2007 Mini Cooper S
Mini Coopers are cool. Mini Cooper S’s are even cooler. Unfortunately the little car that could comes so close to perfection, its shortcomings -- few as they are -- are nearly unforgivable.
Let's start with the positives, and there are a lot of them. Our Mini S tester was as anticipated a review car as I can remember. While not the fastest or sexiest vehicle on the road, the Mini is so unique among its peers in both size and style that we couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel and check it out for ourselves.
Standing 6’3 and having had headroom issues with many much larger cars over the years, I was worried that I wouldn't fit without the dreaded head tilt. I was dead wrong. The front seats are remarkably comfortable and supportive and headroom is ample, even with the mini’s huge sunroof directly overhead. The driving position is conducive to comfortable cruising for long hauls or twisty switchback roads.
The Cooper is built by BMW, and its heritage is firmly established in ride quality and road feel. As small as this car is, it feels heavy, almost to a fault. In the 3, 5, and 7 series Bimmers you would expect that heavy, shall we say "German" feel, but in something named a Mini? I wanted the Cooper to be more throwable, like a Mazda MX-5 in its road manners, and that was not the case. If you were to close your eyes while driving (not endorsed by Autorecap) you would swear you were behind the wheel of a much larger car. You will be equally surprised by how heavy the doors feel when they are open and closed. I guess the 15-year-old boy in me wanted a more go-cart like experience, but in reality the Mini is perhaps more mature in nature than this aforementioned auto reviewer.
Power comes from a nicely tuned, turbocharged 16-valve 172 horsepower aluminum four cylinder engine. As for torque, the Mini has got plenty -- 192 lb-ft to be exact. The car pulls hard when you keep the turbo spinning, and stirring the shifter to keep the turbo spinning at full spool is a bit addictive. Gas mileage is also killer, as you would expect in a car of this size. The Mini gets 36 mpg highway and 29 city which is more than fair when you consider how capable the powertrain is.
On the highway, the extra weight is of great advantage. The car handles more like a sports car as speed increases. The steering gets lighter and the suspension more reactive. The Mini is remarkably solid and quiet at high speed. However, its short wheelbase is nearly impossible to compensate for. Watch out for road bumps as the Cooper gets a little jumpy over choppy roads.
If the Cooper is oozing eccentricity on the outside, it is bleeding to death on the inside. A huge speedometer takes center stage in the interior. Round and elliptical accents abound in this deceptively roomy interior space, with the tachometer sitting directly over the steering wheel. Toggle switches that control windows and driving lights are an interesting accent.
On the down side, it seems like the engineers at Mini spent their entire nut on suspension and frame and found themselves a little short when it came time to pick interior materials. If they make a cheaper looking and feeling plastic than the material that surround all interior appointments, we have never seen it. It’s hard to believe it, but the chintzy feel of the armrest nearly ruined the entire driving experience of this nicely done car. Your arm naturally sits on the armrest while keeping your hand on the shifter. I swear the armrest creaked and chirped louder than a field of crickets. It got to the point I was literally afraid it was going to break off. Every time I got in the car I was reminded how close the little car that could… almost did.
-- Chad Doering
