MINI Cooper S: The Technologies

The gearbox is a 6-speed manual one, it is easy to control, very sharp to shifting, and it shifts with an almost sports car's sound. 163 hp and 1140 kg (total weight) make this car look like a sports car. If 90-horsepower engine of Mini One or 115-horsepower motor of Mini Cooper left a feeling of the engine being too weak, Cooper S here is unquestionable and unrivaled as it is capacious and complaints-free. The engine is a 1.6-liter one (just like the previous models featured) however it is provided with mechanical charging not with turbo charging. The engine operates as if it is rather serious car and its low-frequency fluctuation fills the saloon with vibration.

The steering is very sharp and responsive: you just touch the wheel and you switch lanes. The smallest mistake and Cooper is already jumping to the right and to the left. Hardly one can relax when driving this car but the drive is assured.

On the whole, steerability or handling is one of the best sides of the Mini Cooper S. You feel like flying when 150 km/h speed is reached at the third gear, 180 km/h at the forth, and 200 km/h when the fifth gear is on. What is more, the car is rather obedient and if you do everything smoothly and carefully the car will do what you want it to do.

The body is very rigid, rear multi-link suspension boasts of great kinematics, the springs are nicely chosen, as well as the shock dampers, and stabilizators... What is more, one cannot but mention great electronics.

Some electronic systems cannot be switched off like Cornering Brake Control for instance. Therefore braking at turning turns into a pleasure from a necessity. The system redistributes the braking effort on the front wheel (the most loaded one) and then the effort is passed over to the other wheels but this short delay is enough for avoiding the skidding.

The first gear is more prolonged if comparing Cooper S with simply Cooper. So add 90 extra kg of the laden mass, large wheels, a little sluggishness of the motor when responding to an "electric" gas pedal, which was probably caused by the need to meet rigid Euro4 toxicity requirements, and you'll have a heavier but more capacious automobile. What is more, it is as easy to accelerate from stop driving a compressor Mini as driving a naturally aspirated car. However Mini Cooper S is not that convenient when in the city as it could have been.

All of these characteristics make Mini Cooper S even more "foppish" than the previous models. Cooper S costs 30 000 $ and over while naturally aspirated Mini Cooper costs 25 000 $. This very factor turns this car into a rather expensive plaything actually, as a better car provided with a more capacious engine can bought for this money. In any case, those who drove this car at least once assure that it is impossible to escape this car's charm.