2007 MINI Cooper S: What's It Like to Live With?
We push the cargo space of the 2007 Mini Cooper to the limit in our long-term road test of the vehicle on Edmunds.com.
What do you want to know about?
- Introduction
- Run-Flat Tires
- Why Life in Los Angeles is Good
- Blast Off!
- Torque Steer
- Still the Perfect Driving Position
- Complaint by Numbers
- Spotting the Changes
- Gearshifter Hits Wrong Pressure Points
- TGIF
- Customization
- Easy To Park
- Overboost!
- There's No Escape
- Smooth Shifting
- From Tokyo to LA With Love
- High Cold Inflation Pressure
- Grandmother, What a Big Speedometer You Have
- Bun Burners
- Take One for a Good Day
- Road Trip Buddy
- Versus the VW R32
- Toy Story
- More Quirks
- Takes the Long Way to Willow
- Ridiculous Instrumentation
- Do Not Manhandle
- Backseat Aversion
- Tiny Hauler
- A Passenger's POV
- What If I Said No to the Turbo?
- Toting Precious Cargo
- King of the Hill Holder
- How Much Gas?
- MPG to Date
- Tiny Annoyance
- Bring the Heat!
- Seven Hours to Flagstaff
- Final Trip Mileage
- Adventures at Devils Playground
- Back to a Full Set of Run-Flats
- The wheel man
- 20k Between Oil Changes
- Buy the Premium Stereo
- Idiot!
- Devil In the Details
- Turbocharged versus Supercharged
- Likes the Rain
- Mixed Emotions
- Mind the Pipes
- Detours & Closures? No Problem!
- Go-Kart Racing Temptation
- Pain in the A*#
- What Caused the Crack in the Windshield?
- Fun Fun Fun. And More Fun.
- The Flip Side of Wheels
- Negative Focus
- Go-Kart
- Stink Bomb
- Now with 98% Fewer Rattles!!!
- Weekend on the Central Coast
- Can't Annoy Neighbors
- Fuel Economy Update
- Blasting Past 15,000 miles
- Heating the Stink
- That Old-Time Turbo Feel
- Blipping Awesome!
- Tow Rating
- Roadtrip to Sequoia...and why I wouldn't buy one
- Retro Grade
- Finally, a Service Bay's in Sight
- New Accessory
- Adjusting the Seat
- High-Performance Hypermiler
- First Service at 17k
- Central Exhaust Tattoo
- Headlights Too Bright?
- Central Exhaust Pipes? Oh, Right, It's About Nostalgia.
- Wrap-Up
Introduction
Back in July 2002 we wrote, "There's no denying that the Mini Cooper is the hottest car to roll into showrooms since the trendy Chrysler PT Cruiser created a buying frenzy two summers ago."
What can we say? We had just taken delivery of our then new long-term Electric Blue Metallic 2002 Cooper S and we were excited. Without question, the PT Cruiser buying frenzy isn't the paradigm shift we once thought it was.
Live and learn, as the saying goes. Which we have. And so has Mini.
Five years after its first go-round, Mini has redesigned the Cooper and Cooper S and they're better than ever. Faster, lighter and larger than the 2002 models we fell in love with. We had to have one.
Break out the order sheet. We want a 2007 Mini Cooper S.
What We Bought
It took no time to pick one in Chili Red (hood stripe delete) and begin choosing the options. We wanted the Sport package, which offers 17-inch web-spoke wheels and run-flat tires. We were happy to find that the increased weight of this combination had no adverse effect on handling characteristics, an improvement over last year's car. In addition, the Sport package got us Dynamic Stability Control and a great set of xenon headlights. At $1,900, the package is a tough deal to beat.
We also checked the option boxes for a limited-slip differential ($500) and sport suspension ($500). If you're buying the sporting Cooper S, you'd be a fool not to opt for the sporting options, right?
Thinking it best to adhere to the original Mini mission statement and keep things as spartan as possible, we decided against the optional navigation system, leather seats and sunroof. The 2,590-pound car is light because it lacks a lot of the stuff that makes cars heavy, things like a navigation system, leather seats and sunroof. Plus, a Cooper S is supposed to be fun but economical, and the combination of options we'd chosen had already racked the total up to $24,750.
Purity of mission is great and all, but we're not Neanderthals. In went heated seats and a center armrest. Here in Santa Monica, California, the temperature can drop to as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit. To keep hypothermia and frostbite at bay, the $270 heated front seats are cheap insurance. Since they were such a deal, we threw in the center armrest for another $200 and we were out the door for a grand total of $25,220.
Our car is equipped with electric speed-sensitive power steering, which increases in responsiveness along with the throttle when the "Sport" button is pushed. That's not the only electronic wizardry at play. Our Mini has a gizmo list befitting a 7 Series, consisting of all-season traction control (ASC), corner brake control (CBC) and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD). With all three systems turned on, it's easier to play Beethoven's Fifth than it is to get the Mini out of shape on a twisty back road.
Why We Bought It
Pride.
When our year with that Electric Blue Metallic 2002 Cooper S was over we wrote, "After nearly 20,000 miles behind the wheel, we definitely learned a few things that any prospective purchaser would be wise to consider. For one, unless you absolutely have to have the most performance possible (now represented by the John Cooper Works package), forgo the Sport package and stick with the smaller 16-inch wheels and tires. They offer more than enough grip to satisfy even the most aggressive driver, and the added comfort around town will make day-to-day driving that much more enjoyable. Another point to consider is whether you really care to row your own gears. Given the Mini's lack of low-end power, inching along in traffic can be tiresome with the six-speed manual — the only transmission available on the Cooper S."
