|
Sales of
premium cars continue to defy market trends.
Upscale offerings from almost every
manufacturer have showed continuous growth
despite the effects of higher gasoline
prices, increased traffic congestion, and
inconsistent economic forecasts. Perhaps,
sales of these cars are the true bellwether
of the nation’s consumer confidence.
No matter
how you slice it, the sub-compact Mini
Cooper is a small premium car, with the
emphasis on both adjectives. Now owned by
BMW but still built in Great Britain, the
Mini Cooper is well appointed and
exquisitely detailed. One of the smallest
cars sold in America, the Mini is rated a
four-passenger automobile but reality says
that it is a sporty 2+2 (two adults
comfortably accommodated up front, two very
small humans in the rear). Adults might fit
in the rear if they have tiny legs.
Mini Cooper
sales have benefited from one of the
industry’s more unique advertising
campaigns. Prototypes teased the marketplace
for several years before the first smart
looking coupes rolled down the assembly line
several years ago. Starring roles in several
movies (remember “The Italian Job” and
Austin Powers) helped to raise the public’s
awareness factor even while the brand poked
fun at itself, the competition and
prospective owners in several spoofs of
traditional car ads.
After the
debut of the original Mini coupe, the
product planners have kept the market
interested in the marquee by offering
successive new models on the same platform.
A year ago, the high-output “S” model
premiered with a supercharged 1.6-liter
engine. Adding 53-hp to a light, front-drive
car made the Mini an even more exhilarating
ride.
This year,
BMW has created the Mini Cooper convertible.
The power soft-top is available with either
the base coupe or the more powerful “S”
model. Next year, there will be a
four-wheel-drive Mini Cooper mini-SUV.
Gotcha!
The Mini
comes with three main attributes. The
unique, one-of-a-kind exterior styling is
more than cute. Most viewers say it’s a
“happy-looking” car that has a warm friendly
smile. Maybe it’s related to Herbie the Love
Bug.
Second, the
interior is a work of automotive art all by
itself. Somewhat inspired by the Audi TT
(that German influence), the Mini’s interior
is entirely made up of round or oval
surfaces. Every instrument, control, shift
knob, lever, switch, and door handle is
circular in shape and feel. The
old-fashioned toggle switches that operate
your fog lamps, door locks and one-touch
power windows are chrome trimmed round
pieces. The large tachometer and
speedometer, moved from the center of the
dash to the tilt steering column in the “S”
model, are perfectly round. The housings for
the door handles match the speaker faces,
the door pulls and the beverage slots are
all round. Even the button for the traction
control, which we do not want to turn off,
is circularly shaped.
The third
reason that makes Mini Coopers such a cult
favorite (sales are up 22 percent so far
this year) is the car’s crisp, agile,
right-now handling. Have you ever driven a
go-cart? How about a Formula 1 racecar?
Especially in “S” trim, the Mini Cooper
offers the same kind of lithe maneuvering.
You find yourself taking turns later and
much faster as the steering reacts almost
faster than your brain can comprehend.
Steering feel, braking power, tire grip and
engine acceleration enable you to exceed
your customary parameters. Fun? You bet!
Look up responsive in the dictionary and a
picture of the Mini is featured.
That said,
the Mini is much more fond of smooth
pavement than our harsh winter-ravaged
roads. With low-profile 17-inch run-flat
tires and a taut sport suspension, the Mini
“S” can run over a dime and you can tell
whether it was heads or tails. Every ripple,
every bump, every truck groove is felt in
the seat of your pants.
But find
that nice new pavement, that perfect ribbon
of asphalt, and the Mini creates huge grins.
Those bumpy moments in the saddle become a
distant memory as the Mini’s prowess becomes
apparent.
The
thrilling impressions markedly increase when
you open the throttle and let those 168
horses run. Packing just 2,700 pounds, the
Mini’s little supercharged 1.6-liter four
makes more than 100-horsepower per liter of
displacement. Snick through the six-speed
Getrag gearbox, and the Mini “S” creates
quite a rush. Get sloppy and turn off the
traction control, and you can toast the
front tires through first and second gear; a
rather contradictory image of Britain’s
popular little economy coupe.
Fans will
note the subtle variances that identify the
“S” version. A functioning hood scoop, small
“S” badges on the fender grilles and dual
chrome exhaust tips poking from under the
rear fascia are the only cues that this Mini
has a mighty motor. That and the raspy
engine note of course.
With the
addition of the power soft-top, the Mini
convertible adds a fourth dimension of
virtue. A heated glass window is included
plus another true-to-the-Mini line of
thought feature: The front portion of the
roof accordion folds back almost two feet to
work as a huge sunroof. Lower the rear
quarter windows, too, everything working
while the car is in motion, and the
convertible flows mucho fresh air with most
of the soft-top still in place.
Unfortunately, another downside to the stiff
body structure and rigid chassis is some
squeaks and rattles from the complicated
convertible hardware over rough pavement.
There is no body flex, so one could surmise
that this early production version may have
had some teething issues that subsequent
models will not expose because body noises
are very un-BMW like.
Despite lots
of head and leg room up front, the seatpan
is short on thigh support, the interior
mirror blocks too much forward vision for
tall drivers, and the rear seat headrests
and rollover hoops make visibility out the
back window darn near impossible with the
top in place. Thankfully, a rear obstacle
detection system is included.
The Mini
Cooper “S” engine is an absolute sweetheart,
the interior layout is just too cool, and
the folding sunroof/convertible top is a
brilliant execution of a traditional theme.
Some of you
may think that the Mini is a novelty economy
car with a flair for enthusiastic driving.
Yes, this may be true to a degree, but the
Mini “S” is really a compact car brimming
with character, power and a fun-to-drive
quotient that is hard to beat.
A premium
car indeed. |
