Quote:
Originally Posted by lttletimmy
I think I get what you mean, and there has been a bit of a rebellion against the new R56 mini by some R53 devotees. I own the R56 and love it, and feel like it's built to a higher standard than the R53s. Also, the only R53s I've run into at the track besides GPs and one particular 300hp highly modified one have not been able to hold a candle to my near stock R56.
Anyhow, I would definitely cast a vote for the R56, much faster and I feel like its better made, the only minus is that the steering feel isn't quite up to par with the R53, but other than that I feel it's vastly superior  |
I think all these R53 die hards are suffering from new-generation-inferioritis. This is a common disease among automotive enthusiasts where they refuse to accept the superiority of the new generation of a car which they currently own. They cling desperately to any trait of their older generation car which they believe to be superior and when all else fails they call the new generation ugly!
I test drove an R53 when I was shopping for my MINI and honestly I didn't really like it. The supercharged engine took until about 3000 RPM to start making any usable power and even when it did it wasn't that fast. The ride quality was much worse than my R56, although I guess some enthusiasts associate poor ride with good handling. I feel that the R56 has a much better ride handling balance. The steering ratio on the R53 was quicker, but it was a little bit much for a daily driver. The fuel economy is also far superior on the R56. The R56 is clearly the better daily driver, but I think it will take a while for the R53 die-hards to warm up to it.