This motor is coupled to what Mini calls a Sport Auto, which
is essentially a 6-speed auto ’box mapped for faster shifts, and has paddle
shifters behind the wheel. And these are conventional ones, which are easy to
use – not the pull-to-upshift, push-to-downshift ones, thank god. Which is all
well and good, but does it still corner like it always has? Pleased to report
that it hasn’t lost any of its go-kart characteristics in the process of
growing up.
This car is like someone who arrives at a pool party still
in his suit and leather shoes from a day of work – and dives right in fully
dressed, because he can’t wait to kick-start the merry-making.
The Cooper S'
four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine offers good performance, but reduced
flexibility
We’ve always loved Minis because they’ve always loved
corners. And this one loves them just as much. The steering is direct, and it
chats with your palms brilliantly, constantly telling them what’s happening on
the road.
The body too is more than willing to get through that
corner. It’s confident and composed, and leans only a tiny bit. No drama, no
fuss, just bang-on action. The seats also deliver when you chuck it around fast
corners – they hold you tight and keep you comfortable.
The previous-gen Mini was notorious for giving your back a
hard time. It’s nice to see the engineers have corrected this key problem in
the new car. Has it helped? Well, to a certain extent. The Cooper S has active
dampers that can be stiffened or softened with a switch. In Sport mode, it is
very stiff and you easily feel potholes and undulations on the road. And
speaking of potholes, there are quite a few on Puerto Rico’s roads.
There is,
technically, seating for four inside the Cooper S
Switch to Normal mode and you’ll know what the engineers
have been up to – it’s more pliant and absorbing. But despite all the work
that’s gone in, it remains a stiffly-sprung set-up. It’s an improvement, no
doubt, but it’s still far from being a hot hatch with a superb ride.
The changes in the all-new Mini go beyond the technical,
extending to the interior as well, which is completely reworked, but hasn’t
lost any funkiness. There’s a big dinner plate that acts like the centre
console – just like in the older one – but this one doubles as a rev meter, and
houses a screen for the infotainment system. The speedo, fortunately, has been
moved to where it should have been in the first place – above the steering
wheel.
There’s some new toys in here as well – for example, if you
shift to Eco mode, it’ll map the way you’re driving and give you a score for
fuel savings. And in Sport mode, there’s something that Mini calls Driver
Excitement Analyser – it indicates how much power and torque the engine is
producing at that moment. Toys that make work feel like fun, you see. Apart
from that, it gets a fair number of driver assist bits too – reverse cam,
head-up display and parking assist (auto park mode).
Cooper S gets a
unique rear-end design and twin exhaust tips
The Mini was always a fun-loving, corner-crunching little
car that cost a minor fortune, at least in India. And that was because BMW had
no plans to assemble it here. This all-new version carries forward the Cooper
legacy – it’s fun, it’s agile and it’s pricey – expect it to be $41,600 (estimated,
on-road), if not more.
The Mini is still not the perfect hot hatch. It has its
flaws – the ride isn’t great, the media system takes a while getting used to,
and it calls for serious money, among other things. But despite those flaws, it
doesn’t leave any stone unturned to give you the time of your life every single
time you take it out. The new Cooper proves that sometimes, growing up can be a
whole lot of fun.
