MINI2 Drives the new MINI Cooper S at the International Media Launch in Barcelona. Turns out the new MINI is very much the same, yet ever so different.

This wasn’t the first time we’d experienced driving the new MINI Cooper S, MINI2 were fortunate enough to be one of the few invited to an exclusive predrive at the Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands. However, this was our first time behind the wheel of a fully finished production model and, so the engineers assured me, the suspension and cornering brake control settings had been slightly fettled and fine tuned since our first experience of the R56 MINI Cooper S.

Available at Barcelona were two different MINI Cooper S specifications. A Laser Blue S with 16″ wheels, but no sports suspension or a Chili Red Cooper S with sports suspension and 17″ crown spoke alloy wheels. Being fans of the more assured, firmer ride of the current MINI’s sports suspension plus, we opted for the Sports version. Unfortunately neither MINI had the sports button (which increases the sensitivity of the steering and throttle response), we also couldn’t manage to find a swap on day two to experience the standard Cooper S suspension. We have however we have made arrangements to tackle one of those as soon as possible. Ideally we were hoping for a Cooper S with 16″ wheels (which the man in charge of suspension and chassis said is once again, as with the first generation, really the optimal choice for performance and handling), sports suspension and the sports button. After all this is the top of the range, sporty model, but you cant have everything in this world can you!

First impressions were of the look and feel of the car at a stand still. Less than a week ago we had been at Paris crawling over a collection of new MINIs at the motor show, but seeing an entire fleet of red and blue MINIs in the bright Catalonian sun was something else. Despite all the changes to the car, with the same width, height, wheelbase and track as the current model the car looks every bit as “MINI” as it’s predecessor (whatever that means). In many ways it’s almost a retrospective update, with the car carrying maybe as many features from the classic Mini as it does from the first generation new MINI.

The red and black colour combination looked sharp, and the interior was a nice combination of trim options, which also highlighted the new cars extensive interior options list. The seats were half leather “ray” with red leather panels and a smart pinstripe adding a bit of style to the main cloth sections of the seats. The dash and door circles were finished in piano black and the dash roll was red to match the seat trim. The chrome interior accents added a nice contrast to the darker shades, it felt classically sporty inside. The test car was also fitted with Radio Boost and the MINI Hi-Fi Loudspeaker System. Due to a lack of a CD, and only some pretty iffy local radio stations to play with we didn’t get to experience this to the full, but we couldn’t miss the extra tweeters that are in moulded speaker pods on the a-pillars.

In general the quality and finish of the interior is much improved over the current MINI. The plastics and trim all seems to have been taken up a notch and the finish seems a little less complex and lot tighter. The only place where this seems to fall down is in the centre stack which houses the cd slot, heating controls and such. There’s too much matt plastic on display here, and we found the stereo controls (non-Navigation) to be pretty dreadful, counter intuitive and clunky. Having the combined volume and on/off button located away from all the other controls felt just plain wrong, and it was easy to detune/retune using the dial that is in the main cluster in the centre speedo when you just want to tweak the volume. Everything seems geared towards the navigation system this time, when before this felt a little like an afterthought. A shame when the navigation still seems so expensive compared to alternative portable solutions.

Once underway and heading in the wrong direction down a motorway, we instantly began to feel just how different this new, new MINI was. Road noise has been taken down so many notches that coming from our own Cooper S it felt like someone had hit the mute button. The seats felt much more supportive and comfortable, and the fully adjustable steering column was as much welcome as it was a necessary improvement. Thankfully we were not so overcome by the improvements to miss the chance to spin back around and head out into the undulating and twisting roads the Spanish had so thoughtfully carved out of the hillsides specifically for testing the MINI. Or at least, that’s the way it felt.

So from a comfort and quality perspective things have certainly been improved, but there are a few downsides to the interior. Storage space, practical, useable storage space seems significantly reduced. The door pockets are now only really half sized and pretty shallow (but the door mounted arm rest, for those that use it, is much better), the tray between the front seats small, and the storage box under the centre panel absent. The rear storage has also been largely sacrificed in a trade off for improved seat width. Rear seat passengers also gain an extra 30-40mm knee room thanks to the soft backed, hollowed out design of the front seats and a little reshuffling of interior components. The glovebox, though very cool in it’s operation is very shallow, and this car had no interior storage pack so no extra nets or behind dash storage was available. But hey, the cup holders are all larger, so that should please some of the big time drink drivers out there.

In terms of driver comfort and pleasure, there has to be some fine line between comfort and disengagement, smoothness and numbness and with the new Cooper S it seems MINI have been walking that fine line, and have been very aware that that is the case. During the life span of the first generation MINI, BMW had a lot of consumer feedback relating to the driving feel and ride quality. Too many people seemed too unhappy with the harshness of the steering, the lack of shock absorption and too much “noise” through the steering. Yet of course the unique character and amazing handling have won the car much praise, not to mention slalom group tests and autox events. So the technical boffins have been hard at work fine tuning and tweaking the new suspension and EPAS power steering to “smooth the diamond”, take away the rough edges but retain the sporty and precise feel and retain all the important feedback an enthusiastic not only desires, but would consider essential.

