Minis SE: Test Drive + Impressions

I can now confirm that my Mini Cooper SE goes faster with racing stripes. :)

I'm a big fan. They give the car a much sportier look that matches the dynamic driving feel.

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Nice, almost the same as mine. I got the traditional white stripes (either side of the scoop). I've had mine for about 4 months, and it really loves the Aussie climate. I am getting way better economy than most people report, about 250km (155 miles) if I empty the battery completely. It is also a lot faster than the standard figures. Very few reviews actually test the acceleration, Motor Trend, and Car and Driver excepted. It never gets cold where I am, so I'll never have to worry about range drop in the cold. I did put the heater on once to check that it worked :)

I don't know if I have seen it elsewhere in the forum, but do people know the much complained about fake bonnet scoop is actually a carry over from the ICE car, which also has a fake scoop. Only the original supercharged engine had a functioning scoop :)
 
vader said:
Nice, almost the same as mine. I got the traditional white stripes (either side of the scoop). I've had mine for about 4 months, and it really loves the Aussie climate. I am getting way better economy than most people report, about 250km (155 miles) if I empty the battery completely. It is also a lot faster than the standard figures. Very few reviews actually test the acceleration, Motor Trend, and Car and Driver excepted. It never gets cold where I am, so I'll never have to worry about range drop in the cold. I did put the heater on once to check that it worked :)

I don't know if I have seen it elsewhere in the forum, but do people know the much complained about fake bonnet scoop is actually a carry over from the ICE car, which also has a fake scoop. Only the original supercharged engine had a functioning scoop :)
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Because you live in a warm climate, you were likely able to check out the cabin-warming heat pump, but not the resistance heater that takes over when it gets too cold for the heat pump to work (I wish I could tell when the resistance heater kicks in).

[Note to regular forum members: Stop reading here--you've heard all this from me before.]

I'm the curmudgeon who dislikes the fake hood scoop on an electric car. I may be the only such MINI owner because I have yet to find anyone else on the MINI forums with the same mental problem.

The fact that the gas-powered MINIs' hood scoops are also fake doesn't excuse the fake hood scoop on the MINI Electric. I claim the fake hood scoop goes against MINI's otherwise steadfast commitment to form following function. Why didn't MINI add some large-diameter fake exhaust pipes, too? It would have saved them the cost of creating a lower rear panel with no cut-out for the exhaust.

Honda loves to add fake vents in the front and rear to make their cars look more aggressive. MINI is better than that. John Cooper never put a hood scoop on one of his Minis. None of the MINI Cooper SE's electric ancestors (see my 10-second slide show) had a hood scoop. The camouflaged pre-production prototype that towed a giant Boeing jet down the runway didn't have a hood scoop. Then marketing decided a production MINI with an "S" in its name must have a hood scoop.

I tried to get MINI to offer a scoop-delete option--I offered to pay $1,500, but they ignored me. So I had my local body shop replace my SE's hood with a base MINI hood.

My final justification for eliminating the fake hood scoop is that it no longer overwhelms the gorgeous MINI hood emblem. I believe the SE's aerodynamic grille represents form with a function and it is enough to set the SE apart from lesser MINIs. Because I had my MINI fixed, I don't have to envy the sleek hoods on the gas-powered, base MINI's around town. I don't have to fake a smile as I wave back because my smile is genuine.

To present absurd anecdotal evidence demonstrating the lack of perceived value of a MINI S hood, last week I posted my days-old original hood on ebay. I set the opening bid at what I thought was a very reasonable $1. I didn't get a single bid during the week it was up for auction. I'll try again in the Spring.

Thank you, new member @vader, for giving me another chance to vent about the MINI Cooper SE's fake hood scoop which is there because someone in marketing thinks it makes their electric car look faster. If that's not what they think then it's even worse than I believed. Everyone else on this forum is certainly very tired of my familiar griping. I think my MINI Cooper SE is now perfect. It's too bad I couldn't get someone to buy the old hood to reduce the cost of my obsession by a few cents.

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[Note to regular forum members: Don't say I didn't warn you.]
 
The real scoop I thought was eliminated due to water intake? Or maybe that was a rumor.

It's well below freezing here. Heat pump is kicking in in the double digits for me. We have not dropped below 10 here (mild winter) to check for it below that.

