Mini Cooper S 2011 Review

Rain is sluicing across the road and the roof as the Mini Cooper S Coupe snorts its way up the mountain. The turbo 1.6-litre engine is appreciating the cold, dense air and the suspension and tyres are clinging tighter than the moss that’s made its home on the edge of the road.

Welcome to the Mini Cooper S Coupe, the brand’s sexiest styling effort yet and a car which at $43,000 is as quick and surefooted a vehicle as you can hope for this side of an all-wheel drive Subaru WRX.

VALUE

Europe will offer four variants of the helmet-headed Mini Coupe but in Australia we’re only getting the good stuff. That means the Cooper S will start proceedings at $42,990 when it goes on sale in late February, with the John Cooper Works version another $8000-$9000 above that (BMW won’t announce the JCW price until closer to launch).

The money buys a great-looking two-seater with a huge boot - 280 litres - along with 16-inch alloys, airconditioning and reverse parking sensors.

TECHNOLOGY

The Mini Coupe doesn’t break new ground, it just covers it quicker than any Mini before it.

Brake energy regeneration helps drive the ancillaries, which kick in only when needed and there’s an auto stop/start system, shift display and low rolling resistance tyres.

The smarts are in the way this car has been set up to sit on the road, irrespective of the conditions or speed.

A rear spoiler pops up at 80km/h and folds back when speeds drop below 60km/h. It’s there to aid the aerodynamics but there’s a switch if you insist on having it up when cruising past the shops.

STYLING

Coupe designer Anders Warming said at the international launch of the car that the look was intended to mirror a ``backwards baseball cap''. Every iPod-enabled teenage rapper now wears their cap at some obscure angle other than front-on and are generally ignored for it.

Not so the Coupe. People in passing cars and pedestrians stare when this Mini rolls past. Inside is the standard Mini switchgear - a huge central speedo with displays on the bottom for stereo position.

Chrome toggle switches control the likes of the interior lights and windows. It’s based on the “three box” structure - engine, passenger cell and boot - common on most cars but new to this former British brand.

SAFETY

The Coupe hasn’t been crashed in the lab yet, but its siblings have earned a five-star rating and the extra work in the chassis should ensure this car is also a top performer. A “tyre defect” indicator warns if the run-flat rubber has a problem. There are only four airbags, but with no back seat passengers, there’s no need for more. 

DRIVING

The only car that comes close to the Mini for chassis and suspension balance is the Audi TT - and it costs another $20,000. The on-paper figures of 135kW and 260Nm are backed by an official 0-100km/h time of 6.9 seconds, but those numbers don’t do justice to how well this car goes around corners.

It’s more a case of how hard do you dare to go - and on wet roads, that’s amazingly hard. The ventilated brakes bleed speed faster than tossing out an anchor and it is as close as a road-going car can come to go-kart performance.

The suspension is biased to ride rather than comfort but is still not horrible on city streets and it’s a trade-off I’d happily accept for its ability to make your smile on tight roads. The front and back screens are intentionally small  to focus attention on the road ahead and the vehicle’s you’ve just passed.

VERDICT

I take my cap off to the Mini Coupe - this helmet-headed car is a masochist’s dream. The nastier the road and the harder you flog it, the better it responds. The two-seat layout is offset by a respectable luggage area and the build quality is up there with cars that cost a lot more.

And then there’s the ability to personalise it so no one mistakes your car from what will be an ever-expanding Coupe pack.

Mini Cooper S Coupe

Price: $42,990
Warranty: Three years/100,000km
Resale: (no previous model)
Service Intervals: Determined by driving conditions
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo, 135kW/240Nm
Body: Three-door coupe
Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Thirst: 6.3 litres/100km, 146g/km CO2
Dimensions: 3734mm (L), 1683mm (W), 1384mm (H), 2467mm (WB) 1459mm/1467mm tracks front/rear
Suspension: MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear
Brakes: 294mm vented front discs, 259mm vented rear discs