MINI have kindly provided us with a MINI Cooper S to live with for a week. 29th November: Day 7, It’s been fun….

Delivery Miles: 2483
Miles on collection: 2856
Miles covered Today: 13

Total miles covered: 373
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

The last day of being with the Mellow Yellow S was sadly undermined by other MINI related activity, so on the day itself there’s very little to report. I say sadly, but don’t really mean that, because the “other MINI related activity” was the collection from Wollaston MINI of our new Laser Blue MINI Cooper S!

So, obviously not much to report on the day, but the week as a whole has shown as a lot. There’s the good: The handling, the engine, the standard suspension, and the interior comfort and trim. The bad: Losing wheel arch trim on our regular jaunts, the less than impressive MPG, and of course the ugly: The state of the car at the end of the week! But hey, at least it looks like it’s had fun!

After living with the new Cooper S for a week we feel we’ve learnt a lot about the new car. Living with a car (especially with our three year old Son) is always a tougher test than driving them on any track or test route could ever be. The new MINI has impressed us more than we thought it would. Sat on the driveway along with our family collection of 2002 MINI One, Cooper S, and 2006 S it still appeared every bit a MINI, and you could begin to understand the lazy remarks made by many in the motoring media about how the new car “looks just like the old one”. It doesn’t, but it does fit in the family well.

It’s strange to say, but swapping from the new car to the “old new MINI” does, to us, make the outgoing model feel slighted dated and old fashioned in the interior. The exterior design and finish still stands up brilliantly, sure the pre-facelift light units look a little dated, but beyond that the design is still as fresh and unique today as it was when it first hit the streets. You can understand why the new model was such a big challenge to design and produce.

After a week with the new MINI there were some things that didn’t ever really impress, the Boost CD stereo was one thing, the controls are fiddly, and the sound not as good as the old Boost stereo, which is a shame. The heater controls too, while you do get used to them, they just don’t feel as natural as dials to use, nor somehow as accurate. A lot of the design of the MINI was, apparently, a case of form follows function, but in the centre stack this appears to have been forgotten. I’m concerned about the trim coming off, but that could be down to bad luck or the terrible weather and huge amounts of standing water. If not, that will be the biggest issue, as I don’t want to drive my favourite “MINI roads” in fear of losing bits of trim every time!

Overall all the family were very impressed with the new MINI, and our boy was sad to see it go as the yellow and check patterns in the interior were his favourite! But, no time to feel melancholy, the nasty man who took the car away wasn’t so bad after all, and left us a 2nd Generation MINI Cooper to get familiar with!