My range is guessing to be 90 for my first ride. My efficiency is only 1 star. I'm having fun testing things out lol. That and it's cold. Just hoping for no snow when I need to drive due to the tires. Who puts summer tires on a car in November? Come on!
 
Lainey said:
Who puts summer tires on a car in November? Come on!
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Right?

I put my depost down timed for delivery in the spring. My car came 3 months sooner than I had hoped - dead in the middle of winter. So now it sits in my driveway under a layer of ice and snow. I know, the wait to receive the car was hard. But in a way this is harder. The car is right there, begging to be driven. But it has summer tires and the roads are covered in ice and snow!

Next winter I am definitely getting a set of snow tires. Right now, that's a little out of my budget. I just bought a new car after all!
 
GetOffYourGas said:
Right?

I put my depost down timed for delivery in the spring. My car came 3 months sooner than I had hoped - dead in the middle of winter. So now it sits in my driveway under a layer of ice and snow. I know, the wait to receive the car was hard. But in a way this is harder. The car is right there, begging to be driven. But it has summer tires and the roads are covered in ice and snow!

Next winter I am definitely getting a set of snow tires. Right now, that's a little out of my budget. I just bought a new car after all!
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I'm just glad that we are getting few flurries and such. I expected all season to suffer through this winter and take time to figure it out for next year. Not summer tires. It wasn't even above freezing when I picked the car up.

I'm unsure what I am going to do. I did get about $2k more than expected for my old Mini so I could replace, but I wanted time to figure out which rims and such.
 
I was pricing out tires and rims so I can easily make the changes come spring. A bit bummed I wouldn't have time to even order Mini brand wheels before the thick of winter is over (to be true this is usually the stretch of our worst part until mid-Feb and then snowy days at least are lessened in chance - we stay okay for summer tires usually March on). So do I try my best with summer tires and hope for dry pavement for the next month or two or suck it up and order winter tires on nice black, but not Mini rims? They could do it next week.
 
Lainey said:
I was pricing out tires and rims so I can easily make the changes come spring. A bit bummed I wouldn't have time to even order Mini brand wheels before the thick of winter is over (to be true this is usually the stretch of our worst part until mid-Feb and then snowy days at least are lessened in chance - we stay okay for summer tires usually March on). So do I try my best with summer tires and hope for dry pavement for the next month or two or suck it up and order winter tires on nice black, but not Mini rims? They could do it next week.
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An option to consider is get just the winter tires (the rubber) and have them mounted on your existing wheels (rims), then you can buy a set of wheels to match the tires for next season.
 
Puppethead said:
An option to consider is get just the winter tires (the rubber) and have them mounted on your existing wheels (rims), then you can buy a set of wheels to match the tires for next season.
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It would if I wanted the 205 45 R17 in snow tires. Was looking to move to the 16s for snow due to potholes that appear in Jan and Feb so I could have a taller sidewall.
 
vader said:
Nice, almost the same as mine. I got the traditional white stripes (either side of the scoop). I've had mine for about 4 months, and it really loves the Aussie climate. I am getting way better economy than most people report, about 250km (155 miles) if I empty the battery completely. It is also a lot faster than the standard figures. Very few reviews actually test the acceleration, Motor Trend, and Car and Driver excepted. It never gets cold where I am, so I'll never have to worry about range drop in the cold. I did put the heater on once to check that it worked :)

I don't know if I have seen it elsewhere in the forum, but do people know the much complained about fake bonnet scoop is actually a carry over from the ICE car, which also has a fake scoop. Only the original supercharged engine had a functioning scoop :)
Click to expand...

I thought about the more traditional bonnet stripes but decided I liked the racing stripes instead. It would be great to see some photos of yours. BRG was definitely the best choice of the admittedly limited colours in the Australian market.

Where I am it will get colder in the winter although not nearly as cold as most of the US and Europe (ie. no snow). I'm getting similar range to you although I haven't actually driven the car to zero % charge.
 
Lainey said:
It would if I wanted the 205 45 R17 in snow tires. Was looking to move to the 16s for snow due to potholes that appear in Jan and Feb so I could have a taller sidewall.
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For Winter duty, I switched from my 17" Power Spoke rims to used 16" Loop Spoke rims with some used Hankook summer tires that I bought on ebay from Germany. Even with the $400 shipping costs, they were cheaper than ebay equivalents from the US.

