[~Marcus~]

http://www.mini2.com/article420-livi...ni-cooper.html

I do have to agree with some of Paul's words with regards to the basic Cooper. You really need to pay for part leather seats and a dash/door elipse finish and a colour line to get the interior up to standard. And in my opinion you really need Sat Nav to get the interior looking its best! My interior is stunning. I get lots of compliments about it and often see people peering in, but then I did spend about £2500 on it, most of which I won't see again.

I do think MINI have shot themselves in the foot a little by downgrading items like the trim and radio so you have to pay for an upgrade - as an enthusiast I'm willing to pay for it but others may not.

I do not find the Cooper slow, it's more than adequate for urban and motorway driving and there is much more oomph in the higher gears than in the old one. I don't understand people driving cars with 500 bhp in the congested, speed camera ridden South East - when are you going to use it?!

As for the car losing a little of its soul, I have to say yes it has a little bit, but throw it into a rundabout or corner and it's still fun fun fun, just in a slicker and more polished way. But for me the comfort more than makes up for it. I am noticeably less frazzled after a long journey and that counts for a lot.

Do I miss my old MINI? - Yes. Would I swap back? No!

[mister.t]

Quote: Originally Posted by ~Marcus~ (original)

Do I miss my old MINI? - Yes. Would I swap back? No!

Hit the nail on the head. IMO, the Sat Nav is a little over-priced. Looks great, but it would have bumped the price of our car up to nearly £18k. When we've got 2 other motors to run, we couldnt spend every penny we've got on the Mini, but, I do love our interior. Again, after about 500 miles, the performance is more than adequate, and, the other weekend, we were pulling out of a junction, got the engine at its "sweet-spot", and kept it there, and we were going fast enough before we had to slow down

[glangford]

Seems his review is a little contradictory to the one conducted in Barcelona on a MC.

There they said:

"The new MINI Cooper is an excellent update of an already exceptional little car. We're sure that the success and passionate following of the MINI will continue at a pace with the next generation. We couldn't find fault either on it's own merits or against the 2001-2006 MINI Cooper."

Seemed to be really picking at a couple of annoyances on interior trim. In Barcelona, the performance was noted as a marked improvement, interior better, etc.

[Olly.]

Quote: Originally Posted by glangford (original)

Seems his review is a little contradictory to the one conducted in Barcelona on a MC.

There they said:

"The new MINI Cooper is an excellent update of an already exceptional little car. We're sure that the success and passionate following of the MINI will continue at a pace with the next generation. We couldn't find fault either on it's own merits or against the 2001-2006 MINI Cooper."

Seemed to be really picking at a couple of annoyances on interior trim. In Barcelona, the performance was loved, interior 'taken up a notch', etc.

Thats the point of the article though, Paul said the S feels much different to the Cooper and the S in Barcelona had all the upgraded dash panels and seats etc which improves the interior quality.

[glangford]

Still seems the 'tone' of his review was 180 degree different from Barcelona Review. Even in conculsions.

[gokartride]

The review makes sense to me...I too found myself wondering how the Cooper was going to fare after all the initial fanfare around the MCS. I suspect we're pretty spoiled...R56 may not wow but, hey, it's still a MINI and that is a very good thing!! In any case...Coopers do not immediately impress as readily as an MCS or certainly a JCW, but then again the Cooper is perhaps the workhorse of the bunch...superb for daily motoring, engaging when asked to be, tame when asked to be. It can be mild or wild...and deliver excellent fuel economy. Not bad.

[Paul]

When I drove the Cooper in Barcelona it was a more high spec model, this Cooper I had for the week was more basic, and it really, really felt that way.

Also, it's very different blasting around a carefully chosen test route in dramatic countryside, than it is living with a car, which is why I always like to do at least two reviews, from the launches, and from day to day driving of the car.

I still think the car is very good, and it does offer a more refined, and more powerful drive than the old Cooper. However between the old Cooper and the old S they both to me felt very different, the Cooper had to be driven a certain way to get the best out of and was very rewarding indeed. With the new generation, the Cooper felt more like a slow Cooper S, rather than having more of it's own unique character traits.

That's how it left me feeling anyway.