Unsere Smart Repair Partner
Our Mini Cooper S has gone back after a year’s motoring on the CAR fleet. It’ll be sorely missed and I maintain I’d rather have a Cooper S than any other hot hatch. Yes, a Renaultsport Clio might fly around corners with a smidge more attitude and a 500 Abarth might pack even more pizzazz than Oxford’s rocket, but as an ownership proposition it’s hard to fault the Mini.
It goes back in remarkably good shape, feeling solid and fresh after a low-ish 12,017 miles. Next time you see a new Mini, just inspect the quality of the paintwork and body panels to get an impression for how many BMW genes are in this car. And it’s that solidity – the sheer quality of the thing – that won me over. Every time I sank into the Cooper’s (upgraded £1210) leather seats or heard the artful, high-tech indicator tick-tock, it felt special. You make no sacrifices when you downsize to a Mini.
I’ve written previously about how brilliant the Mini is to drive and that was key to its appeal. It made every drive an event and the upright windows and excellent visibility help here. It’s just the sort of car you jump in and drive, and it’ll quickly put a smile on your face. Okay, it’s far from perfect, but I can summarise the dynamic faults thus:
• Stiff ride on Chili pack’s 17in wheels
• Torque steer at T-junctions
• We miss the old supercharger’s music!
Faults? Just the small matter of a failed gearbox – but if you read the full saga below, you’ll see this happened while in the care of a sister magazine and I’m loathe to kick Mini too much when we don’t know exactly what our rogue colleagues might have done while YJ07 MBR was in their care. The dealer service on this warranty repair almost made up for the inconvenience suffered (and, yes, we shopped undercover). Had we kept the car for longer, we wouldn’t have pulled into the service bay until 21,000 miles or August 2009.
One other gripe was the fuel economy. We had high expectations of Efficient Dynamics but the benefits failed to materialise on our Cooper S. Mini claims 45.6mpg combined, but we averaged 34.2mpg over the year – a precise and disappointing 25% off the official figure. And, no, we didn't rag it absolutely everywhere.
Most tanks hovered in the low to mid 30s and it only twice broke into the 40s. It’s a shame, as the stop-start system works well once you’ve adapted your driving style, but the fact remains that my motorway and cross-country driving milieu didn’t make much use of the stop-start. At least we know from our own tests that the Cooper or diesel are the Minis to buy if parsimony is your thing.
So the Mini’s gone – and it’s replaced by the Jaguar XF in CAR’s car park. From a brilliant small British car to a potentially excellent big exec. The Jag has a lot to live up to…
