Fantastic fun, good looks and toy sports-car handling
Written: Jan 01 '05
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Pros: Steering, handling, grip, minimal body roll, excellent brakes, clutch feel, looks
Cons: Average engine, poor rear legroom, small boot, reverse gear
The Bottom Line: Recommended.
Aside from a few minor quirks and poor rear seat & boot space, it's terrific fun to drive.
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| baggley_sm's Full Review: 2004 MINI Cooper |
I must start by saying that I have never considered buying a new car before, especially not a German car (because of the price premiums over other makes), and have never been particularly a 'petrol head'. Yet I've owned my brand new BMW Mini Cooper for almost two months now, and 3,000 miles later, have no regrets at all.
This summer I was considering replacing my aging Honda Concerto, and was looking at various options, including another Honda (superb engines), or possibly a Focus, Mondeo or Ibiza. When looking through several car magazines, I noticed the new Mini consistently attracted very good reviews for it's handling and performance, even if it wasn't the perfect car in other regards. I'd always liked the style of the car since it's release, but just had a slight interest and curiosity about the car, rather than a passion for either the new or classic Mini. So, in-between testing other cars, I booked a test drive in both a Mini One, and a cooper, and was pretty much hooked from there onwards.
The new Mini is rather a strange car to drive, compared to most other modern cars. The body shell is extremely stiff, the damping and ride is quite firm, and the steering is surprisingly heavy for a small car with power assistance. You are always aware of the road underneath you, as the stiff body and suspension transmit a fair bit of road vibration through the chassis. At times, even the car radio resonates the floorpan slightly, if turned up loud enough. It's not that the chassis is badly put together, far from it - at time of first release (2001), the Mini was by far the stiffest car in it's class. BMW quoted the shell as being at least twice as stiff as any competitor, and often three times stiffer than other small cars. This is believable, due to several reasons. The car has a short & boxy shape, uses advanced welding, and the rear windows do not open at all; these are bonded in place, providing extra bracing between the middle and rear roof-pillars.
All the rigidity in the car isn't at the expense of safety, as the car features crumple zones at front and rear, very good ABS brakes, and a minimum of at least four airbags as standard. The number of airbags seems to vary from market to market; my UK spec Cooper came with two front & two side bags, I believe the US spec also comes with two head/curtain bags as well. The brakes in particular are very good, with decent feel, and a lot of stopping power. This isn't because of the car being very light, in fact the Mini comes in at a similar weight to other compact & mid sized cars, such as the Focus & Civic etc.
The interior is very unusual and definitely a matter of taste, but is generally very attractive. The silver fake-metal dashboard is pretty enough, even if it does look and feel like plastic, rather than metal. Mine came with charcoal black seats with centre dark red panels, which is very bright and slightly sporty looking. I also opted for the very comfortable sports-seats, as the standard seats are at best, very ordinary. This seems to be one of the most chosen options, and having sat in the normal seats in the Mini One, I can see why. The sports seats are silly money if you opt for full-leather, but luckily the cloth versions are much more reasonable - and to be honest, I thought the leather seats in the test drive Cooper were plastic anyway! I think BMW could have chosen a better grade of leather given the price charged for them. As it is, I'm quite happy with my cloth versions.
I only have a couple of negative points regarding the interior. Some people love the odd-shaped indicator and light stalks, personally I find them slightly tacky compared to the rest of the interior. They don't feel very substantial either, but as long as they don't come off I don't mind too much. Another slight disappointment are the supplied floor mats, I have the proper fitted velour ones as part of my trim package. Separately, these are listed as 50 GBP, and to be honest, would be a rip-off at the price. They look nice and are perfectly colour matched as you would expect, but after just a couple of months, the drivers mat is starting to show wear and tear, and there is already a mark where my heel rests behind the throttle. If you don't get them as part of a trim package, an after-market set is a much better option.
Also, in the UK at least, the car comes as standard with a cassette/radio rather than a CD player. As usual, the official BMW CD option seem very expensive, and an alternative make is a far better choice. Even if the centre-mounted speedo looks great it is in a slightly inconvenient place for driving, but luckily the trip computer in the RPM counter can be set to speed, and I prefer this to an analogue display. The computer also gives other useful info such as outside temperature, available range in miles based on fuel in tank, average speed, average fuel consumption and even instant fuel consumption (very odd to watch!).
One rather strange feature on my Cooper is that the drivers side comes fitted with two sun visors, the second one is across the side window, instead of the grab handle for the passenger. An unusual idea, but in practice it is almost useless, as it is fairly short. I'm not sure why this is included at all really.
The driving position is fine, the front has a fair amount of room for almost anyone. My sports seats also came with height adjustment, and together with a small amount of adjustment on the steering column it feels easy to get snug and comfortable. It feels particularly good with the seat set fairly low down, and all round visibility is quite good. The only slight negative point with visibility is, surprisingly, when parking. The back end is easy enough, but I just can't see where the front of the bonnet ends, as it does curve out of view quickly. I just can't see it, and it's taking some getting used to having a feel for the short front end.
