Fuel Efficiency:
Of course, a downside to all this performance was fuel efficiency. The car just gave us a FE of 13 kmpl on the whole trip. Yes, it was driven at excess of 100 mph for some short bursts and was at about 80-100 mph for longer ones, but if driven sanely, I guess the FE would increase to 15-16 kmpl. In comparison, the diesel Focus had given us a FE of 26 kmpl. Yea, its not fair to compare a performance oriented turbo petrol hatch to a family diesel hatch when it comes to FE. But again, given the fun we had, who cares... Our car had a start-stop system which switches off the car once it halts and is in neutral. Guess it did not help much as we were cruising most of the time.
Looks:
Looks are subjective. I love the way the Mini looks and I would say its the best looker among all hot hatches. It not at all feminine like the Fiat 500 or the VW Beetle. Its compact but does not look like a "newbie's" car. The white colour and black roof reminded me of my Pintu...!
Cabin:
I have sort of mixed feelings about the cabin. While I was at the driver's seat in about 80% of the trip, I was actually quite comfortable. But as expected, my friends in the rear seat had a tough time. Apart from the lack of space, they also complained about the bench being too hard and thus the buttocks and back suffered on such a long drive. Getting in and out of the rear seats was no easy task either, I did not even try it! On the other hand, I loved the way the dashboard is laid out. The BIG speedo in the middle is quite retro. Of course, there is a digital speedo right in front of the driver within the tacho, with other necessary telltale signs. Even the switch are the nice flippy kind given the retro theme of the cabin. Even the lights, wiper and indicator controls are quite unique in the Mini.
Safety:
Our car has 6 airbags - 2 front airbags, 2 side airbags and 2 curtain airbags. Other than that, it also has Electronic Stability Program, which could be switched ON and OFF. I did not try switching it OFF as it was raining heavily.
Ride:
As mentioned earlier, the Cooper S has a stiffer suspension. The ride was excellent in city speeds and even on the highways till about 80 mph. British roads are really smooth and stiffer suspension will not really bother you much. Above 80 mph, the small undulations on the roads did transmit small bumps into the cabin, but nothing that will bother you much.
Handling:
In simple words - excellent. If you notice the google map posted above, we had a take a slight detour from the Motorway and enter the smaller single lane highway because of some maintainence work going on. Now these roads were single lane and with lots of twists and bends. Thankfully, at 2 am, they were devoid of any traffic and all I could do was easily drive at above 100 kmph. The Mini handles corners precisely and the steering is razor sharp. The feedback from the steering is great too. That said, the steering is among the heavy ones, which I love. It is not super light like in the Swift and i20.
Verdict:
+ Performance of the engine
+ Looks
+ Dashboard styling and layout
+ Handling and Ride
+ Safety
- Space in the rear
- Fuel Efficiency
- I expected a louder roar of the engine in Sports mode atleast!
- Notchy gearbox
All in all, this is one car I would love to own. I wish I could test a diesel Cooper too one day, as I love diesels more than petrols!
![[;)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Wink.gif "Wink [;)]")
![[:D]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Big%20Smile.gif "Big Smile [:D]")
Did the car feel stable at such speeds? What's the top speed of Mini Cooper S?