Driving at first in queues of traffic it began to feel that this MINI was a little too comfortable, if only I could get to grip with the stereo controls I could be in just about any comfortable cruising car, apart from the familiar MINI surroundings that is. The engine is quiet, the seat comfortable, the rumble of the roads a distant and faint whisper, the steering easy and the corners a breeze. The exhaust was nowhere to be heard, and of course the familiar whine of the supercharger completely AWOL. In all honesty it was a little deflating. The car we’d enjoyed so much on the slalom and fast, sweeping track at Zandvoort, not to mention the rigid and engaging MINI Cooper S we’d left parked back in the UK seemed a world away. This was comfortable, very much so, but it wasn’t much fun, and it was so, so quiet.

But, and here’s the thing, once we were free and easy, thanks in no small part to the fantastic engine response and incredibly useable power on overtaking, things started to look up. The engine is nothing short of fantastic, the old supercharged Tritec unit is brilliant in itself, basic, noisy, but urgent, bullet proof and ballsy. The new engine is a completely different beast. Some will no doubt prefer the former. It’s amazing how different two forced induction engines of almost identical maximum power output and very similar 0-60 times can be so very different, but the new and old S engines are as much polar opposites of one another as you could imagine. The new engine offers so much useable power it’s hard to describe, delivery is smooth, consistent and always ready “on demand” when you want or need it most. It’s an engine that allows you to be lazy, whatever gear you happen to be in at the time, blip the throttle and it’s ready to wake up and power on as desired. And it does it all with so little fuss.

If you’re in a rather more enthusiastic and alert frame of mind you can appreciate the new car engine and powertrain even more. Although more refined and quiet inside the cabin, the car sounds fantastic to passers by, and from the drivers seat the engine gives a throaty growl when you push the go faster pedal to the floor. The gear change has been altered, and while we didn’t appreciate the feel of the new shift knob (take note aftermarket suppliers) we did like the new smoother changes and improved feel through the gears. It’s still notchy and sporty in feel, but not as much as the previous S. Finding reverse is also a much less troublesome affair than it could sometimes be previously, which did result in several “is this really in reverse” double checks, especially when near the edge of a cliff for a brief photo shoot!

But, as the cliche goes, power is nothing without control, and the suspension and steering, the feel and the control, are areas where most of us current MINI owners show the deepest concerns about the new car. Take the VW Golf GTI, or even the 205 GTI, as leading examples of when car companies seem to have made almost perfect hot hatches, then spend generations watering down and enlarging the original magic formula almost beyond recognition. We don’t want this happening to the MINI, we like the way it behaves, it’s road manners (or lack thereof), and don’t want it messing with unless it’s for the better. Yet times moves on, technology advances and you have to keep up, we’re not adverse to change (otherwise we’d still be driving our 1972 Mini 1000).

At the start of this report we said “it turns out the new MINI is very much the same, yet ever so different”. And the handling of the car is the main area to which this applies. The car has, without doubt, been made more civilised. The suspension is less jarring, and absorbs more road imperfections and little bumps and rumbles than the outgoing model. It’s more subtle, and more compliant. Almost every aspect of the suspension has been tweaked, the rear axle is 9kg lighter than the old, but while the ride is more civilised, less severe, the handling and cornering ability are still top notch. We were assured the new car proved faster in slalom tests on track than the old with like-for-like specifications, and we can believe it. So the edginess has been dialed down, but the MINI felt more sure footed than ever before, hugging the corners and flowing through twists and turns with ease, the car felt nicely poised and very well balanced. Weight distribution feels spot on and high speed cornering, breaking, and pulling away under acceleration felt superb. The MINI has grown up, trimmed down, and become a more complete athlete.

Through all this it has to be remembered we had the version with optional “sport suspension”, and we found it more subtle and forgiving than the current sport suspension plus set up. Yet still some at the event complained the ride on the “red cars” were too rough, too harsh, and they preferred the regular suspension. It seems strange to us that MINI should offer a Cooper S with anything other than “sports suspension”, but hearing the reactions and driving impressions from those around us it seems that BMW are covering all bases well with the different set up and tuning options.

Our two days behind the wheel of the new MINI Cooper S were pretty intense and pretty emotional. We went from a slight feeling of confusion and disquiet at just how dramatic a change it is, to just getting on and having fun, to really pushing it and grinning even more, to wishing we’d had chance to sample the “regular” suspension, and even more so the much fabled, but yet to be experienced “sport button”. We’re well aware that it’s easy to mock the fact that BMW have rebuilt and designed this second generation MINI from the ground up only to have it look so much the same, but when it comes to driving the car, that’s when you really feel what they’ve been doing. It’s a completely different MINI experience, but it’s a very, very good one that should help reinforce the MINIs position as a leader in the fun, sporty, small car stakes. It’s so different that the current MINI Cooper S with all it’s warts, charm, quirks and character is almost assured it’s place as a real future classic, yet with so much to live up to we feel the new MINI has ticked almost all the right boxes. We’d just like a little more noise in the cockpit when you’re really giving it some welly, reconfigured stereo controls, oh, and a chance to play with the sport button too please!

Links:

Photographs from the launch event in Barcelona.
Second Generation Cooper S Forum at MINI2