Advice we've obviously ignored.
But there's more to it than our own damaged psyches. The 2007 Mini Cooper S might look the same as its predecessor, but it's a completely different car underneath that skin.
The supercharged 1.6-liter engine used since 2002 has been tossed in favor of a turbocharged direct-injection inline-4 of the same capacity. There's only 4 more horsepower than before for a total of 172, but the curve peaks at 5,500 rpm instead of 6,000. Torque is up to 177 pound-feet at just 1,600 rpm and there's an overboost feature at full throttle that delivers up to 192 lb-ft in short bursts.
It's also quieter than the old supercharged mill, and gets better gas mileage. Despite a 0-60-mph time of just 6.5 seconds we've averaged nearly 26 miles per gallon so far, and we don't have light feet.
The new Mini handles pretty well, too. If you consider a faster slalom time than a 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo an achievement, that is. The Cooper S pulls this feat using the MacPherson strut front suspension of its forebear in conjunction with a new aluminum multilink rear setup, which is 13 pounds lighter than the previous design.
Of course we're anxious to see how all this new hardware performs over time, but more important than that, we want to know if 12 months and 20,000 miles in a 2007 Mini Cooper S (with the Sport package) will grow old as it did five years ago. Will our present admiration for the Mini be drowned out over time by its compromises in comfort and practicality?
Hopefully our pride won't let that happen, but only time and time behind the wheel will tell.
Tune in to the long-term blog pages for the results of preliminary testing and driving impressions from the road.
Current Odometer: 1,793 miles
Best Fuel Economy: 31.0 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 22.3 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 25.7 mpg
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.
Run-Flat Tires
Even before the Long-Term intro went "live" (the green flag that allows us to commence blogging) I'd suffered a "Low Tire Pressure Event" in our spanking new 2007 Mini Cooper S. Without planning to, I conducted an impromptu test of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and the Dunlop run-flat tires.
As I fired-up the 'Coop to drive to the office one recent morning, I was greeted by a large yellow low-tire warning lamp smack-dab in the middle of the dash. Impossible to overlook. Getting out to check, none of the tires looked low. Not surprising with run-flats.
A couple of miles later I was at the nearest gas station, checking pressures: 40, 40, 40, 30. A-ha! The right-rear tire is 25% low - the precise point at which TPMS systems are required to flag a warning.
I added air and listened for leaks. Nothing. It's holding steady. It takes but a few moments to reset the TPMS light using the mutli-function display stalk. (Note: many competing TPMS systems reset themselves when air is added.)
Since I had both TPMS and run-flats, it was safe to continue the trip to work. No problems. No repeat of the TPMS warning.
At Stokes Tire, the trusty local outfit we usually use, the source of the leak was revealed: A nail at the innermost edge of the innermost rib of tread. "Can't be fixed," they said, "too close to the sidewall. You'll need a new one." But their distributor doesn't yet have access to the tire, a Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST in size 205/45R17 84V. We move on.
So we called nearby Mini dealer(s). All said variations of the same thing: "We can't get that tire yet."
A few phone calls later we found a store that said they could get the tire. It would cost, gulp, $330 plus mounting, and we'd have to wait overnight for it to arrive. We bit the bullet. Only after the tire was mounted and balanced did we notice that it was NOT the exact replacement tire we had ordered. Someone had goofed. Off it came. With no replacement tire available, patching the tire was the only option.
Because rotation through the contact patch causes distortion where sidewall and tread meet, this patch might not hold. But we do have TPMS to clue us in and run-flat capability to get us home. There's always Tire Rack, which lists the tires in stock at $275 each. Mounting and balancing will bring that up over $300.
How did I pick up the nail? Two words: Model Homes. Avoid going to model homes. Besides the clear and present danger of getting new items added to your honey-do list, the places are likely to contain nails dropped by contractors working nearby. But damn, it shouldn't cost over $300! Each!
Why Life in Los Angeles is Good
I haven't quite forgiven the Cooper S for losing some steering feedback in the transition to full electric power assist, but I came awfully close over the weekend. First things first: I found the "Sport" button behind the shifter (which "causes your Mini to respond even more sportily," says the owner's manual, via quicker reactions to throttle and steering inputs) and took the long way through the canyons to the Loehmann's in Van Nuys. Great fun... This car is just as playful as the first-gen new Mini with a smidge more usable torque. I like its adjustable attitude. I like shifting it.
Yet, just as with the previous Cooper S, I think I have the most fun hustling it through city traffic. It's light, responsive and unencumbered by extraneous bulk. And that means you can share a metered parallel spot with a Beemer.
Blast Off!
I feel like putting a sticky note on the key to our 2007 Mini Cooper S: "Stop me from driving this car!" You see, I need to protect myself from myself. This car is so fast and so capable you think you can do anything. In a crowded space like Los Angeles, with so many moving objects all battling for space, this feeling can be dangerous.
I also can't believe how different this '07 Mini is from our 2002 Mini Cooper S...
It was my job to buy that car (an ordeal in itself since we wanted one of the first) and it left me stranded in San Diego on a Sunday afternoon with my family when the shift cable snapped. So you might say I have a lot of baggage when it comes to the Mini. So much, in fact, it wouldn't fit in the tiny trunk.
