cooper has plenty of power. The steepest hills required a downshift to 5th gear to maintain speed, but that's it. The ride that I initially carped about around town as being overly stiff isn't so bad on I-90 and I-82, even over the worst sections. One thing I did notice, when going over bad pavement at 70+ mph on the interstate, there's a lot of road noise. On par with a 1st gen Subaru Outback I used to own. Still not bad for a 2500 pound car; I guess there's only so much sound deadening material that can be fitted. The Mini is more poised at highway speeds than it has a right to be. The BMW heritage really shines through in that respect. Handling around cloverleafs is freakin' great Unlike any other car I've driven, huge pickups seem to love blowing by the Mini, even if I'm already going at a good clip, i.e. 5 to 7 mph over the speed limit per my GPS. I lost track of how many times I'd pass a pickup only to have him blast past 30 seconds later at 85-90 mph. It started to get hilarious after a while. If the car was an S or a JCW, I'd have been tempted to do some very bad things Only saw a few other Minis in Eastern Washington. A blue R50 and a grey R52 in Walla Walla, and a bright blue R53 with a loud supercharger on Nob Hill Blvd in Yakima. Can't wait until the car passes 1200 miles (it has 850 now) so we can use the full rev range and not be restricted by the 4000 rpm break in limit.
	'12 Mini Cooper 6AT '04 BMW 330i 6MT

SMOG Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List MINI Master PSMINI Member Joined: April/07/09 Location: Port Orchard Status: Online Points: 3160	Post Options Post Reply Quote SMOG Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October/10/11 at 6:50am
	Change the runflats to regular tires and watch the noise diminish dramatically! Be careful when you do it because some regular tires are noisy too! I noticed that our Cooper Automatic got looser around 10k miles and now revs freely I can't wait until my "S" version gets more miles. It only has 3k since last December and still seems pretty tight.
	Speed Limit, 186,000 miles per second, Its the Law!

Wildfamily Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Master PSMINI Member Joined: March/11/06 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3922	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wildfamily Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October/10/11 at 7:15am
	Good break in! When we bought our 2008 Clubman we drove it from Seattle to Spokane and back for lunch. Good times!
	2011 R60 All4 Absolute Black w/Red JCW Stripes 1990 E30 PRO3 Racer #128

MiniCharley Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Master PSMINI Member Joined: April/24/07 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1150	Post Options Post Reply Quote MiniCharley Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October/10/11 at 8:58am
	We drove our new Coupe from Seattle to Yakima for lunch on Saturday via Mt. Rainer! Great day for driving!! Glad you were out enjoying it!
	Dean & Belinda Our family: 12 R60 All4-CB/Blk YONDER 12 R58 CoupeS LB/Blk DBCOUPE 80 Rover Mini Kensington Knightfire Red STELLA First: 04 IB/W MCS CHARLEY

swpars Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Master PSMINI Member Joined: August/07/11 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 169	Post Options Post Reply Quote swpars Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November/05/11 at 4:45pm
	Took the Mini on another trip to Eastern WA this weekend. Drove over to Wenatchee Friday night after work via I-90. The standard headlamps put out plenty of light and I don't regret not getting the Xenons. Came back this afternoon via US-97 over Blewett Pass which was extremely fun with the sport button depressed. I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass was brilliant. Great fall colors. Also, the flow of traffic is ridiculously fast on I-90 during the day. Plenty of cars were going 15-20 over the limit in 65 mph zones. The Washington State Patrol is missing a gold mine of revenue. Maybe that's why I only averaged 35.2 mpg over the course of the trip. Relatively green engine (1700 miles at the end of the trip) and freeway speeds. Edited by swpars - November/05/11 at 7:50pm
	'12 Mini Cooper 6AT '04 BMW 330i 6MT

johnf36 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Master PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 7957	Post Options Post Reply Quote johnf36 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November/05/11 at 6:04pm
	LOLOLOL, I will keep an eye out for ya
	If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

swpars Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MINI Master PSMINI Member Joined: August/07/11 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 169	Post Options Post Reply Quote swpars Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: February/26/12 at 9:49pm
	Did another jaunt out to Eastern Washington over this weekend. The car turned over 4,000 miles during the return trip. Fuel economy is slightly better than we've observed before, but still around 34-35 mpg highway. On the plus side it does get around 30 mpg in city/suburban driving where it spends most of its time. The Blizzaks were sublime over Snoqualmie on I-90 even in a hard snowfall on Friday. Barely even had to slow down. Still getting used to the extra road noise compared to my E46 Bimmer on long trips, but the HK stereo drowns it out pretty well. The leatherette sport seats are great and ultra comfortable over long hauls on the interstate. Edited by swpars - February/26/12 at 9:51pm
	'12 Mini Cooper 6AT '04 BMW 330i 6MT