The pedals are fairly closely spaced. The throttle is floor-levered whilst the other two are conventionally mounted. This is the first car I have driven with an 'organ-pedal' style of throttle, but it feels very comfortable to me. A nice touch is that with most of the UK spec trim packages footwell lights are included, so you get a good view of the pedals at night when you first get in.
It has to be said that rear legroom is quite poor, and the rear seats are not very welcoming, in contrast to the comfort in the front. The car is a four-seater, but how comfortable the rear passengers are depends on how many of the occupants have the cheek to be tall! If more than two occupants are tall, then someone has to compromise on comfort. Room in the rear of the car (including the boot) is slightly compromised around the short length, and the advanced rear suspension. No problems for two adults though, and the rear seats can be folded very easily to give quite a lot of luggage space. Just don't expect to carry four people and their luggage.
Now to the best bit, the handling. This is something you will either love or hate, as the steering is very quick and immediate. It has a fair amount of weight as well, as the power steering is speed related, and it gives little assistance at speed. I particularly like the weighty feel and very quick turn-in to corners, but it's certainly different to most modern cars, with their light steering and soft ride. The Mini's steering is highly-geared and precise and it bites into any change in direction sharply. The chassis feels as though it has huge amounts of grip, particularly at the front end, and corners can be taken at speeds that would scare me silly in most other cars. At first it is a little strange, but quickly becomes great fun. The lack of body roll is impressive, also the car has very little dip & squat when accelerating and braking.
The stiff chassis setup is excellent when cornering, but the only down-side is the ride over very bad roads and things like speed-humps. The ride is never nervous, but can be a little on the harsh side when facing large pot-holes and obstacles.
The gearbox on Coopers from summer 2004 onwards have changed completely. On older models, the gearbox was a British Midlands unit, and on the new Cooper, it is German Getrag sourced. It's also changed in nature completely. The older unit was had a fairly soft and slick feel, the Getrag unit has a much heavier, clicky feel to it. It almost feels as though it is gated, and when brand new it feels slightly notchy. It soons loosens up though, and feels very secure and solid; it just isn't as slick as some Japanese cars. The only down point to the new gearbox is selecting reverse, some people do have an issue with this with the Getrag version. I've never had a problem with selecting reverse myself, but it isn't as secure or smooth as the forward gears. Be aware that if you test drive a Cooper that isn't a very recent build, the gearbox will be different to the new one. BMW have also shortened the gear ratios slightly to give a more sporty feel, at 70 MPH the engine pulls about 600 or 700 more RPM than the old Cooper, this is all down to the revised ratios in the Getrag box. The clutch itself has a good feel to it, with a bit of weight and a smooth bite.
One thing that's also changed in the new spec Cooper is the sound of it. The old Cooper I test drove was fairly quiet and refined at all RPMs, the new Cooper is the same until about 3700 RPM. For some reason, the new model has a slight growl at higher revs, and I don't think this is down to just the new gearbox. I'm sure that BMW has tried to give the standard Cooper a sportier feel, and the louder sound is down to airflow somewhere. Possibly it's in the air intake, or maybe in the exhaust system, but it's definitely a bit louder than it was on older models.
The 1.6 litre straight four in the standard Cooper is decent enough, but to be honest is fairly ordinary, with no variable-valve or advanced features. Peak power is 115 BHP which is enough to be honest. The only downside is that at low revs (below about 2500 RPM) there really isn't much torque. It's certainly not a patch on modern turbo-diesel engines for low end power. Once you get going though it's a different matter, and at about 4000 RPM there is quite a lot more grunt. It's certainly quick enough for me, and I've never managed to hit the red-line yet - I've always run out of road or nerve first!
All in all the new Cooper is fantastic fun to drive. The handling and grip would be very good for a RWD or maybe even AWD car; for a compact FWD car, it's superb. It just feels eager and grippy at all times, and although it can clatter over poor sections of road, it always feels safe and agile. You really have to push very hard in order to lose grip at all.
The only real downside for me is cleaning the car. Because of the very short overhang/wheel at each corner design, the rear wheels tend to throw dirt onto the back window fairly rapidly. I'm already looking into getting mud-flaps fitted to reduce this. Also, the excellent brakes are fitted with quite soft pads, and these give off a fair amount of brake dust. You have to be very brave to go for the white wheel option (free on Coopers), as you'll be spending a lot of time cleaning them!
Aside from the odd niggle though, this is the most fun car I have driven, without question. It's definitely different and an aquired taste, but there are very few cars I would consider swapping it for. I've heard of people comparing the new Mini favourably to superb cars such as the Impreza WRX, and it would take something at least in this league to even consider changing.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 19000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: Cooper 1.6, Pepper pack
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Epinions.com ID:
baggley_sm
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Reviews written: 1
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