Gadgetory

this is the third generation of mini launched by BMW it looks much like a mini it has all the hallmarks mini wings front and back Cooper stamped on its bum an interior design of using only a compass and a cheeky chappie look it's clearly related to the car that was launched at the turn of the century which was also clearly related to the car that got written motoring way back when but because it's not exactly like the car it's again is created all those years ago lots of people hate it it's too big they say German they moan it's not as good as the original they shout it's just not a proper mini they bluster and they're all right in their own little way but they're also utterly utterly wrong allow me to explain why take this the all-new 2 litre turbocharged a Mini Cooper S it has a hundred and eighty nine brake horsepower 206 pounds foot more on overboost will hit 62 miles an hour from rest in 6.7 seconds and will manage 146 miles an hour as well as that you can guess up to forty 9.6 miles to the gallon out of it the fact that it's new four-cylinder engine gives it a greater breadth of ability better mpg and a smooth that drives great I mean the drive is really really good fun if I'm honest I've spent most of this morning hammering this thing round the mountain it handles really really nice there are no mini nights to bang on about go-kart handling and that's you know not true because this isn't a go-kart but it is very much a sort of point and square bang it into a corner turning off you go kind of cut it feels great and this engine is so happy to rev really really high and with the turbo there's bags of talk available the gearbox is a particular highlight the shift is a little bit light for my liking but it has a party piece it'll rev much for you which is a great thing so when you change down the gear the engine will pop up to where it needs to be so you get a smoother change and it's brilliant for two reasons one you will look like a hero to all your mates as you're going along break down up the engine goes and they think wow he's a really good driver really good at heel and toe and two you won't destroy your clutch that's a good thing that's very clever on minis part not only do you look brilliant you don't break your car inside it's a properly luxurious hatch there's every mod con available stuffed in here now there con Bluetooth dab everything really you can even speck a touchpad so you can write postcodes directly into them now that's something you only really expect to find on bigger more BMW ish stuff there is one question that had popped into my mind was driving this though the Fiesta ST is the king of the hot hatch aristocracy at the moment everybody loves it myself included is this new Mini Cooper S better than the Fiesta ST though not quite if I'm honest the Fiesta ST it's a little bit sharper just feels a little bit better set up to be a proper hooliganism machine but the Mini has something that the Fiesta doesn't this has got character by the pocket mode it's a happy smiley little thing in the way it looks and the way it drives the way it feels the Fiesta is a very serious car this it's it's bit less a fare but come on let's go and have fun like a happy yappy little puppy or a toddler that really wants you to play with it's Lego where's the Fiesta brilliant car though it is just lacks that little bit of character so well yeah it's better dynamically I'd say I prefer this one because I think it'd make me smile more and if all the power and speed of the Cooper S doesn't appeal then how about the Cooper D yeah it may not be as quick as the S but what it lacks in pace it gains in economy if you drive like a saint you can manage 80 point 7 miles to the gallon it's still no slouch mind it'll hit 62 in 9.2 seconds which if memory serves is about the same amount of time the first new MINI Cooper managed detail the Cooper day is gonna be the big seller because not only do you get classic mini driving dynamics you also get awesome efficiency and you don't lose out in performance this is really a no compromise hatchback you can't honestly lose with it only personally I prefer the speed the noise and the drama of the Cooper S but this thing's great it's got a brand spanking new 3-cylinder diesel engine that it's really smooth quite refined and not too noisy as well so the cars drive well they're fast and efficient so what is it about these new minis that people don't like well it could be the look in pictures this meanly does look a little long in the nose a little bit snotty but in the metal it's a good-looking well proportioned car and you've got to remember that yeah the mini is big on the outside but underneath its skin there's loads of safety tech and legislation dictates how high certain things have to be in and all that so that in the hands of a true idiot in the worst case they don't end up as a puddle in the footwell so the people that dislike the new mini because it's too big not British enough or not in line with the original mini ethos are really gonna hate this thing and they're gonna hate it even more when they discover that unlike the original mini you can't buy one with the chains you find down the back of the sofa no you've got to drop nearly 14,000 pounds to get the keys to one of these they're right this is nothing like the minis they know and love frankly I'm glad of that they were great then get me wrong but they were small inefficient and were designed in the 50s so I'm not too sure how I'd fare in a crash I wonder what the reaction would be if it was launched today and has anybody actually considered that for some people this will be the only mini they know someone will in the late 80s or early 90s would have been growing up when the original mini was slowly dying they will have seen the new car become the card the jaw and keep an interpretation of that iconic shape rolling down the road for them a mini isn't a car you can cheaply buy and easily fix on you drive right now for them it's a small good-looking car to aspire to the mini is evolving and that's a good thing