Mini Cooper S

The Mini gets another layer of polish, but is it at the expense of fun?

WE’VE ALREADY DRIVEN THE GENTLY updated Cooper S, at the model’s international launch in Mallorca ( evo 248). However, when a car has Union flags embedded within its tail lights, you can’t really consider it fully assessed until it’s been tested on a British B-road. So here goes.

If you’ve driven an R53 or R56 Mini, the familiar environs of this £20,635 F56 Cooper S will initially put you at ease. But the driving position, although much lower than that of many rival superminis, isn’t as ground-hugging as you might recall, and the still-very-upright windscreen feels a few feet further away, too.

The 189bhp 2-litre engine is full of torque, and quickly spins to a plump mid-range. Hold on to the throttle, though, and the torque recedes faster than you might expect as the engine strains its way to the upper end of its rev-band.

Start leaning on the chassis and the Cooper S responds, remaining balanced and flat through corners without getting thrown off-line by mid-corner bumps. Unfortunately, chassis adjustability is a forbidden notion, and although the car gulps down challenging sections of road with supreme competency, its lifeless steering and dull engine don’t do much to encourage you to push any harder than is absolutely necessary.

The latest Cooper S is effective, then, and its torquey engine makes it surprisingly rapid around town, but there’s little sense of fun out in the wild. The driving involvement that underpinned the modern Mini’s popularity is all but gone. In its place is a better car, perhaps, but one that leaves us cold.