MINI have kindly provided us with a MINI Cooper S to live with for a week. 28th November: Day 5 & 6, getting familiar.

Delivery Miles: 2483
Miles today & yesterday: 108
Total miles covered: 360
Average MPG (according to trip computer): 29.5 mpg (imperial)
Average Speed (according to trip computer): 29.6 mph
Pictures: MINI2 Galleries

Forum discussion: Here

Due to a complete lack of activity on Monday, there was really nothing to report. But Tuesday was a day of driving and filming, covering many of my familiar roads in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire I spent most of my time filming the car from lots of different angles, hours worth, hopefully ending with enough footage to put a little sequence together for the website by the end of the week. It seemed someone was working against me today, as every road I went on, no matter how small and remote, somebody, be it in a car, walking their dock, or riding their push bike would come along and linger in shot while I waited for them to clear off! Never mind, I’m sure I’ve got something useable!

From the most recent photos (apologies there aren’t more), you’ll no doubt pick up that the Mellow Yellow MINI is looking decidedly filthy by now, I really should give it a scrub up before taking any more snaps, but it shows it’s been well used I guess. That’s what days of rain do the lanes around here! But it makes for good fun driving. The good news here is that no more bits of trim appeared to have dislodged themselves from the MINI, although a small piece of fallen tree (so small I didn’t even see it coming) did decide to lodge itself in the tray under the car today, which sounded horrible and had me panicked until I could safely stop and see what was scraping under the car!

One thing all this damp weather and damp roads has shown is that in true MINI (and in particular Cooper S) tradition the rear of the car still gets considerable more filthy than the rest of it, and if you’re driving along a particularly wet stretch of road you may as well forget about the rear wipe and view through the rear window. This is something the plastic trim on the exterior c-pillars (replacing the wrap-around glass) was supposed to help with, but I cant see much difference at all between this car and the last Cooper S.

One of the things I said earlier in the week was I’d try not to focus on design and style, as I’ve done that to death already in previous reviews and on the forums, and you can all make your own minds up. But I have just got to say that the checkered dash finish, and Mellow Yellow coloured interior trim, with added chrome trim, looks really smart. This isn’t an option I’d plum for myself, but I really like it and I’ve started to feel quite at home in this little MINI already! I’m not sure I would chose it, if only for fear that the yellow, in particular on the door handles, will look dirty quite quickly and be hard to maintain. Time will tell, and I’m sure we’ll hear about that from other yellow owners on the forums in time.

The more I’ve driven this MINI, and the more I’ve used the “sport” button too, the more I’ve grown to like it. The suspension and road manners has probably impressed me most. As much as the engine is very good for it’s size and on-paper performance, I think the standard suspension set up is really well worked on the second generation MINI. Even though this is the softer set up, it’s still firm enough for most I’m sure, and if you’re not sure you need the extra sport gives you then I’m convinced you’ll not be disappointed by the way this set up behaves. It’s so grippy and corners and “feels” like a MINI to drive, especially on more twisty stretches, yet a lot more quiet, smooth and comfortable than the older setups. It will also probably inspire more confidence in many drivers, as some of the on the edge skittyness of the previous MINI has been taken away and replaced with a more sure footed feeling. The only warning I’d give to previous S owners upgrading to the new model is to watch the great big speedo with care, it’s easy to go faster than you think you are!

Tomorrow will be our last full day with the Cooper S, and I have to say so far it’s been a real pleasure to drive. It’s an exciting time on MINI2, and for me personally, having been driving MINIs for five and a half years, it’s nice to have something totally fresh and different, and yet still very much a MINI to enjoy.