F56 Cooper D - are they quick enough?
Discussion
Looking at new cars for the Mrs, she decided she liked the new 5 door Mini. I of course saw this as a chance to get the Cooper S. Drove it last week and liked it, called up to pay deposit today and it had just sold. Took it as a sign and my inner 'sensible' came out, so turned attention to the SD. Rang up about one, again had just sold. Both models are few and far between, for her exacting requirements on colour etc, in budget at £17k. Have now started looking at the Cooper D, which will be quicker and certainly more nimble than her current 1.6D X-Trail lease that manages 0-60 in 10.5 sec. Is the engine a decent match to the car, or will it just feel lacking?
Personally I'd be patient and hold out for an S. Was in a similar situation ourselves as the OH wanted a blue 3 door auto with sat nav for circa £17k. Started looking late April, missed out on a couple, but picked up one mid August which just so happened to be an S...had to travel from Scotland to London for it but worth the wait and the effort. It came with run flats so first things first was to replace them and was given a Cooper D as a loan car whilst been done. It was fine but much prefer the noise and response of the S...not driven an SD but in my opinion a petrol suits the character of the mini more. The D was more economical obviously but not by the margin you might expect. Cooper S gets low 40s easily (never seen lower than 35 if pressing on), the D averaged about 50.
Yes, they are! I had the same question myself. I fancied an SD but my budget didn't quite stretch that far. After using my Cooper D as a daily driver for a few months now, I'm still very pleased with the performance.
To be honest, the real world performance makes me wonder how this can be zero tax car. German 'engineering' maybe?
My only reservation is that the tiny tank only gets me ~400 miles, even when playing fuel range roulette. The economy, driven swiftly, is a consistant 51mpg.
To be honest, the real world performance makes me wonder how this can be zero tax car. German 'engineering' maybe?
My only reservation is that the tiny tank only gets me ~400 miles, even when playing fuel range roulette. The economy, driven swiftly, is a consistant 51mpg.
Edited by Wicker Man on Wednesday 28th September 14:07
Also consider the small engine petrol model:
OH has a kitted out 1.5 triple 3 door auto, it's a seriously impressive little car. I think it's something like 1 second slower than the Cooper S, so if you can I'd suggest having a test in one of these, sounds great too which was a lovely surprise, economy mid 40s.
OH has a kitted out 1.5 triple 3 door auto, it's a seriously impressive little car. I think it's something like 1 second slower than the Cooper S, so if you can I'd suggest having a test in one of these, sounds great too which was a lovely surprise, economy mid 40s.
Edited by coldsnap on Wednesday 28th September 14:15
Cheers guys.
Since it's an auto model we want, fuel economy drops significantly in real world figures. Looks like 40 is typical for Cooper S manual, which is fine, with auto that drops to about 33, which would be roughly £600 more per year over the SD at current fuel prices, which isn't insignificant. Petrol would be preferable, but frankly I'm one of those wierdos that quite likes the torquey diesel delivery. The Mrs certainly won't be revving the nuts off it with our toddler in the back or on her commute anyway, so Diesel probably makes more sense.
As luck would have it, a suitable SD with just about every option ticked (including random crap like HUD) has come up in budget, I've made an offer and they're in the process of "asking the sales manager", aka letting me wait it out while before they come back with a counter.
Since it's an auto model we want, fuel economy drops significantly in real world figures. Looks like 40 is typical for Cooper S manual, which is fine, with auto that drops to about 33, which would be roughly £600 more per year over the SD at current fuel prices, which isn't insignificant. Petrol would be preferable, but frankly I'm one of those wierdos that quite likes the torquey diesel delivery. The Mrs certainly won't be revving the nuts off it with our toddler in the back or on her commute anyway, so Diesel probably makes more sense.
As luck would have it, a suitable SD with just about every option ticked (including random crap like HUD) has come up in budget, I've made an offer and they're in the process of "asking the sales manager", aka letting me wait it out while before they come back with a counter.
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