You are so right about the benefit of the taller sidewalls being better pothole warriors. I'm sure the narrower 195/55R16 tires don't handle as well as the 205/45R17 tires, but they certainly add an extra level of cushioning.

Another benefit from the less-sporty tires: The 55-aspect ratio tires bulge out more than the 45-aspect ratio tires, which better protects the wheels from curb rash.

Now I'm torn about what to do when the warm weather returns. I want to save my unblemished Power Spoke rims for special events (I'm counting on the pandemic to end someday). I'd prefer to keep the Winter tires on the Loop Spoke rims so I can do the seasonal changes myself. However, I'm certain my wife would think 3 sets of rims for one car is excessive (so I have not broached the subject). The ploy I'm contemplating another set of used Loop Spoke rims on which I'll have the Hankooks mounted. As long as she never sees the 8 Loop Spoke rims at the same time, she won't realize how excessive I've been. On the other hand, I loved the handling with the 205/45R17 Hankooks. Such a dilemma!

Insightman switches from tedious whining to useless dreaming:

My dilemma would be solved if the famed 8-spoke Minilite rims were available for our MINIs, but I contacted the company and they aren't planning to make them for our cars (I must admit an 8-spoke wheel can be awkward when ). Back in the 60s and 70s all the hot Minis had Minilite rims, which were actually made of 33% lighter magnesium back then (actual "mag" wheels). Then things got weird and Minilites became popular for Pontiac Trans-Am pony cars, of all things. The non-existent 17" Minilites would be the only non-MINI branded rims I would consider. It's amazing to see how tiny the original Mini's 10" rims were. Here's a 10" Minilite magnesium rim next to a "giant" 15" example:

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To be true I care mostly about color 1st. I want them black. Style or make doesn't bother me as much. I'm torn on handling, but I've had a loaner with 16" rims and they were fine even in lousy weather (had the car for a week thanks to a golf ball smashing my sunroof). I've driven on some pretty narrow tires in the snow too. My decision could be time based in the end. I had thought they'd do all season which would buy me time, but I was wrong. Maybe I should just hope for dry pavement until I can plan it better.
 
Lainey said:
I had thought they'd do all season
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I believe all forum members have reported getting non-run-flat Summer tires (Goodyear, Pirelli, or Hankook) on their MINI Cooper SEs (the only MINI sold without run-flats, I believe). I've never heard of manufacturers varying the tires they install based on the car's destination and the likely weather on delivery day.

This is the first time I've had a car with Summer performance tires and they're absolutely appropriate because I've never had a car with this much performance! My Michelin X-Ice 3 Winter tires aren't as much fun (or as quiet), but certainly much safer at this time of year in Michigan. The Michelins are also helping extend the life of my Summer tires.
 
insightman said:
I believe all forum members have reported getting non-run-flat Summer tires (Goodyear, Pirelli, or Hankook) on their MINI Cooper SEs (the only MINI sold without run-flats, I believe). I've never heard of manufacturers varying the tires they install based on the car's destination and the likely weather on delivery day.

This is the first time I've had a car with Summer performance tires and they're absolutely appropriate because I've never had a car with this much performance! My Michelin X-Ice 3 Winter tires aren't as much fun (or as quiet), but certainly much safer at this time of year in Michigan. The Michelins are also helping extend the life of my Summer tires.
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Mini actually offers two choices on all the other F56s. All Season and Summer tires. My dealership by default only ordered all season. Summer was a request. Mini used to offer non run flats too as an option but unsure of that. They still have the pump around so my guess is you could. I find this to be a Mini oversight since they do have choices, but much like the bonnet stripes you might have to ask. Summer should not be a default to the midwest. This just puts me in a bad spot because of a poor guess based on what my dealership offered in the past. It's pure ice today though. Staying home lol
 
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Puppethead said:
I just saw in the spreadsheet you're the only other one besides me to get Goodyear Eagle F1s. I'm surprised they seem so rare. And let me say you will really appreciate the summer tires by April. The SE really, really wants them.
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Interesting. I do plan to keep them as the reviews were excellent, but just not sure what I'm going to do for the next month or so. I'm pretty sure the ones who said they were okay in snow, don't get measurable amounts of snow lol
 
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