Never thought I'd see myself posting in this section, but I'm due for a new work car to replace the Dunnydore, and a throw away tongue-in-cheek comment to my boss like "what about a new mini", which was met with "convince me", followed by some fast talking by me about fuel savings, resale etc has seen him organise for the mini shop to deliver one to my office for a test drive next week. I couldn't believe my ears - or luck!
I think the salesman is bringing a Chilli.
For obvious reasons I'd like a red/white one (he won't entertain an S though ), but our corporate colour is mainly blue, so if we go ahead that's what it will likely be.
He has asked if I want manual or auto - I said manual, but he seems to think I should have auto, in case somebody else in the company wants to borrow it (they'll have to wrestle me for the keys but ).
So to get to my question - would I be disappointed with an auto if I had to have one?
Cheers
Peter.

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

Auto's I fall asleep..I personal hate them but everyone is differant.

at least you will have a Red Orginal and a Blue new one all you need then is a white car for the Misses

You could also say that Red is safer as people can see you better than in a dark blue which is bad whille driving at night...just a thought

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Mate - I'm working hard on getting a red one, don't worry!

Actually, the Rover is white - so there ya go!!

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

I always thought the auto's were a waste of time until recently purchasing one in the UK (had to get auot so the mother in law could use it when we are back home in aus)

They are actually not too bad, if you slip it over into sports mode you can drive it like a maual anyway. Not as much fun as an S but it can still be wound out and if you keep it in the fun zone 4 - 6OOO rpm its pretty good.

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1965 Riley Elf
1974 Ex Army Moke
1997 Rover Cooper
2002 JCW Cooper
2003 JCW Cooper S

Does the auto suffer from any noticeable power loss or feel any slower? I see they are slightly heavier and use slightly more fuel.
Also, any issues with the run-flat tyres - eg availability, cost, repairability etc??

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

We test drove the auto - uninspiring IMHO, although that was the early one, I don't know about the latest engines. I would go the self stirrer everytime for a bit of extra poke. I have no idea about the fuel consumption because that was only a test drive.

No issue's with run flats really - once they just about need replacing it will follow the ruts in the road quite easily. The price of run flats is coming down but they still aren't cheap!

AFAIK, you can't repair run flats, because if it has been repaired, that impares the whole structure when the tyre does go flat. So if you get a puncture, it is very expensive because you have to replace the whole tyre.

Run flats tend to have a harsher ride than normal low profile tyres - due to the sidewall having to support the car when the tyre is flat.

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"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

Thanks for the input guys.
I guess at the end of the day you've gotta be happy to have a job that includes full private use of a car, so auto or manual doesn't really matter, just be grateful for it.
I've been looking up some data, and it seems the auto is a bit over 1sec slower to 100kph - not enough to really get hung up about I s'pose.

With the run-flats - are they on normal rims that will accept normal tyres? Following on from that, if you have normal tyres fitted, is there enough room in a bini to take a space saver spare? I do a lot of country miles, so not having a spare is an issue, even if you can do a couple of hundred k on run-flats - no guarantee of the next town having that type of tyre in stock eh.
Cheers
Peter.

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

You can put normal tyres on the rims and you can also repair a runflat depending on where the damage is. You could put a spare in behind the passenger seat or fold one of the back seats down and have it on that. Either way you would lose a passenger seat but if its just you travelling it wouldnt matter.

They are slightly more sluggish than a manual off the mark but once your going overtaking etc is same as manual. I find if you flick the gears over to sports drive and change like a manual there is really little difference, infact its quite fun to just hit the lever back and forth to change gears. City traffic leave it in auto so you get the best of both worlds.

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1965 Riley Elf
1974 Ex Army Moke
1997 Rover Cooper
2002 JCW Cooper
2003 JCW Cooper S

Thanks babes.
By the way, I'm hoping what is in your avatar is what comes with every new purchase.

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

jesus christ i just checked out babes website. talk about not safe for work.

a few more pics of that day can be seen here http://www.mini2.com/forum/australia/86 ... babes.html

We use the avatar image on bumper stickers and cards.

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1965 Riley Elf
1974 Ex Army Moke
1997 Rover Cooper
2002 JCW Cooper
2003 JCW Cooper S

so I can drive around and tell the whole of melbourne I like to sexually objectify women? oh yay!

Just an update - went for a test drive today, my boss has ok'd it and paid the deposit, delivery in 2-3 weeks.
Ended up with the manual, lightning blue, white roof, bonnet stripes, a couple of the Chili options, and 15" wheels (inc normal tyres) - so I dipped out on getting the red one and the 16" wheels - but hey, I'll take it!
happy Peter.

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

Nice work Peter!

We get a few coming through work and the manual is a far better machine.

Are you still in Group Training? I couldnt see the MTA GTS getting one in a hurry.

Matt

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Welcome to the other side

Daniel

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Videos - Turbocharged A-Series on Dyno & at Wakefield
Mafs waz not my strong subgeckt at skkol