Monday 17th January 2011

Cooper SD Diesel Hot Hatch Set For Geneva

New diesel motor to major on power and pace (oh, and economy...)

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Web rumours are gathering pace that Mini will unveil a new high-performance diesel at the Geneva show in March, dubbed the Mini Cooper SD.

Mini appears to be attempting to corner the market in tiny-yet-rapid diesels; it already has the Cooper D, which manages to be frugal enough to combine free road tax and a London congestion charge exemption (thanks to 74.3mpg and 99g/km CO2) with genuine warm-hatch performance (0-62mph in 9.7secs).

And now, although it sounds more like a type of memory card than a car, the Cooper SD will add even more performance to the Mini diesel range, with 141bhp and 225lb ft of torque apparently on the cards (that's 29bhp and 26lb ft up on the existing Cooper D). And though the car will sacrifice around 10mpg in hatch form, we reckon the expected 65mpg isn't too bad.

The new engine, we're told, will eventually be slotted into the hatch, Convertible, Clubman and Countryman, and we should see the first images of the hatchback version - along with some more concrete spec details - sometime in February.

[DaGuv]

Good to see more performance diesels but I would take a new Seat Ibiza FR with the 2.0 tdi common rail with 140bhp. Will be cheaper and will map to around 200bhp. I will find out later in the year!

[Fire99]

Not exactly ground breaking when a decade old MG ZR / Rover 25 turbo-diesel could match the 0-60 figures.

[honest1]

I Think Your Both Missing The Point. This Is More About An Engine Which Is road tax and a London congestion charge Free Thanks Too 99g/km CO2, And can return 70+MPG... Also Can Hit 60 MPH In Less Than 10 Sec.
With Fuel Prices The Way They Are We Need More Cars Like This. :-)

[DaGuv]

VAG have been doing this for years starting with the fabia vrs!

[Chris71]

This is interesting. The original Cooper D was a spectacularly 'complete' car IMHO - genuine driver appeal and reasonable pace for what it was, combined with small car frugality and big car refinement. Haven't driven the facelifted one but I presume it's every bit as good, so a hotter version could be fantastic.

[Oddball RS]

"with genuine warm-hatch performance (0-62mph in 9.7secs)"



??????????????????

[scubadude]

Fire99 said:

Not exactly ground breaking when a decade old MG ZR / Rover 25 turbo-diesel could match the 0-60 figures.

Yes but thanks to the proliferation of safety bits and bobs the MG and Rover weighed half what a modern German Mini does, therefore less engine was required to do the same thing.

[HellDiver]

140hp diesel is "hot hatch" now? What are you guys smoking?!?

[DaGuv]

Its not a hatch back, the Mini is in the supermini class. The only competition for this at the moment is the Ibiza 2.0 TDI FR which is also 140bhp, so its spot on.

[boredofmyoldname]

Chris71 said:

This is interesting. The original Cooper D was a spectacularly 'complete' car IMHO - genuine driver appeal and reasonable pace for what it was, combined with small car frugality and big car refinement. Haven't driven the facelifted one but I presume it's every bit as good, so a hotter version could be fantastic.

It is new, and it isn't what we all want. So we should slate it.

Stop coming on here with your real world experience ruining it for the experts.

FWIW I think a more powerful Cooper D can't be a bad thing, I have considered one for pretty much the reasons you have posted as a commuter for SWMBO and car to do longer trips with a few grins thrown in. One with a bit more power and still very good economy would be even higher up the list.

[DaGuv]

HellDiver said:

140hp diesel is "hot hatch" now? What are you guys smoking?!?

No one has said it is a hot hatch!

[Fire99]

scubadude said:

Fire99 said:

Not exactly ground breaking when a decade old MG ZR / Rover 25 turbo-diesel could match the 0-60 figures.

Yes but thanks to the proliferation of safety bits and bobs the MG and Rover weighed half what a modern German Mini does, therefore less engine was required to do the same thing.

Yeah I do get the reasoning but 10 years of progress and we have cars exactly the same pace and similar economy. That isn't going to get me going too dizzy.

[pilchardthecat]

Oddball RS said:

"with genuine warm-hatch performance (0-62mph in 9.7secs)"

??????????????????

Exactly my thoughts. It's respectable enough for an "ordinary" car, but it's not "warm"

[pilchardthecat]

I'd say it was a "Tepid Hatch" at best.

[clonmult]

honest1 said:

I Think Your Both Missing The Point. This Is More About An Engine Which Is road tax and a London congestion charge Free Thanks Too 99g/km CO2, And can return 70+MPG... Also Can Hit 60 MPH In Less Than 10 Sec.
With Fuel Prices The Way They Are We Need More Cars Like This. :-)

Whats With The Bizarre capitalisation?

Oh, and the article wasn't about a 99g/km 70+mpg car. Its about a slightly faster variant.

[DaGuv]

I assume its a cooper d with a tweaked ecu. Unless they increase the bhp using a larger turbo then I would just buy a cooper d and map it. If it does have a larger turbo,then a map will be quite interesting.

[boredofmyoldname]

pilchardthecat said:

Oddball RS said:

"with genuine warm-hatch performance (0-62mph in 9.7secs)"

??????????????????

Exactly my thoughts. It's respectable enough for an "ordinary" car, but it's not "warm"

To be fair those are the figures for the current Eco-warrior Cooper D. Oh and a 205GTI (CAT) takes around 8 seconds to hit 60 and was lighter, had less safety toys and was considered a hothatch in its day. Therefore a sub 10 second 60 time must be warm.

[Waitey]

The Saxo VTR was a 'warm hatch' and it only hit 0-60 in 10 secs....

[Corsair7]

HellDiver said:

140hp diesel is "hot hatch" now? What are you guys smoking?!?

Its the torque not the BHP that will make this car 'fun' to drive......

[HellDiver]

DaGuv said:

HellDiver said:

140hp diesel is "hot hatch" now? What are you guys smoking?!?

No one has said it is a hot hatch!

The title of the article quite clearly says "Cooper SD Diesel Hot Hatch". Doesn't it?

Apology accepted.