New Mini Cooper S (F56): Review
Third time round has 'new Mini' finally jumped the shark? PH investigates...
Yikes! What happened to cheeky good looks?!
The straight bonnet line and extended front overhang - essentials for new pedestrian safety legislation - have robbed the car of some dinkiness and the oversized headlamps and rear light clusters are beginning to look like a pastiche of the Frank Stephenson 'cute but cool' design. There is further fussiness around the face of the Cooper S where chromed air intakes do battle with the grille and the round fogs. Overall though, the distinctive 'floating roof' and four-square stance still work well. And it is still utterly unmistakable.
Eyes front
Inside the cabin, quality of materials has definitely improved. The styling and design are, again, immediately recognisable from the new original, but the plastics and switchgear are now more satisfyingly tactile. Ergonomically there have been improvements, with the speedo finally in the centre of the instrument cluster and the window switches on the windows where everybody else puts them.
Blame those careless pedestrians for looks
There were two variants on offer here, the most interesting being the petrol powered Cooper S. Tech spec headlines: 192hp, sub seven seconds to 62mph, close to 150mph... this is a rapid little machine. The new 2.0-litre turbo engine is an instant hit - brawny and smooth.
Motorway cruising is surprisingly refined, the engine quiet, wind and tyre noise well suppressed and general vibration kept to a minimum. The car feels long-legged and happy to lope along in top. This test car has the class-best 8.8-inch screen mated to an intuitive and effective iDrive type interface. It also boasts the new Head-Up Display that projects not onto the screen (the rake angle is wrong apparently) but onto a little flip up visor. It works very well, too, especially for nav info and the like.
Enough pictures of the front end already
Breaking out form the flat lands we climb into the mountains of Mallorca on roads that Froome and Wiggins use for winter training ... and most of their mates seem to be out on them today.
But lycra-clad obstacles aside, they are a brilliant blend of rough and smooth, fast and technical, sweeping and serpentine. Perfect hot hatch fodder. Toggling the drive settings to Sport, the car feels eager to crack on It also displays a picture of a go kart and the little car imagining it is a rocket on the screen, along with the phrase: 'maximum go kart feel'. Maximum marketing overload more like...
Steering weight is excellent and the helm is very accurate. There isn't a vast amount of feel or textured detail but there's about enough feedback to keep you informed of what the tyres are doing.
2.0 turbo gutsy; surely lots of tuning 'headroom' too
It isn't massively playful and never lairy but there is enough movement to make the car fluid and adjustable in an entertaining way. For my money the Fiesta ST is still the daddy for driving fun in this class.
The brakes are very good, progressive and never felt like fading, while the torquey delivery of the engine (peak torque at just 1,250rpm) allows discreet and rapid progress but is keen to spin up and hold on to some revs as well (max power from 4,700 all the way to 6,000rpm). It sounds good too, with a touch of bass, a nice little bit of wastegate flutter and some lovely fruity pops on the overrun.
Familiar themes; quirks ironed out though
The gearbox - six speed manuals on all the test models but new autos will be available - is light, snicky and rapid, suiting the car's personality well. When you go for a downshift, it has a 'rev match' function which blips the throttle for you. For those that like to heel and toe it is a bit unnerving at first but once you learn to let it have its way, it's very effective. If you don't heel and toe... well, now everybody will think that you do brilliantly!
The ride is firm as you would expect of a decently hot hatch, but while it jiggles a bit it's not crashy and there is enough compliance to cope with most lumps, bumps and potholes. The Mini still feels compact and easy to place on these roads, too - it might have beefed up, but it is still about six inches shorter than rivals such as the Fiesta, Polo and A1.
Still a hoot to chuck about; job jobbed
Huffing and puffing
The engine is strong and smooth for the most part. It doesn't sound great at the top of the rev band but as its best work is done by 3,500rpm, there isn't much point in heading there. It is superbly refined on the motorway and unintrusive for most driving tasks. It pulls well from little over tickover and delivers its peak torque at just 1,750rpm.
Extended nose most obvious in profile view
The Cooper S typically makes up a little over 15 per cent of sales while Cooper and Cooper D models attract almost 50 per cent between them. Mini hopes that the chunkier styling and the fact that the numbers will make the Mini and attractive company car prospect will widen the appeal to more male buyers.
Back by popular demand
The Pepper and Chili packs are likely to prove as popular as ever (90 per cent of buyers choose one or the other) while the excellent TLC service pack is also a no-brainer (98 per cent take up). The options list is extensive and expensive with lots of new tech like the 8.8-inch screen, adaptive damping, head-up dispay and the like making it all too easy to hike up the base prices. Our test S listed at over £25k with the extras...
Does what the new Mini does, just more so
MINI COOPER S
Engine: 2.0-litre petrol, turbocharged
Transmssion: six speed manual gearbox, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 192@4,700-6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 206@1,250-4,500rpm
0-62mph: 6.8 sec
Top speed: 146mph
Weight:
MPG: 48.7
CO2: 136g/km
Price: £18,650 OTR, £25,350 as tested
I could be tempted again.
I came to the conclusion that it still wasn't worth the £25k - not for what I expect out of a car anyway. I know that I would become bored of the toys, bored of the power, and realise I could have bought the same for a fraction of the cost second hand (used to buy new all the time, once, until I realised I may as well throw thousands on the fire instead...). So I bought a Cooper S for my wife, and a TVR for me. That new Mini looks to be about £18 - 21k tops fully loaded. That extra £4k isn't justifiable, to me at least.
I think I'd take the Fiesta if I was after a small hot hatch.
Really!
The base price of the S was about 15k back 9 years ago so it's gone up about 3k. Looks a bit quicker and more economical - be interested to see what comes standard. 16" wheels will be fine for me - just aircon, sunroof, gauges and a better diff that I'd want
k 
Any news yet on what the SD is going to be peddled by? The interior do looks a welcome step up. The central instrument binnacle on the top of the vents is really nasty plastic in mine.
He concludes that he MUCH prefers the regular Cooper over the S.
The regular Cooper has a 3 cylinder turbo that still does 0-60 in under 8 secs and feels plenty brisk enough, while having a much more interesting, characterful noise than the 4 cylinder lump in the S.
It is also more entertaining in steering and handling.
Sometimes, maybe, less is more.
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