For those reasons, I only recently had the curiousity to drive our '07 Mini. And what a difference! The old, supercharged Mini was touted as a bottle rocket but it never really felt fast unless you were willing to wring it out. This new turbocharged Mini has all kinds of torque down low. As such it's perfect for quick lane changes. Its pocket-sized dimensions and great visibility means you feel you can put it anywhere. Ten feet in between those two trucks going 70 mph? No problem!
Torque Steer
First off, let me state I love our Mini Cooper S. Loved the first-gen that we had in our L.T. fleet and love this one even more. It's small, quick, fast and agile. The ultimate giant-slayer on a twisty road. And the new one has something the old one didn't — bags of low-end power.
The down-side to the feisty turbo engine is the occasional torque steer. The latter is the tendency of a powerful front-drive car to pull left or right when you stand on the gas — you feel it as a tug in the steering wheel. Even some all-wheel-drive vehicles (e.g. the previous-generation Saturn Vue with the V6) will exhibit this if it's the type that operates in a FWD mode until slippage is detected...
Accelerate really hard from low speeds in the Cooper S and the little bugger will feint left and right, in spite of its equal-length driveshafts that are supposed to eliminate torque steer. On bumpy pavement it's especially noticeable. It doesn't happen too often and is nothing that minor steering inputs can't handle. But it's still something worth mentioning, as I don't want y'all to think my love is so blind that I wouldn't notice the Mini's faults.
Any of you other new Cooper S owners notice this?
Still the Perfect Driving Position
When I read the early reports on the Mini Cooper redesign, I got worried. Mini designers had to raise the hood height to comply with European pedestrian safety standards, and this necessitated a rise in the car's overall beltline to provide a uniform appearance. Raise the beltline, of course, and you get a smaller glass area — and I feared this would diminish the superb visbility and accompanying sense of driver empowerment that I found so endearing about the "old" new Mini...
After several drives in our long-term 2007 Mini Cooper S, I don't worry about this anymore. Somehow, even with less glass, the driving position is better than ever. I can see everywhere I need to, and I feel perfectly at ease: My arms and hands are just where I want them to be in relation to the steering wheel and shifter. My legs and feet are just where I want them to be in relation to the pedals. It's a great feeling — and to me, this is worth $25K.
I love the new Mini. The engine is superb, the seats no longer make my lower back go numb, and it's still an absolute hoot to drive. But the interior irks me. I think the design in terms of aesthetics is better than the old one (I'm actually OK with the center-mounted speedo), but look up "form over function" on Wikipedia and a picture of the Mini's center stack will be displayed along with some inaccurate information. Also, there are several basic features that should be standard, but aren't.
So let's play a little game I call complaint by numbers.
1) The volume knob is here. The radio controls are located at No. 2, about five inches away. How did this make sense to anybody? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we had ordered the multifunction steering wheel, but we didn't. I've driven this car a lot, yet when going to turn up the volume I still reach for...
2) iDrive Jr. This little knob controls too many features, and trying to use the thing while the stiff suspension clips and clops over rough pavement is a delicate act that should only be attempted by tattoo artists. They should have fit more buttons into the huge speedometer space, killed iDrive Jr., and moved the volume knob where it belongs.
3) Oh cute, the manual HVAC controls are shaped like the Mini logo. Too bad they're ergonomically stupid. The most frequently adjusted functions (fan speed and temperature) are operated by thumb wheels that require a very awkward thumb movement to operate. The automatic climate control unit improves things somewhat.
4) Our Mini doesn't have cruise control. Yes, we didn't order it, but it's absolutely ridiculous that it isn't standard. It's also not a stand-alone option, you have to order it with the $1,400 Premium Package that includes the dual-pane sunroof, automatic climate control and multifunction steering wheel. Cruise is standard on the Honda Fit Sport and Nissan Versa SL. ****
5) At least we ordered heated seats for a car that will spend 93.4 percent of its life in Southern California. Go figure.
Spotting the Changes
When Mini redesigned the Cooper coupe this year (the convertible remains the same as last year), it was great that they kept the same loveable retro style. But so subtle were the generational changes that it was somewhat frustrating to car nuts like me to try and tell it apart from last year's coupe.
So, to save all you Cooper enthusiasts from embarrassment when the epic question "Is that the 'new' one?" is posed, herewith are a few exterior clues for y'all. The photos are of the Cooper S model: our red 2007 and a white 2006.
From the front, you'll see that the grille's chrome surround is more cohesive (last year the lower portion looked like a decal that was slapped onto the bumper). On the Cooper S, the insert is now blacked out. Note also that the turn signals moved into the headlight shells.
From the side on the 2007 version, the side vents extend to the hood's (sorry, "bonnet's) cut line and the headlights are more visible. The newer "S" sports more chrome on that side vent too.
From astern, you'll note on the S that the black insert in the lower rear fascia runs full-width in the new car versus broken up on the '06. Also, the reverse lights became narrow rectangles in both the standard and S version for 2007.
Regarding '07 changes in the Mini, something I couldn't help but notice in our 2007 Mini Cooper S is that ridge on the gearshift ball. I hate it. It digs into my hand when I shift. I tried grasping under the ridge but that just feels too awkward...
Why did they put that ridge in? I would think they'd want the driver to feel comfortable. As it is, it feels like it's hitting my pressure points in a bad way. And now my pleasure in shifting the Mini has diminished somewhat.
But in all fairness when I asked another editor about whether he noticed it, too. He said he didn't. But now that I brought it to his attention, it bugs him as well. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have blogged about it.
It's Friday afternoon. It's TGIF, Miller Time, etc. So what recent Inside Line long-term car would you want for the weekend?
