[Dogger]

I'm was planning on ordering a Mini One this coming weekend but can find no reviews of the base model. I realise the Cooper is a sportier car (blah, blah, blah) but what about those of us who can't quite afford one?

If anyone knows of any dedicated 'One' road tests I'd be grateful if you could post a link..:0)

Alternatively, given that I'm going for a basic colour and nothing too flashy in the mechanics options does anyone know how much this would cost when compared to a One with about £700 quids worth of bells and whistles added on? I have sneaking suspicion it might balance out?

Answers on a postcard please!!

[Paul]

As far as I know there has been no One model roat tests yet.

The UK launch (later this month) will have One's so we will get reviews around that time.

Sorry I can't be more help there.

[BruceK]

I realize that the Cooper is about £1300 more than the One (the One - that sounds weird), but would you really be happy with a One?

Perhaps it would be worth the wait to save up and get a Cooper. I keep thinking that if it were me, I'd always regret settling for the lesser car just to have it sooner. If you get a Cooper you'll never wish you bought a One instead. Can you say the same thing in reverse?

[Dogger]

Thanks guys..and Bruce, I wish I new if I'd regret it or not! If there were some way of comparing the two cars (drive wise) then I'd know..:0)

I'm currently driving a 1.1l Cinqucento Sporting which handles like the Mini's I used to own years ago, so in that respect mini One is already way ahead in terms of power and performance - The Cooper would just be the icing on the cake (but a fair bit more expensive..:0( )

decisions, decisions...

[gazzaman28]

Ooh a cinq sporting, that brings back happy memories! My dad used to have a bright yellow one and I got teased rotten when I drove that around but it was a fantastic little car, certainly a natural successor to the original mini, but not in the same league as the BMW mini...

[Andy E]

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but the One and the Cooper have EXACTLY the same engine. The only mechanical differences between the cars are that the ONE has a slightly higher final drive (done to improve the official fuel consumption figures for marketing purposes, otherwise they'd be be exactly the same which wouldn't look too good) and a single box exhaust (to make it sound different, again to differentiate it from the Cooper and justify charging more money). The torque above 3500rpm is limited in the calibration of the engine management system (easy to do with E-gas). Up to that speed the two cars are exactly the same. Two minutes with a laptop and a bit of inside information and you can uprate a One engine to a Cooper spec, even a bit extra with very little effort. If anyone is thinking of buying a ONE and wants it uprating, I get a strange feeling there will be info appearing on this forum in the future...

[Dogger]

Cheers Andy,

I had heard about the engine which is why I was so infuriated that no-one had given mention to the One's capabilities as yet - surely there's very little difference in the 'average' domestic journey??

Personally I'd rather have a higher spec One, with lower insurance costs, better fuel economy and a smaller initial outlay if the only sacrifice is to be 1 second slower over 0-60..:0)

I also remember reading somewhere that the cornering on the Cooper was prone to oversteering because of the tighter suspension and that the drive quality might be a little more 'mini-esque' in a One...

Anyhow..I'd better get back to work...just thought I'd add a bit more fuel to the fire..:0)

[Silverstone]

I have "contacts" in the business who will know exactly what the differences are between One and Cooper engines. I have already put feelers out on this one.

I did ask John Cooper Garages, but they were very cagey. By the way, they will release performance upgrade package prices in September. They said in the £1000 - £1500 price range.

If you can start with a One, then by my calculation you have about £800 in the pot compared to starting with a Cooper, after you have equalised the spec's.

The only sticking point seems to be suspension upgrades to One - I can't find an option to upgrade to Sport in the list. Everything else (apart from white/black roof) can be had as an option.

Any ideas?

[Paul]

The only hitch with buying a One then getting it tuned is how will it affect the insurance. I guess you vould not tell them, but then you are not insured if anything happens.

With my classic mini I have to tell the insurance company everything, or the insurance is void.

[Mini1380]

I kind of wondered about what the actual difference was engine wise between a 'ONE' and a 'COOPER'. It wouldn't surprise me if the there are some other differences internally which are stronger Rods, Flywheels, ro Transmission parts. What I thought that the difference was was improving the engine enough to allow a higher rev, thus more available power, and if you didn't use it, you could still get the same MPG.

You might be able to change the management system to generate the extra horsepower, but can the engine and other parts support the power increase over an extended amount of time.

Does the 'S' has the same engine except for strapping the Supercharger and parts on. I would think that some of the internal parts have to be strengthened as well to support the extra power.

[Dogger]

Thanks for everyone's sage advice!

As an enthusiast of driving more so than of cars themselves I have a natural leaning towards Mini's of any size and shape. I'm happy that Gazzaman considers my Cinq to be a natural successor to the Mini in terms of driving pleasure as that's why I got the thing in the 1st place - although the build quality is pretty ropey..:0(

To be honest though, all this talk of upgrades, torque differentials and the like is going way over my head! As long as the Mini I end up with can hold it's own on a very dull motorway run to work each morning and a few 'fun' trips out and about now and then, then I'm a happy bunny. I suspect I'm pretty much sold on the One (me and about 2% of the people on the polls!)

