The performance of the latest MINI Cooper S lives up to the claims: the engine is more responsive, the acceleration is terrific, and the handling is good. Even the ride is not too bad.
Usually when car manufacturers turn the Mk1 into Mk2, the car gets flabbier and loses some of its initial charm. Not so the MINI; the designers decided to make the new Cooper S what it was trying to be: a 2+2 sports car in a tiny package.
Now a seriously practical 2+2
They did not try to provide the same space inside as on the original Mini, but instead moved the front seats back so you sit more or less in the middle of the car. There is hardly any space in the back , so the MINI is now a 2+2 sports coupe that looks like a fairly ordinary hatchback, but a small one.
So when you jump in the car, you notice that you are quite along way from the windscreen, and then there is that tiny hood ahead. It is tiny because the engine is well back towards the windscreen.
Good driving position, excellent seats
The driving position is good, and you have good all-round vision, which is more than you can say for most competitors. In fact, there are no competitors as small and powerful as this, although Fiat is having a go with the latest version of its Grande Punto Abarth, which has 25 bhp less.
The funky instruments have been made larger for the wrong reasons - to make room for electronic displays. Sadly, these displays mean that the business bit of the rev counter you want to see, from 3,000 to 5,000 rpm, can be partially obscured, despite being mounted on the steering column where it should in your direct line of vision.
You get grown-up BMW seats, which is part of the reason there is hardly any room in the back. Oh, by the way, the trunk is pretty small, too, but still useful.
silky-smooth, hyper-responsive engine
As soon as you hit the open road, you know you are in a Cooper S, but with a difference. Now, you can floor the throttle at almost any speed from about 2,000 rpm upward, and the power hits you in the back - the little Cooper S can accelerate at an alarming pace!
Massive torque at almost any speed
This performance is down to the new-generation direct injection twin-scroll turbo engine, which produces 175 bhp at 5,500 rpm, and, more to the point, 177 lb ft (240 Nm) all the way from 1,600 to 5,000 rpm. Not only that, but there is an overboost feature which allows you to get up to 191 lb ft (260 Nm) throughout this range for a few seconds - as when overtaking.
This is a super engine, a big advance on the old one, which was powerful, so long as the revs were high enough. Now, you have power - more than you might expect owing to the light weight of the car - when you want it. It is just as electrifying as before, and the engine is beautifully smooth. This makes the car a delight to drive.
As standard you get a six-speed manual box, which has well spaced ratios and a slick shift. With all that torque, you don't need to change gear much if you don't want to.
Sharp turn in
As before, the car steers well, turning in sharply, without that delay you get with most front-drivers, and the stability control keeps you on track, giving mild understeer to neutral handling. In fact it makes you feel you are doing well, and all with very little roll. So, yes, this is a true sports hatch, which is fun to drive.
However, if you switch the stability control off, the Cooper S can become a bit twitchy on some bends, not sure whether it wants to understeer or oversteer. Even so, it is controllable and does give warning of the lack of adhesion.
The ride is still hard, but you get used to it, so long as you don't drive regularly along really poorly surfaced roads.
One of a kind
Without doubt, the MINI Cooper S remains one of a kind - well not quite because there is also the 211 bhp MINI John Cooper Works if you want to go even faster. The Cooper S offers the practicality of a hatch with the performance of a small sports car. Other hot hatches may offer the straight-line performance of a sports car, but not the handling. Yes, the MINI Cooper S is great fun.