Limited to small, sporty cars, your choices would include: The 2007 Mini Cooper S. Our previous 2002 Mini Cooper S...
A 2006 Mazda Miata. A 2006 Honda Civic Si. A 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT.
Or maybe the 1984 Ferrari 308. If you could get it out of Oldham's hands, that is.
The customization aspect of the new Mini Cooper has always been one of the car's major strengths in my opinion. The range of features and styling choices for the car (Mini says there are 10,000,000 different permutations for the second-generation) remind me of the customization possible on Porsche's cars. The only problem is that adding a lot of cool stuff results in a not-so-mini price.
Building your own Mini can be good waste of a few minutes. Our long-term car comes pretty close to how I'd want mine if I were buying a Cooper S. But there are two missing features that I'd have to get.
Cruise control: Yep, doesn't come standard, and it's a drag not having it on our car. The Premium Package includes cruise/audio steering-wheel controls plus the double sunroof and automatic climate control. But if you only want cruise control, $1,400 is pretty steep. You can order the multifunction wheel separately for $330.
Get Rid Of The Dopey Speedometer: I wish this was an option, but it's not. The closest you can get is to order the $2,100 Navigation/Computer. But $2,100? Sheeh.
For that kind of cash, I'd really hope to get something more. A Buck Rogers Dr. Theopolis option, for instance. Not that would be worth $2,100.
The second-generation Mini Cooper is 3 inches longer than the first generation model. But its 146.2-inch overall length is still quite petite as cars go, and that allows for easy parallel parking. The Mini is actually the shortest car sold in America save for the upcoming 2008 Smart Fortwo. As such, it's quite the functional urban runabout...
As you might know from reading previously published reports, the turbocharged engine in the second-generation Mini Cooper S has an "overboost" function. When the throttle is floored, increased turbo boost pressure is allowed for a brief period, and the result is more power and quicker acceleration.
When driving our long-term 2007 Cooper S, I've noticed the overboost burst of speed on numerous occasions. I've attached a pretty cool graph from Mini's press kit that shows torque and horsepower curves for the Cooper S' regular and overboosted conditions.
Actually, the chart is metric but you get the idea. Though I haven't been able to confirm this with BMW, I believe that normal maximum boost pressure is 0.8 bar (11.6 psi), rising to approximately 1 bar (~14.5 psi) in the overboost mode.
Too bad there's no boost gauge on the Cooper S so one could see overboost happen. Come to think of it, there's no coolant temperature gauge, either. Guess Mini expects owners to drive, not worry about what's going on under the hood.
I thought I would be safe from the wiles of the second-generation New Mini: The steering isn't quite right, the torque steer can be annoying, and the red body/black roof color scheme of our 2007 Mini Cooper S is not at all what I'd choose for myself. But yesterday I realized our long-termer has gotten to me. I never get up early on weekends, yet there I was, at 8:30 in the morning, still not fully awake, speeding toward some good roads — just so the Mini and I could have a conversation.
We talk about different things every time, because there's just so much happening with this chassis and almost all of it's interesting. Also entertaining is the rapidfire response of the turbo 1.6 in sport mode, and I never tire of working through the gears even if redline (6,500) comes a bit early for my taste...
The only thing that bothered me during the drive was the slipperiness of our long-termer's cloth upholstery — I kept having to hoist myself back up into the seat.
Recently, I was having a sort of light philosophical (well, "philosophical" might be a stretch) discussion with another journalist about what it is that makes the Mini so desirable. What we settled on, I think, is that, yes, the styling is one of a kind, and yes, the driving experience is entertaining, but what binds everything together is that wonderful feeling you get whenever you walk up the to car and climb inside: anticipation.
It never gets old.
After driving our long-term Versa for a couple of days, slipping into the 2007 Mini Cooper S was like slipping into a warm bath on a cold day, like jumping into a pair of tailored, high-quality trousers after wearing ill-fitting jeans...I could go on. But shifting the Mini is soo easy and I don't know if it's because I learned how to drive stick on one or what.
Every shift was smooth, things snicked into place like buttuh. I found myself taking long detours during quick errands just so I could get more seat time...
"I wonder if that restaurant is closed? It probably is since it's 10:30pm....but let's drive by it anyway."
Also — and I know our editor Scott Oldham hates it when we mention these sorts of things but tough noogies — I think the Mini is really the only manual car in our long-term fleet where I feel comfortable enough to wear heels while driving it. I usually have to kick off my 4-inch heels whenever I drive stick. But in the Mini I think the pedals are high enough so that my high heels can hover over the floor.
Any doubt I had about my descent into Mini-nerdom was put to rest during last week's trip to Tokyo: I now get excited just walking by Mini dealerships. Like Mini Roppongi, which is tucked into an upscale block of department stores in this central district of Tokyo.
I was particularly smitten with the rain-soaked Mini One parked out front.
True, its 95-hp engine and steel wheels aren't much next to our long-term Cooper's 172-hp turbo and snazzy BBS-ish 17-inch wheels. But this was the first time I'd seen the new Laser Blue Metallic paint with a color-matched roof — and I think this is the combination I'd get if I bought my own Cooper S.
Back in LA, a Sunday run in our Cooper S on Little Tujunga Canyon Road helped me shake off my jet lag.
I simply can't stop liking the directness of the handling. You point the car into a tight corner and then enjoy the sensation of diving in after it.
