Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cooper S induces a cheeky grin
SO WHAT comes in Volcano Orange, snaps, crackles and pops like a demented breakfast cereal and leaves you feeling at least 20.... err.... 30- ish years younger? The all-new Mini Cooper S does.
I swear this could be the answer to road rage. After all, if you could approach this car with anything less than a cheeky grin, I defy you.
Since Sir Alec Issigonis’s first iconic design rolled off the production line there has been a veritable barmy army of fans. In fact, since BMW launched its take on the brand in 2000 almost 2.8 million of the little critters have been unleashed globally.
And now for 2015 we get the latest take. It’s longer, wider, faster and a whole lot more refined than anything that has come before.
I confess to owning a Mini Mayfair Cooper S so this article is as likely to be as unbiased as an English rugby referee. But if you have made it this far, what the hell, it may be better than the daily dose of EFF shenanigans after all? Mini has always embraced one motto: fun.
And they achieve this in spades with a four-pot 2-litre engine shoe- horned into a body only 10 millimetres longer than the previous incarnation. Couple that with a completely re- designed interior, thankfully shedding that dinner- plate- sized speedometer for an entirely more useful infotainment system.
Quirks remains, though, as witnessed by the most curious array of graphics to “describe” the nature of the radio show you happen to be tuned to. Picture, if you will, listening to Xolani Gwala with a Rita Hayworth- ish image describing this as variety?
Revelling in the comportment of a car that can switch from go-kartinspired apex-shredding revelry to bunny-hugging Green mode with the flick of a switch, I may be forgiven moments of manic grinning. Although my test car had every widget BMW could think of thrown at it (an eye-watering R120k worth of additional dongles no less), I suspect that the “base” model would be just as sassy. Sassy is perhaps overused in our current lexicon, but the moniker is to Mini what red overalls are to Julius.
The interior has lost the plastic feel of the previous generation and gained a more polished driver-centric look and feel. The BMW iDrive has reincarnated as Mini Connected but remains friendly and intuitive (even for an old codger). The three-spoke steering wheel is small enough to allow complete sympatico with the car. The Harmon Kardon sound system is just kicking. Even if you do clog up the 20GB hard drive with your Elvis Presley collection you are surrounded with a 10-speaker 2-sub (under the front seats for that extra va-boom) system that just exudes quality.
The friskiness of the previous model has been retained in parts but this is no longer the car that makes you feel like you have been “all shook up” after every single journey.