MINI Cooper 5dr
Night-time is the right time for hatchback
IF there’s one thing our fleet cars are tasked with regularly, it’s airport runs. We travel all over the place to get the latest stories, scoops and car reviews. Often this means travelling out of Britain and back in one day, and that guarantees some very early starts and equally late finishes.
Quiet and comfortable cars are in demand as a result, and the MINI Cooper I’m running is making the grade as an airport shuttle. The five-door’s 1.5-litre three-cylinder motor is a very mature small engine. It’s particularly smooth and quiet for a three-cylinder, making the pre-dawn dashes to Heathrow and midnight trips back into London fairly tranquil.
The fuel economy is starting to improve, too. We were a little unimpressed with the 29.9mpg recorded over several long motorway trips when we first got our hands on the MINI, but the more varied running it has been exposed to recently has bumped the figure up to 36.1mpg.
It’s not just the smooth, grown-up engine that takes the edge off longer and potentially more stressful drives in the dark in our Cooper. While we don’t have the optional LED matrix headlights (£490), the standard LED units on the facelifted car are still impressive, channelling bright white light straight on to the tarmac.
The cruise control that is part of the optional Chili Pack (£2,800) on our Cooper model is refreshingly straightforward as well. There’s no need to fiddle around with various stalks and switches; just one prod of a big button mounted on the steering wheel sets the pace at a constant level, with the buttons for adjusting the speed also easy to use. Cruise control can be added on its own for £185 if you don’t want the other Chili Pack extras.