When I bent down to check the tire pressure in our 2007 Mini Cooper S this morning, I noted that it has one of the higher recommended cold inflation pressure readings I've run across in recent months — 38 psi. The Mini's 205/45R17 Dunlop run-flat tires were all between 35 and 36 psi, so I proceeded to the gas station to top them off.
Last night a friend and I were heading over to a Halloween party clear across town in Downtown L.A. While we were sitting in the 2007 Mini Cooper S during post rush-hour traffic, out of the blue she blurts out, "Why is the speedometer so huge?" What's funny is that I never really considered that before as I just shrugged it off as a Mini quirk.
But why is it so huge? It's not like it contains a lot of additional gauges. "It's almost pie-size," she continued. "It's just weird for a small car like the Mini to have this one big pie-plate thing in it." "Yeah, I dunno," was all I could think to say.
Later I asked one of the editors, John DiPietro, if he knew the answer.
He said that it was just another retro feature but then ran to his computer to see if he could find any information about it online. Here's what he came up with: "It seems that the modern Mini (greatly) exaggerates a styling cue of the original — the central-mounted speedo."
Oh.
Seat heaters have got to be at the top of my list of favorite car features and I especially appreciate them in the cloth seats of our 2007 Mini Cooper S. They are so effective. There are three settings: Simmer, Roast and Scorch. But my buns could only really bear Simmer...Although starting at Scorch warms up the seat right away on a cold day, the soothing warmth quickly turns into something that resembles a broiling hot tub on a sizzling Arizona summer day. I wonder why they make it so hot. Perhaps so you can feel the heat through your ski pants and jeans and thermals?
I have to admit, one of the main reasons I wouldn't mind owning a Mini is so I could wake up to this face. It just makes me happy. Ahhh....
Aside from that, aspects of our 2007 Mini Cooper S seem to be configured to making my life pleasant...
* Warning chime, whether I don't buckle up right away or have left the trunk hatch ajar, is a nice lilting ding-ding-ding instead of a high-pitched, frantic screech.
* My purse is still reachable even when thrown in the backseat so I don't have to pull a muscle trying to get to it.
* I'm positive that the Mini's cute proportions and appearance are why other L.A. drivers actually smile and wave me in when I want to merge in front of them.
* Shifting gears in stop-and-go rush hour traffic is painless.
I know I've complained about that uncomfortable gearshift knob, and the center-located window switches and speedometer are a tad annoying, and what's up with that torque steer....but look at that face!
This weekend, I put some serious miles on our long-term 2007 Mini Cooper S. Great little car. Spunky as hell, quick, a blast to drive. And despite its relative ubiquity in Southern California, people look at it...
I zipped up the Central Coast via highway 101, past Santa Barbara and out to Route 1 as soon as I could. The Mini was a rocket on the highway and handled side roads with aplomb, even out by the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Reserve, where sand covered parts of the road.
We covered all kinds of territory, and the Mini impressed with its very direct steering and excellent power. High-speed highway cruising was a blast, and on tight roads through state parks, it gripped the road tightly. And whether appearing every bit its mini self against Morro Rock...
or happily surveying the magnificent dunes of Montana de Oro State Park...
it felt right at home. A couple minor quibbles surfaced, though. It's got a bit of torque steer. Which is not a bad thing. When you shift up from 1st to 2nd gear with your foot in it, it kicks a little, so you need a good grip on the wheel. Kinda like a horse feeling that you're just about to romp, it's letting you know it's eager and ready.
And for you music lovers, the stereo resets to the beginning of the CD when you restart the engine. Which frankly drove me nuts. In fact, the whole car seems to reset, because if you hit the "S" (Sport) button or disable the stability control, those immediately reset at restart.
And maybe it's me, but the car seems to fog up quickly. I realize I was wearing a heavy fleece and leaving a Central Coast beach at sunset in November, but several times I had to open the windows to defog the inside of the car.
You might have noticed that we've published a follow-up test on the 2008 Volkswagen R32. The lead of the story mentions California's Highway 178, and in fact I had the opportunity to drive that white R32 back-to-back with our long-term 2007 Mini Cooper S on the same route. It winds through the Sierras and dumps one out into the vast expanse of the Mojave desert.
Both cars are European hatchbacks, and the price of a loaded-up Mini Cooper S can come very close to the R32's $32,990 base price. But could our 172-horsepower Cooper S with keep up with the 250-hp all-wheel-drive R32? I wanted to find out.
The Cooper S is at a disadvantage off the line. The über-GTI R32 reaches 60mph in 6 seconds flat compared to the Mini's 0-60-mph time of 6.5 seconds. But in all other areas, the Mini was clearly my favorite.
Number One Difference: curb weight. The Cooper S checks in at about 2,600 pounds, which is an incredible 1,000 pounds fewer than the R32. (Our tested R32 weighed 3,547 pounds.) By the time you've reached the quarter mile, the Cooper's narrowed the margin, too – 14.6 seconds for the R32 versus 14.9 for the Cooper S.
Out on the 178's twisty turns, the R32 certainly felt capable and secure. But the Mini far surpassed it in terms of driving enjoyment. Like a Border Collie, the Mini is lively and nimble and even a bit mischievous. Dull? Never.
Conceivably, the R32's more relaxed nature and AWD would prove decisive if you were to own it rather than just zip around mountain roads for a day. But if I were buying a European hot hatch, there would be no hesitation. Mini Cooper S please.
The 2007 Mini Cooper is like a fun little toy that you love killing time with. With its peppy engine, it's just as much of a blast to pilot as an RC car. And its miniature dimensions — which came in so handy during this holiday weekend of crowded parking lots — only heighten this impression.