Once I've learned to appreciate it's mechanical prowess I'll no doubt add some bits on..:0)

Thanks Paul for such an invaluable and well designed site!! Great Stuff..:0)

[Rob.]

MINI ONE £10,300 plus salt £250 plus £250 paint = £10800 and if you want alloys £270 = £11070

MINI COOPER £11,600 + £300 pepper pack +£250 paint £12150

You don't get much extra on the cooper and I thought like you for a while. Then I thought I was paying out the money anyway so why not stretch it. The cooper is going to be better. The ONE is just going to be reasonable car, why not get a new clio for £7,495 Top Gear said it was great. ONLY JOKING. For the extra grand why don't you stretch yourself, it won't hurt that much.

[Dogger]

Thanks for doing the maths for me..:0) ..and here's me thinking I was confused before!

The way I work it out is - One (in Yellow so no paint costs) 10300
'must haves' - Mini Disc and Alarm 300
Possibles - Chrome trim, leather steering wheel & Salt 410
11010

or

Cooper in Yellow with MiniDisc and Alarm (other stuff already included)
11600
300
11900

That's the 1st time I've really done the maths to my own spec...but you've really got me thinking now! If I end up in the poor-house I know where to come!

And French cars??..who do you think I am! Gimme a good old fashioned Greman car any day! (just don't mention the war!..well someone had to say it!)

[Andy E]

You can rest assured that there are ABSOLUTELY NO PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES between the engines in the ONE and Cooper. The engine management software icorporates a map which determines the maximum allowable mass airfow into the engine at any engine speed. On the ONE, this map is calibrated to give a lower maximum mass airflow (and hence lower torque) at speeds above 3500rpm. Change the numbers in the map and you get the same output as the Cooper. Sadly you can't just fit a Cooper ECU or re-program the ECU with Cooper software because the driveability functions are calibrated to work with a specific set of gear ratios.
The Cooper S is essentially the same engine, bar the induction system, which is good news if you want to modify a Cooper since you can be sure the bottom end will be strong enough. But if you're going to modify it anyway, why pay more money for the Cooper when you may as well start with a ONE.

[Silverstone]

As promised, here are the definitive Powertrain differences between ONE and COOPER:

1. Engine ECU Calibration - as mentioned by Andy - identical up to 3500rpm - not possible to swap Cooper ECU onto a One - Security systems won't allow it - "drive-by-wire" throttle system will be a huge barrier to the likes of Superchips etc producing aftermarket upgrades - John Cooper garages are getting "Works" assistance, so will probably be the only source of upgrades for a year or two (at least £1000 - but will give more than 115hp)

2. Exhaust system - One sounds less "sporty" and has a plain tail-pipe

3. Gear ratios (or final drive?) - taller gearing on ONE gives improved fuel economy numbers - this is a real killer for anybody wanting to get a cheap Cooper - this will surely hurt acceleration.

All-in-all, there are enough hurdles there not to make upgrading a ONE a viable route. I have decided to stick with a COOPER.

[juliant]

I for one will still be settling for a Mini One. Local NZ Autocar has indicated prices for a Cooper will be around NZ40,000 and the One NZ 30,000. Thats too big a difference in my book, (10,000 for alloy wheels, a few more KW and a slightly tweaked suspension and a rev coutner) and suggests pricing based more on marketing/positioning than cost of additional features.

In fact I fear that the pricing approach overall may be to position it in a higher price bracket than similarly spec'd cars. Maybe like the US, we wont even get the Mini One.

For comparison, the Renault Cleo RXE (1.4 73kw) is only NZ 24,000. This is with ABS, airbags etc. UK price I believe is aaround STG 10,700, so on that basis, the Mini One should only be no more than NZ 24,000 too - now it might be worth a small premium for its looks etc, but if its too far out of step I'll pass.

New car prices in NZ are pretty low in general, due to the competition from used Japanese imports which they say accounts for 70% of purchases. For example the new Ford Mondeo 2.0 litre manual is only to retail at NZ 34,000

Mind you March 2002 is a long way off, so prices at this stage I guess are pure speculation.

[Dogger]

At last someone else who's getting a MINI ONE!!

I ordered mine the other week for September delivery so I can always let you know how it fares - assuming NZ isn't getting them until later.

My main reason, apart from the cost difference (about £2000 when all said and done) is that as I'm unlikely to be doing any Rally-esque driving (unless you count the speed bumps at my local supermarket!!)

I'd hate to do the Cooper the disservice of being driven sedately to work and back when it's obviously build for sportier things..given the other comments on this posting, it certainly seems to be one for the 'real' enthusiast..I guess that makes me a fan rather than an enthusiast..:0)