Drives
Mini Cooper S
Long term tests
06 December 2007 10:11
Speccing CAR's long-term Mini was like taking an indecisive teenager clothes shopping. Does that blue go with that charcoal? Hasn't the girl next door got those wheels? Does my bum look big in this seat? I kept scuttling back and forth betwixt brochure and browser, formulating the exact combination of options and accessories to make our Cooper S one in 15,000,000,000,000,000. No, I don't know how to pronounce that number, either. Suffice to say, ours is the only Mini ever to roll out of Plant Oxford in this precise choice of 14 trim and colour variables.
Cue blushes and no more pocket money for the rest of the year. Yes, we picked 14 options totalling just over four grand, but that's about par for the more eager Cooper S buyers. You can see why personalisation is all the rage these days (it was a lot of fun) and it's also testament to BMW's ability to prise money from the wallets of potential buyers.
Picking the colour was a two-way toss-up between laser blue and chili red, contrasted by the white roof and mirror caps. I didn't pick the Accident With Tipp-Ex matching white wheels though (a no-cost option). Apparently, there's a geographical split on colour choices: Londoners prefer black Minis while buyers in the US like theirs in cool white. I plumped for the laser blue, exclusive to the Cooper S. It suits the Mini's chunky stance down to a tee.
The £1995 Chili pack was a no-brainer, and the majority of buyers pick it for the air-con, xenons, onboard computer, extra storage and sports steering wheel. I was less keen on its 17-inch alloys, fearful of their effect on the ride but there's no way you can request the original 16s if you spec the Chili pack. Even a week into our ownership, I think that's a shame, the Cooper S jiggling over the bumpy unclassified roads round my way.
Our other big luxury was the classy carbon black lounge leather (£1210). It's the selfish choice - your cheeks spending far longer in contact with the seat than your eyeballs do the outside, and it's offset by the new brushed aluminium trim and chrome line interior. Smoked rear glass for £120 was a must (to shade our 10-month-old), as was the £280 digital DAB radio (Peterborough not being famed for the quality or choice of its local airwaves).
In effect, BMW is letting Joe Public loose on the design process, freeing up our imaginations to create more bespoke products. There's clearly potential for bad-taste excess (although more lurid combinations are banned) but overall I'm pleased with the result. This isn't just any Mini, and heaven knows, there are enough of them around nowadays. It's my Mini and that counts for a lot.
In a month that included CAR's greatest performance cars test and an altercation with a grey Cooper S Works, plus a trip to the airport, we've already passed the 1200-mile mark in its first week. So we can now exceed 4500rpm and start to exploit the responses of the 1.6 turbo and the character of the new, new Mini. Has it really lost the magic of BMW's first effort? And should you really spend £20k on a supermini?
We're about to find out if it's special or specious.
23rd October 2007 09.00am
The Mini is now run in and feels, frankly, bloody fast for a supermini. We limited ourselves to below 4500rpm for the first 1200 miles (hardly a problem in a lightweight, low-pressure turbo supermini) but the odo passed the magic number in the first week, so we can now explore the more interesting upper reaches of the Cooper S's rev range.
For those who have yet to drive the new, new Mini, here's what happens when you bury the throttle. You lose the intriguing compressor whine from the old supercharger - a shame - and instead witness a more gradual, but relentless shove. It's impressively fleet of foot, and helped by the delightfully precise, snickety gearchange. Mind you, it's so flexible, you rarely have to rev hard for swift progress.
I know of one Cooper S owner who took their standard car on a dyno test and found 205 horses under the bonnet, some way more powerful than the claimed 173bhp, even taking into account the overboost function. Maybe it's time we took our Mini to the gym to see how strong it really is.
| Total Mileage Since Last Report Overall MPG Since Last report Fuel Costs Other Costs Highs Lows | 2100 miles 100 miles 35.0 mpg 33.7 mpg
none Performance, luxuries, build quality Knobbly ride, high price |
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