Unfortunately, though, the Mini is also toylike in one way that's a bit less impressive...
I'm talking about its doors. Seems like even the cheapest economy cars these days manage to serve up solid doors that close with a satisfying thunk. Not so with the Mini. I found myself wincing at the tinny sound made when I slammed its doors shut. Sounded like they were about to fall off the hinges, and I swear I wasn't slamming them that hard.
Toys have their pluses and minuses, I guess.
Other quirks I just noticed about our 2007 Mini Cooper S? The dimmer switch located on the tachometer actually works by pressing it like a button, not twisting it like how it is in most cars I've been in. Mind you I was determined to figure out how to work this without reading the manual. So when you press and hold the skinny "button," the interior lights get brighter and pressing it briefly makes it dimmer...
Hm. I like it.
Also, the climate controls don't display actual temperature choices. If you want it cold, just dial up the blue section. Hot? Dial red. Who really needs to know the exact temperature anyway?
Ah, Mini, why must you be so quirky? I love you anyway.
Yesterday our 2007 Mini Cooper S spent the day at the Streets of Willow road course — parked outside the pit lane. To offset the lack of track time for our happy red hatchback, I took the long way up to the desert that morning. On my way out of LA, I turned onto Oro Vista Road in Sunland, CA, which becomes Big Tujunga Canyon Road, and then I turned onto the Angeles Forest Highway (here's a map for those interested).
In addition to the Mini's lively, mischievous personality, I was again impressed (and yes, delighted) by how well everything comes together in this car as you're going through turns — the way the steering feels, the way the suspension reacts, the resistance of the pedals, the euphoric revviness of the engine following a smooth heel/toe downshift...
After 100 miles run at a fairly brisk pace, I still had more than 3/4 of a tank. Fuel range is just never a problem in the Mini.
I enjoyed all this on a crisp, smog-free late autumn morning. By 10 AM, it had already been a good day.
Something that actually irks me about our 2007 Mini Cooper S is how it requires a light touch with almost everything. It seems that every time I flick the turn signal to get in the next lane I end up using too much force and actually activate it to go off longer than I mean for it to. So then I try to cancel it by flicking the turn signal the other way but that just manages to activate the signal the other way. By this time, I'm cursing at the turn signal stalk and the drivers behind me think I'm off my rocker...
The other thing is where the reverse gear is placed. It's near 1st gear so there have been many times when I find myself in Reverse instead of moving forward. This past weekend when moving out of a turn, I thought I was in 1st gear but found that I was actually in 3rd. Oops! So when I tried to correct the situation and hurriedly shifted to 1st I ended up moving the shifter too far to the left and putting the car in Reverse. And the car actually started to reverse! Good thing there was no one behind me.
"Yeah, it needs a stiffer/heavier spring for the Reverse gate," said editor Jay Kavanagh when I complained about it to him. The thing is I remember having this same problem in our 2002 long-term Mini. I'm surprised they didn't fix that for this model.
I just realized how selfish I was in taking our 2007 Mini Cooper S as my road trip car for the holidays in Northern California. Usually when I visit my folks, we end up taking a trip to San Francisco to visit even more family or to Monterey for fun. But this time, when I brought up the idea of going somewhere in the Mini, even to the mall that's 8 miles away, my parents would have none of it. I thought it was because they figured they wouldn't fit back there but my mom said it was because she didn't feel safe in the small car...I told her about the Mini's crash test ratings and its safety features but that didn't really make her feel better about it.
So no extra road trips this holiday.
Even though our 2007 Mini Cooper S's backseat wasn't a favorite of my parents, with the seats down it proved handy for lugging Christmas presents and After-Xmas sales purchases back to L.A., including a cooler filled with holiday leftovers, a pair of luggage, and two computer bags.
I was skeptical about everything fitting in at first (why did my brother have to buy a Christmas tree?), but then I removed the partial shelf and slotted everything in like a jigsaw puzzle. Sure, it took some careful planning and several attempts to get everything fitting just right so that I could still see out the back window from the driver seat but in the end it worked. It would have been even better if the seats folded flat but we were able to work around that...
OK, so it seems no one in my family likes to be a passenger in our 2007 Mini Cooper S. My brother rode shotgun with me for the trip up north to Sacramento and then back to L.A. and complained about the Mini's stiff ride the entire time. Actually, he's a complainer so it was really annoying, not only did he suffer but I suffered, too...
But when we were in Lane #1 on the I-5 going south, we felt every imperfection of the road. Lane #1 on this highway is kinda beat up, I'm assuming because it's the most traveled by the semis, so it had lots of cracks and holes. My brother whined so much that I switched over to the "fast lane" most of the time; something I hate to do especially if there are faster cars behind me and I feel it makes me more of a cop magnet there.
My brother also complained when I took turns too fast or when I floored the accelerator. He felt that the Mini was "out of control." So my fun in the Mini was somewhat spoiled as I had to be extra aware of my ultrasensitive passenger. I even tried to shift ever so carefully so that he wouldn't feel the transition from 1st to 2nd gear.
After this experience, it made me think that maybe the Mini S is more of a lone wolf's car. If you have friends and family you have to haul around, ferget it.
Just before the holidays I spent a long weekend with a 2008 Mini Cooper hatch, the base model, with the Sport Package and various other options. I never cared for the base version of the previous Cooper. I was quite surprised then when I ended up liking the car — to the point that I'd take the base hatch over our turbocharged S, even without the $3,000 price break.
