J01 Driving Experiences

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Puppethead

Puppethead

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Since the J01 should be in (non-American) customers' hands relatively soon, I thought maybe a thread posting driving experiences would be useful.

I'll kick it off with this new post on r/MINI about a non-press person (in Spain apparently) who got to drive a J01. Overall impression is favorable.

Just drove the J01

It had less torque steer than my F56, and the first thing I noticed was that the throttle has been calibrated to be more aggressive off the line. It will happily break the front wheels free without even trying very hard.​
 
Puppethead said:
Since the J01 should be in (non-American) customers' hands relatively soon, I thought maybe a thread posting driving experiences would be useful.

I'll kick it off with this new post on r/MINI about a non-press person (in Spain apparently) who got to drive a J01. Overall impression is favorable.

Just drove the J01

It had less torque steer than my F56, and the first thing I noticed was that the throttle has been calibrated to be more aggressive off the line. It will happily break the front wheels free without even trying very hard.​
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Did MINI abandon the excellent anti-wheelspin technology built into the original SE? Did the tire companies bribe them to do that, or was it a cost-saving measure like the J01's non-openable sunroof?
 
The rear end of the F56 SE isn't exactly winsome, but that quick clip from Spain shows how ungainly the J01 rear end is by comparison. It has oddball proportions like an early Volvo C30, but without the latter's more sculptural aspects.
 
insightman said:
Did MINI abandon the excellent anti-wheelspin technology built into the original SE? Did the tire companies bribe them to do that, or was it a cost-saving measure like the J01's non-openable sunroof?
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As is your opinion about a fake roof my opinion about SE from China is a garbage and I hope it never get here or they put that car together I USA with GB
 
They should be selling Chinese brands here. Appart from Polestar and Chinese built Teslas imported into Canada
 
Rexsio said:
Are they selling in USA to ?..NO
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Chinese cars a subject to 27.5% tariffs in USA and no dealers established here no sales Teslas build in China is available in Europe Australia and Asia but North Americas markets are only Teslas cars build in USA
 
Rexsio said:
Chinese cars a subject to 27.5% tariffs in USA and no dealers established here no sales Teslas build in China is available in Europe Australia and Asia but North Americas markets are only Teslas cars build in USA
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This is false. Here in Canada Tesla 100% sources cars from Giga Shanghai. Import tariff is 7% here. Same as EU

its annoying here because we cant get anything interesting because of political protectionism. Same goes for the J01
 
MrSnrub said:
This is false. Here in Canada Tesla 100% sources cars from Giga Shanghai. Import tariff is 7% here. Same as EU

its annoying here because we cant get anything interesting because of political protectionism. Same goes for the J01
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IMG_1449.webp
 
insightman said:
Did MINI abandon the excellent anti-wheelspin technology built into the original SE?
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No, I think this is a "tires aren't sticky enough" problem rather than a problem with the anti-wheelspin technology. (He alludes to tire selection later in the video.) My '21 SE behaves exactly as he described when I have the stock-sized (205/45 R17) all-season tires on it and accelerate aggressively in sport mode--even with traction control fully on. With warm temperatures and wider, stickier summer tires (225/45 R17), acceleration is drama-free and torque steer is practically eliminated.
 
MichaelC said:
No, I think this is a "tires aren't sticky enough" problem rather than a problem with the anti-wheelspin technology.
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Has there been any info on which tires they come with? At the Countryman unveil they did state MINI won't be using runflats anymore due to ride quality, but what tires are the Chinese factory going to use?
 
Puppethead said:
Has there been any info on which tires they come with? At the Countryman unveil they did state MINI won't be using runflats anymore due to ride quality, but what tires are the Chinese factory going to use?
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I haven't seen any firm information on this yet. Autogefül's close-up shot of the wheels during their "first look" video showed Maxxis Premitra 5 tires. These new press event videos show some kind of Michelin tires, but I can't make out the model. Hopefully we'll get a better look when "real" review videos start coming out (or learn more when buyers start taking delivery).
 
So if you head over to Mini UK you can configure a J01 there for, you know, when you're hanging out at your London digs.

https://www.mini.co.uk/en_GB/home/range/J01-models-and-styles.html

Both the E and SE come in Classic (cheapest) Exclusive (mid) and Sport (most expensive) trims and I haven't taken the time to figure out the differences yet. Then you can add 2 extra "levels" of options, which is the same as the F56 SE had in the UK whereas we had signature, signature+ and iconic here in USA (and Canada?).

What would frustrate me is that color choices vary between trims with only Nanuq White and Midnight Black common to all and BRG only available on the Exclusive. Also seems they've gone BMWs way with price markups on metallic colors - boo. Some interesting wheel choices too, but I don't like those 4 hole white ones on the Classic.

I like that in the Sport trim you can specify a red roof which looks great on the black as is the car in the video above. A fully specced out L3 Sport will run you about UKP43k, which seems pricey.

MINI have pushed the marque upmarket a lot, with that reflected in lower sales here in Nth America. If they could get the base Aceman here at $29.9k including the inflated destination charge they could really revive the marque, but I suspect it'll come in at high 30's.

cheers
MacMini34
 
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