Wednesday 30th May 2018

Mini Cooper S Works 210: PH Fleet

Is there really any of the 'original' new Mini in the current Cooper S?

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With collection day for our Melting Silver Mini looming - who comes up with these colour names? - time has really been of the essence to do as much with our Works 210 as possible. Because, as you might have been able to tell, I'm really rather keen on it.

What I've always been less enthusiastic about, though, and as has been picked up on in the comments, is just how much this car costs. It's always been a peripheral concern, but has been brought into starker focus this month by driving cars like the new Fiesta ST and the Hyundai i30 N; both very different, yet both proving very complete and entertaining packages for the same money as the Mini (or quite a bit less). You could have a Fiesta ST-2 or an i30 N without a single option added and be very content. I understand that Minis are about personalisation, really I do, but it can come across as a little baffling sometimes, not to mention drawing attention away from a thoroughly decent base product.

From 'our' car I think a good chunk of money could be saved by ditching the £2,710 tech pack - I will admit that the head-up display is superb, but the parking sensors and stereo upgrade could be done without. Just. From what I can see the JCW Chili Pack brings fairly limited benefits too, with climate control and auto headlights seemingly the main advantages. For £2k. Take the best part of £5k from it and the case if far more convincing to make for the Mini. Easier said than done when it comes to speccing your own car and wanting lot of nice stuff in it, but I think it's worth noting that not all Mini hatches have to be £28k. With the money saved you could get a limited-slip diff from the Challenge put in, for example...

Also driven this month were the latest Mini update - which feels more mature than this car again - and the one you're actually reading this story for - the GP1. Borrowed from BMW's delightfully diverse heritage fleet and showing just 15,000 miles, we asked for it on the loose premise of comparing it with the long-termer. Really, though, I'd been dying for a go ever since Ben had his turbocharged GP2 and raved about it; both iterations enjoy reputations as proper little hot hatch screamers, and as something of a Mini convert now the anticipation had only built further.

It didn't disappoint. Now I get it. Now I see why people whinge about Minis becoming too grown up and too soft - no doubt those with old Minis say just the same about BMW ones - because the GP is hilarious. The supercharger shrieks, the tyres squeal, the whole thing fizzes and buzzes with energy. Everything that feels good dynamically about the Works 210 is taken up a notch in the 12 year-old car - turn in is sharper, the agility greater, the tomfoolery easier to access. It just demands being driven quicker and quicker, darting into bends and tearing down straights gleefully. It's an absolute joy.

Oh sure, it's also firmer, louder and less well appointed than the current car, but not to an unreasonable degree. It's what makes so many of these mid-2000s performance cars so enticing a decade later: sufficient amenities to make them useable everyday, combined with the sort of interesting engines and engaging dynamics that seem to elude many contemporary offerings. So yes, while it was nice to get back into the newer car's heated seat and listen to its digital radio, it had been made to feel a little tame by the GP. Even with the exhaust on.

I'm not sure anybody has ever proclaimed the 2000s as some sort of halcyon highpoint for fast cars, but time in the GP has me more sure of it than ever. It would seem the market holds the GP in equally high esteem too, with the most affordable cars on PH still £12,000; indeed the very best ones are £15k, placing them on a par with the later turbocharged GPs. I couldn't part with E46 M3 money for a Mini, however much fun it is, though experience of the GP certainly makes those sub-£3k supercharged Minis more tempting than ever.

That said, the new new Mini will still be a tough one to bid farewell to. More on that, and what will be replacing it, next month.

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FACT SHEET
Car: 2017 Mini Cooper S Works 210
On fleet since: January 2018
Run by: Matt
Mileage: 5,724
List price new: £19,994.40 (As tested £28,344.40 comprising £475 for Melting Silver metallic paint, £300 for Mini active from 12/06/17 to 11/06/20, £1,695 for Works enhanced kit, £75 for John Cooper Works sport leather steering wheel, £375 for variable damper control, £80 for black bonnet stripes, £120 for Anthracite roof lining, £220 for sun protection glass, £215 for front seat heating, £2,710 for Mini hatch tech pack, £2,000 for Chili pack for JCW sports pack and £85 for LED headlights with extended contents)
Last month at a glance: Why a GP1 could be the one for Mini fans

Previous updates:
Is this the Mini Mk3 we've been waiting for?
Mini making its mark on many!
Puncture proves more problematic than predicted...
To wonderful Wales in the mighty Mini

Photos: Dafydd Wood

 

[PaulsM3]

I have an E46 M3 for the weekends and had a 2006 Cooper S as my daily at one point- so much fun. Everything is as described- supercharger whine is hilarious, exhaust crackle on the overrun, turn in is pin sharp and roundabouts a joy. Hard as hell on our broken roads though. I had to get rid of it as the daily driver though as it made the M3 feel like a 7 series when I used it at the weekends!
So now I have a 7 series for work so the M3 feels like an M3 again!
If you just want something small, nimble and quick, grab a R53 Cooper S whilst you can, I made money on mine and I'm sure they'll keep moving up.