Yorkregion.com - Leisure - Second generation MINI loses none of its charm
Second generation MINI loses none of its charm
By: Jim Robinson
2007 MINI Cooper S
Finding a car that makes more of a personal statement than the MINI Cooper S is hard to do. To set the stage for the MINI, the car began in the 1960s as the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin 7. When the two firms merged to become British Leyland, the car, that was truly a box on very small wheels, was called simply the Mini.
About is long as Danny DeVito is tall, the Mini, that was sold as bargain basement transportation, could be flung around with abandon and behaved in a benign fashion no matter how ham-handed the driver.
When BMW bought Rover (and just as quickly sold it), they inherited an intriguing concept for a Mini for the new millennium. So when BMW did dump Rover, they wisely held onto the concept, making the name all capital letters so as not to confuse this with the past vehicle. Thus the MINI, as opposed to Mini as we knew it, was born.
BMW poured all its engineering might into the project to ensure the MINI retained all the dash and endearing styling that made the old Mini the brightest button in the box when the new MINI went on sale six years ago.
Another smart move on BMW's part was to sell the MINI in North America as a Cooper. Cooper is the name of the family that pioneered rear-engined racing cars in the 1950s and the first rear-engined cars to win the Formula One championship in 1959 and 1960. One of things the family also did was hop up the little Mini calling it the Mini Cooper S to the point where it was nearly invincible on the track. It also captured the spirit and times of 'Swinging London' in those years and was featured, some say starred, in the original 'Italian Job' movie.
With the 2007 version, the MINI is now in its second generation. A hot seller worldwide, MINI did not stray far from the core concept. I was told every body panel in the 2007 is new, but anybody would be hard pressed to see the difference.
But the spunky, pugnacious look is all there as is the spirit that makes a MINI a MINI.
There are five MINI models sold in Canada, the Cooper Classic, the Cooper hardtop and convertible and the Cooper S hardtop and convertible. The Classic is basically a Cooper hardtop with some content deleted and smaller 15-inch wheels fitted instead of the Cooper's 16-inchers to bring it in at $22,950 compared to the $25,900 for the base Cooper. The other hardtop is the Cooper S that lists at $30,600 and $34,150 as tested here.
So far there isn't a John Cooper Works version as there was with the first generation. BMW has bought all rights to Cooper from the family that founded the marque. Works enhancements are now being devised and a full Works model is in the pipeline. I should add that also in the future is the Mini Clubman, a kind of pintsized station wagon. It is being shown to the public in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
In terms of chassis and construction, all MINIs are created equal but where they vary is in the engine and a big difference it is. While all five use the same 1.6-litre DOHC inline four-cylinder with a choice of a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission with Steptronic, the normally aspirated motor in the Cooper and Classic produces 118 hp and 114 lb/ft of torque. The S gets a turbo that ups the punch by 54 hp to 172 hp and torque is up by a full 63 lb/ft for 177 lb/ft. But what makes the S more potent is that the torque starts to come in at 1,600 rpm whereas you have to wind the Cooper's engine up to 4,250 rpm to get maximum traction.
More to the point, the Cooper/Classic goes from 0-100 km/h in 9.1 seconds while the S does it in 7.1 seconds, a full two seconds quicker.
That kind of zip means the S has fuel consumption numbers of 8.0/6.0L/100 km city/highway in the manual and 8.9/6.2L/100 km city/highway in the automatic. That compares to 7.3/5.4L/100 km for the Cooper city/highway in the manual and 7.8/5.9L/100 km city/highway in the automatic. All Minis run on premium fuel with the Cooper having a 40-litre tank and the S with a 50-litre tank to cope with the higher demands of the turbo. Nevertheless, even the MINI Cooper S returns as good or better mileage than a lot of compact sedans on the market today.
The previous MINI Cooper S was supercharged and put up a maximum 168 hp and up to 210 hp in the Works version. The Supercharger came with that classic rising whine as the blower came in. But because the power, especially in the Works, was like flipping a switch, the torque steer (the tendency for the car to steer left or right under load) could catch you off guard particularly in the wet with performance tires fitted. It was something you learned to cope with and knowing how to feed power in the gas pedal quickly became second nature.
With the current S, the whine is gone and a low, muffled tone typical of turbos is heard. Torque steer to the right is still there, but definitely not as sudden especially in higher speed cornering when trying to pass.
Nothing could be more neo-retro than the interior and its controls. The original Mini had one, round gauge at the centre of the dash for speed, temp, fuel level, etc. In the MINI there is a huge, bread and butter plate-sized instrument for all the main functions, but it can also house a full DVD navigation system offered as an option. All the switches, like the original, are toggles with little guards on either side to avoid using two at once. One of them even changes the hue of the interior lighting at night. How cool is that?
The best part is a tea saucer-sized tach that is perched on the steering wheel shaft. Couple that with a myriad of interior and exterior paint and decal options and it's more than possible to personalize your MINI to the point you're never likely to see another one like it. Almost 80 per cent of MINIs sold are built to individual order.
There weren't a lot of options on the car I drove, but the twin power sunroofs were a nice touch with the ambient light opening up the interior.
What surprises, as it did in the original Mini, is the amount of actual room there is inside. With the driver's seat all the way back, I could barely reach the pedals. Sure the rear seat is for children only, but fold the rear seats down and there's room for all the coolers, luggage and groceries you need for a fun weekend away.
Cars like the MINI are loosely called retrocars because they mix the DNA that makes a model of the past memorable with modern engineering. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't - as with the recent Ford Thunderbird.
On April 4 of this year, MINI produced its millionth car at the production plant in Oxford, England. That's a landmark for any car let alone one that appeals, so you'd think, to a narrow, no eclectic, clientele.
But it also shows that when you get it right, a car like the new MINI Cooper sells itself.
MINI COOPER S 2007 AT A GLANCE
BODY STYLE: Four-seat hatchback.
DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, front-wheel-drive.
ENGINE: 1.6-litre DOHC turbocharged four-cylinder (172 hp, 177 lb/ft)
FUEL ECONOMY: Six-speed manual, 8.0L/100 km city, 6.0L/100 km highway; six-speed automatic, 8.9L/100 km city, 6.2L/100 km highway.
PRICE: $30,600, as tested. $34,150.
WEBSITE. Mini.ca