Even in its naturally aspirated state (118 hp at 6,000 rpm, 114 lb-ft of torque at 4,250), the PSA 1.6-liter has considerable pull at low rpm. There's plenty here for catching the holes in traffic with enough left over to break the front tires loose if you're into that. I had to shift more often on freeway grades to keep it in its power band, but Minis are rewarding to shift, so this wasn't a negative.
There's also a lot to be said for the base Cooper's lack of torque steer. I felt freer to drive the car with abandon since big throttle inputs didn't cause excessive left-right fidgeting.
Finally, the nonfunctional hood vent: The base Cooper doesn't have one.
Where does that leave our long-term 2007 Mini Cooper S? I still like it and I still bargain for opportunities to drive it. But the base car is better than I ever would have believed.
I've been lucking out lately with our 2007 Mini Cooper S in that it's been available to me a lot more for some reason so frankly I'm at a loss as to what else I can say about it that hasn't already been said. "Um, it's still a fun car."
But then I realized there's one thing no one has mentioned before: During the holidays when attending the various shindigs, I found that the triangular cargo nets in the trunk (sorry I didn't take a picture of them) were perfect for toting wine/liquor bottles to and from the parties. That way my bottle of 18-year-old Elijah Craig wasn't in danger of breaking or even opening when I had to carry unused portions back home. The nets hold the bottles upright and keep them from colliding into the other cargo you may be lugging around in the trunk...
And, they're great for containing any other small breakables you need to tote. I had also used them to secure beautifully wrapped gifts that I didn't want to get torn during the trip.
PS: Don't drink and drive.
When learning how to drive stick, I recall viewing an upcoming hill — and the subsequent stop — as if 10,000 frothy-mouthed huns were rampaging towards me. To prevent rolling back, I'd usually rev the hell out of the engine and wait with nostrils primed for the aroma of smoking clutch. Sometimes I'd resort to the old e-brake pull, which is what I witnessed drivers routinely doing on the damp, cobblestone streets of Edinburgh.
Today, I don't have that problem, but starting a manual-equipped car on a hill is still hardly a treat. Except of course in our Mini Cooper S and other cars equipped with Hill Assist (I recall Subaru being the first to offer it, but I could be wrong)...
With the clutch in and the car in gear, the Mini automatically locks the brakes for a few seconds until the car starts forward. It basically gives you a third leg and every car with a manual transmission should have one. New and Scotish drivers would certainly appreciate it.
When I got into the Mini last night, the gas gauge had 3 of the 10 lights illuminated. Now, if it had a total of 8 lights, I would know that 2 lit meant I had a quarter of a tank of gas. But 3/10? OK, so I've got a little room, I thought...
But after driving about a block, the fuel warning light came on.
Now, I'm always getting on some editors for bringing cars back with empty gas tanks. But I can't really blame anyone for not realizing that three lines on the Mini's cute little gauge meant it was near empty.
Other than that, this is the first time I got behind the wheel of the Mini Cooper S. It's fun to drive, surprisingly roomy, and adorable to look at.
The driving position suits me. Because I have short legs, when I drive cars with a manual transmission, I have to sit so far forward to depress the clutch that I feel like I could hit my nose on the windshield. But not with the Mini. I can put the clutch all the way in and still sit comfortably.
But all the cute business on the gauges and the center stack drives me crazy. Me and cute don't really get along.
Cute on the outside: good.
Cute on the inside: argh.
Here are the current mpg numbers for our 2007 Mini Cooper S. Now even though the manual Coop is reported to get 29 mpg/36 mpg city/highway, suffering under our staff of leadfoots (feet?) she's been averaging 25.7 mpg. Best tank: 30.9 and worst tank is 22.3.
And just out of curiosity I looked up my average mpg for my trip up north over the holidays, driving extra legal speeds and without the benefit of cruise control and I got about 26.5 mpg...
Getting into our long-term Mini always feels like a treat, but the logic of its stereo head unit is a continual irritation. Fortunately, it will only bother people like me who still listen to CDs. Here's the deal: Often, if the previous driver was listening to the radio, the Mini's stereo will not switch formats when you insert a CD. If I want to hear my CD, I have to tap the "audio" button a couple times or hit audio and use the twister knob...
Not a big deal, but between this and the stereo's tendency to restart CD tracks that were in progress the last time you shut off the car, it's clear this is not the most ergonomic interface Mini could have come up with.
Aside from that issue, I'm looking forward to putting my affection for the car on the line this weekend when I drive it to Flagstaff, Arizona.
Bring the Heat!
I try to imagine which features would still bother me after driving a car for a year. In our 2007 Mini Cooper S, it's the HVAC controls. They are small and poorly positioned and would always be difficult to operate, especially since this car is fast and twitchy. Try looking away from the road while navigating traffic and attempting to stab a small button that's poorly labeled...
It was cold this morning and I had to work the heat and fan buttons while driving. I couldn't tell at what level they were set so I knew how to get more heat and get it where I wanted it. So it was trial and error: burn-freeze-burn-freeze.
But nothing was as poorly positioned as the aux jack. The only way to locate it was by feel since it is on the roof of the storage compartment (see the wire in this photo). This is something you would never get used to since you would have to lie upside down in the car to see it.
It amazing how schizophrenic this car is. The driving experience couldn't be better. The interior couldn't be more illogical.
I'm about two-thirds of the way through my Mini road trip, which includes a stop in Vegas in addition to Flagstaff, AZ. Time constraints have necessitated more time on the interstate (and less time on back roads) than I'd like, but I'm hoping to squeeze in a run through the Valley of Fire before it's over.
