New Mini

I recently had a chance to play around with a Mini Cooper while BMW did some minor work on my car. I must say, one of the perks of having a 'prestige' car is that the courtesy car can only ever be something rather nice. This article is merely my thoughts from a short duration with the car, and I'm comparing largely to my Z4 - this makes it an obvious unfair comparison.

I would like to comment on the engine first, since that's what I noticed first of all. For the first 10 miles I thought it was a diesel, it wasn't until I noticed the rev counter went to 6.5k that I realised it was just a rather unrefined petrol. According to Wikipedia it's a PUG engine, further developed by BMW. I'm going to hazard that the BMW engineers were either fresh out of school, or PUG engines are just lacking in refinement.

The clutch is heavier than the one I had in my 2.2 diesel Civic, and that engine had an excuse in the form of an overwhelming wave of torque. On the plus side, the little 1.6 engine does handle the clutch well - even when raised far too quickly it darts forward rather than stalling. This just further reinforces this engine really should be running on diesel. With the engine sufficiently warmed up, I decided to try out the full rev range. Up to about 4k rpm, the engine is typical straight-4 affair. After 4k the engine becomes increasingly harsh, it doesn't like nor reward expeditions into the upper rev range. The power band is low-down, just like diesel engines. Finally it has lag just like a turbo diesel. If you're out of the power band and press your foot down, nothing will happen for a few seconds. It's like the car is making sure you really want to accelerate, are you sure you want to do this most crazy endeavor?

However, I can't be too harsh. For an engine that is meant to give a claimed 52mpg, it's fantastic. Once past the lag, it doesn't feel that much slower than my 2.0 Z4 (admittedly this isn't exactly a 'fast' car). As a 'sport' model, I think it's right on the money for the target market. It's easy to get the most out of it, it gives the best performance where the vast majority of people put the rev counter and it actively stops you using excessive fuel by adding lag. It's not a fast car, but it does make good progress while giving (if the claims can be believed) outstanding fuel economy for the power.

The car itself is very stylised, and that could be good or bad. The square shape makes it the easiest car I've ever driven. You know where the boundaries are, you have brilliant visibility and parking it is almost too easy. The seats are moderately comfortable - they could do with better lumbar support. The windscreen is most odd in that it ends too early - the windscreen doesn't wrap around you. In essence rather than the A pillar being off to the side, it's almost in your direct vision. This is a side effect of the rather boxy shape, and you being sat too far away from the windscreen. You can get away with it in a car where the windscreen is raked back, but the windscreen is almost vertical. The rear space for passengers is totally acceptable, and it's somewhat comfortable. Visibility out of the windows is great due to the square nature of the car itself. The boot however is tiny, extremely tiny. How people can call a mini more practical than a roadster is beyond me. Sure you have 2 extra seats, but even the smallest roadsters seem to have a bigger boot.

The interior quality is very good, and I especially love the switches. It feels like I'm in the cockpit of a high quality 'analogue' car or aircraft. There's even switches in the roof (next to the light) to seal the deal. Instead of a handle on the driver's side, there's a sun-visor for when the sun shines in through the side window. A lot of attention to detail and it's really paid off.

The ride is very comfortable. Bumps just glide by, cambers are barely noticed - it's supremely comfortable. Outstanding for such a small car to have such a refined ride. The steering is direct, not overly light and offers a modicum of feel. The wheel itself is better than almost all other super-minis, but it's not a match for the M wheel on my Z4. It feels like it was designed to be sporty wheel for smaller hands. The gearbox is great, albeit the clutch way too heavy. It's not a visceral experience, but it is a nice enough action. There's no vagueness so you know you've got a gear.

The handling is good enough, but the turning circle is disappointing. Both the Z4 and the Jazz have it totally licked, which I really wasn't expecting. Also the comfortable ride means you get body roll. I'm sure the handling is very good, but it was much harder to position on the road than the Z4. Grip from the wheels was lower than the Z4, but this is expected given the much, much larger tyres on the latter.

Ultimately the car was better than any supermini I've driven with the exception of the Abarth Grande Punto. The Abarth also had a 1.6 petrol, but it had a turbo and still had much less lag than the Mini. The Abarth also had utterly fantastic seats.

The most telling feature of the Mini is that I didn't want to drive it because I felt like it. It got you to your destination with minimum fuss, and for that reason it just blended in with the background. There's no event, no hook to keep you interested. For that reason I would get the Cooper D - 72mpg, only slightly slower (but probably faster in actual driving) and save a fortune in fuel long-term. Although I would just wait for the VW BlueSport Roadster with the diesel engine. Engineered by Porsche for the thrills, but with a diesel engine to save the pennies.