"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
11/07/2019 at 21:03 • Filed to: oppo review, Opporeviews
5
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"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
11/07/2019 at 21:03 • Filed to: oppo review, Opporeviews | 5
| 4 |
(Disclaimer: Mini wanted me to drive this so bad, they they sold it to a rental car company, let some saps drive it for 11k km, and then rented it to me for 122.95 euros)
Upon arrival at the PMI rental counter, I was asked @5 times if I wanted to purchase the extra insurance, with the agent insisting my credit card only covered 500 usd. Right /s
I then received the keys and rental agreement with a list of previous scratches. My thoughts were “great, the beater example. My reputation proceeds me.” I approached to find the car “awesome black, so it shows every scratch”.
I proceded to leave the airport to find a supermarket. (note: supermarket in Spain isn’t larger, but more conven ient store size.) this lead me to Gentilicio with a maze of one way streets, and scooters diving into gaps in traffic. “Crap should have booked a narrower car”
First impressions; No clutch feel, a stick that had an odd amount of slop.(1/8" 3mm of extra travel) and a dash that was constantly telling me to upshift. Around town the brakes seemed to be very grabby, which was a bit annoying when putting around in 30km/hr city zones.
After meeting ChinnyRaccoon, we decided on the scenic route to the Airbnb. Hustling up some narrow roads and watching how close his tires were to the edge, I thought “shit, this is 6" wider”. In the mid/ normal setting the 3cly 1.5 turbo sounds like a tractor below 2000rpms. Things come a bit more alive in sport mode, the upshift notifications stoping and you can hear a little bit of turbo noise. The aggresive brakes also were appreciated when coming up to a 1st gear hairpin.
Power is 136hp 162ft/lbs of torque which is helpful with the complete lack of clutch feel.
Not much longer I notice a warning on the dash with this on the center screen. Later added some air and with Klaus Schmoll resetting allowed me to stare at options all in German.
Throughout the week, I enjoyed the cabin and handling, but despite daily hillclimbs and hundreds of 1-2-3-2-1-2-1 shits, couldn’t get used to the play in the stick to inspire confidence, without double checking the dash for which gear I was in.
Overall an enjoyable small car, with good visibility, nice interior, and good engine.
Victorinoo
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
11/08/2019 at 08:13 |
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How was the rev hang?
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gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> Victorinoo
11/08/2019 at 13:55 |
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(Googles rev hang) my main driving experience is with older Manuals . There were definitely some shifts where there was substantial bucking (thought that was weird), thought it was my driving. But it was around town mainly 1->2 or 2->1.
GLiddy
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
11/14/2019 at 00:23 |
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I rented a John Cooper Works edition in Portugal a couple months back. Now, I’ll say that I did not get a chance to drive it with much spirit, as it wasn’t the car I had planned on renting. I would be taking 4 adult sized humans and a boot brimming over with luggage on an Iberian adventure of many miles of highway hauling.
I did not care at all for the start-stop feature on the car. However, it did save me in an underground car park once when I stalled on a very steep incline (fully loaded as mentioned above). The car simply did not have enough torque to pull us up the incline in 1st gear without slipping the clutch...resulting in the stall that promptly corrected itself. That was my worst experience with the car.
The rev hang was not an issue. It made my driving so much easier. My daily here in the USA is a 2006 5-speed Corolla and I’ve spent the last year and a half since buying it working on my manual driving skills, and I’m still working on them. The MINI was so easy to drive (other than the single car park stall) compared to the Corolla. Whatever modern computer controlled engine/transmission magic they are doing works quite well. Who needs an automatic?
Oh. I take back my worst experience above. The worst experience was taking the car back to the rental office at the end of the time, and realizing that I had never figured out how to turn on the headlights. I swear there was nothing I could find to turn the damned things on. I pulled the stalk to light the high beams (no lows), but still no taillights and I had both helpful and angry Portuguese drivers blowing their horns and flashing their lights at the stupid American ghost driver trying to make it to the airport in the dark without lights and without crashing.
Some poor pics.
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gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> GLiddy
11/14/2019 at 13:09 |
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The hill assist and start stop were the best j ever experienced. Also the torque came in So low it was great in the hills. Just wish it shifted a little bit better.
