2014 MINI Cooper And Cooper S Review
2014 MINI COOPER REVIEW
What’s hot: Brilliant new engines, great handling, and new low prices.
What’s not: Interior plastics are awful, noisy on-road.
X-FACTOR: It has still got it: so cool it transcends price segments and such fun to drive you’ll forgive it any failing…
Vehicle style: Small sports hatch
Price: Cooper $26,650, Cooper S $36,950
Engines:
Cooper - 100kW/220Nm 1.5 3cyl, Cooper S - 141kW/280Nm 2.0 4cyl
Transmissions: 6spd manual | 6spd auto (with sports-shift)
Fuel consumption l/100km listed: 4.7 (Cooper), 5.9 (Cooper S)
Fuel consumption l/100km listed: 9.3 (Cooper), 8.7 (Cooper S)
OVERVIEW
It’s bigger, wider, roomier, gutsier, faster and more fuel-efficient. The handling is still brilliant, but more so, and it costs considerably less than the outgoing model.
That’s the new MINI Cooper and Cooper S. What is there not to like with that story?
Well, the interior. It’s overdesigned and plasticky. And the road noise - it can be a bit of a chore in the bigger-wheeled Cooper S.
With new engines, including a potent three-cylinder turbo and a larger (than the outgoing model) 2.0 litre turbo petrol, the new MINIs, both Cooper and Cooper S, are fast and superbly balanced cars.
Each is, through-and-through, a driver’s car and impossible not to enjoy tossing through a set of corners.
Now priced up to $5000 less than the car it replaces, at $26,650 for the MINI Cooper with six-speed manual, the new model is firmly in Corolla and Mazda3 territory.
That’s never happened before, and it’s going to have the new car speaking to a whole new set of buyers.
It goes on sale at the end of the month; we joined MINI Australia in Queensland to put both new petrol models through their paces. The road circuit and wide skid-pan at Mt Cotton showed just how capable these cars are.
Is the new MINI the car for you? Well, that will depend on your priorities and what you look for in a car.
But if you like driving, there’s a nice little adrenalin surge waiting for you in a MINI showroom.
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