In the meantime, I've found new ways to enjoy our 2007 Mini Cooper S. The turbocharged engine was energized by the cold mountain air and didn't seem to lose a bit of stamina during the climb to 7,000 feet. As you'd imagine, I, too, was energized and I drove accordingly. Yet, the car still returned respectable fuel economy — I got 27 mpg during my most, well, enthusiastic stint behind the wheel (totaling 346 miles) and 31 mpg during a more frugal 332-mile period.
Our Cooper S also hit the 10K mark as you can see.
Ride quality is not terrific in our sport-package car. Over smooth pavement, the Mini feels impressively compliant. However, Interstate 40 is almost never smooth and you feel that, too. I would really like to see how this car would ride with non-runflat tires, though, because our Cooper's 17-inch Dunlops tramlined at every available opportunity and I wonder if they weren't mucking up the ride as well. I didn't have any trouble over the few packed snow/ice patches I encountered in frigid Flagstaff, but with Dad in the car, I was driving a little more gingerly than usual.
For those curious, total mileage for my LA-Flagstaff-Vegas-LA trip in the 2007 Mini Cooper S was 1,236 miles. The car consumed 42.143 gallons of 91 octane, and average fuel economy was 29.3 mpg.
As you might be able to tell from the photo, I stopped off at the southern rim of the Grand Canyon while en route to Vegas. It was my first time there, and although I was appropriately awed, it was tough to find a clear spot to document the Mini's first trip to the Grand Canyon. I guess I was missing the point. But it was only 30 degrees outside, which is a little cold for a hike on-foot.
The Mini's seats turned out to be a little thin for long-distance driving, and at times, my back felt a little sore... though I'm not convinced stress wasn't a factor in this instance. However, the driving position is excellent, and this really adds to the enjoyment of driving the car. I also liked the double sunvisors, and the side visor in particular made it much more pleasant to drive through the desert.
I was pressed for time as I left Vegas yesterday morning, but I couldn't live with the reality of not taking a back-roads detour in our 2007 Mini Cooper S. So when I reached Baker, California, I turned down lonely Kelbaker Road, which runs between I-15 and I-40 through an area called Devils Playground.
Evidently, the devil doesn't like to drive, because although there were lots of ominous rock formations, the road itself was a disappointment — nowhere near enough tight turns for a Cooper S. There were lots of potholes, though, and although I drove with care, I eventually hit one. I pulled over, and sure enough, there was a bulge in the left front tire's sidewall just like that time with our BMW 330i. In other words, terminal damage to the Mini's run-flat tire.
I mentioned I was way out in the desert, right? The nearest city that I was certain would have a new 205/45R17 tire (of any variety) was Barstow — almost 100 miles away. So off I went.
The owner's manual says that with 1-2 passengers aboard (or in my case, 1 passenger and some luggage), you can drive 155 miles at 50 mph following a tire puncture. But the speed limit on I-40 is 70, so I had to go about 73-75 to keep with the flow. The low pressure warning light didn't come on until 30 miles after the injury occurred. When I checked the pressure, though, it was holding at about 4 psi over the cold spec.
All was still well when I exited onto Barstow's main drag. I turned into a 76 station with a sign promising auto repairs and tire replacement. The mechanic on-duty was polite and responsive, but the only tire he had in the Mini's size was of course not run-flat and it was more money than I wanted to spend on what amounts to a disposable tire — $149.99 for a Dunlop Direzza DZ101 summer tire. Now, obviously, I could have driven around Barstow in search of a better price, but I was hurried so I OK'd the swap.
When they pulled the tire off, I saw that the inside of the wheel was slightly bent. I hadn't noticed a vibration in the steering that would indicate this, and I still haven't, so it's not certain that we'll have to replace this.
The shop had me ready to go in 30 minutes and the cashier relieved me of $190.36, including labor and tax.
She let me have a banana on the house. Afterward, I went over to the Starbucks, strategically located next door, and bought a coffee to steel my resolve for a rainy slog across LA.
This morning I ordered a new Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST tire for the Mini from Tire Rack for $269 plus $15.44 shipping. We're having it shipped directly to Stokes Tire Pros, which means we'll probably have it installed early next week. And I figured out to reset the low pressure warning light by reading page 57 of the owner's manual.
Our friends at Stokes Tire Pros took delivery of our new 205/45R17Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST run-flat tire ($284.44, including shipping, from the Tire Rack) today, so we drove over there to have installed on the 2007 Mini Cooper S. Just for kicks, I asked the technician to take a look at the original, damaged run-flat. Evidently, the bulge in the sidewall, identified here with yellow chalk, really is the only telltale sign of the injury.
The tech speculated that when I hit the pothole and bent the wheel, it was pushed into the tire, increasing the pressure. When pressure equalized, it went to the weakest part of the tire (still the sidewall, even on a run-flat), creating the bulge and ruining the tire.
Although we plan to have the bent wheel replaced at the Mini's next service appointment (coming soon), our tech recommended moving it (along with the new tire) to the passenger-side rear wheel. In this location, farthest from the steering rack, we'll be least likely to feel any of the hop or shimmy that might result from the non-true wheel.
Of course, the Mini's highway ride can be so busy to begin with, we may not notice anything at all. Then again, I may have gotten too close to the car over the last 1,200 miles — I'm hardly the most unbiased source on Mini-related matters.
Our mounting cost at Stokes was $26.25, including tax. We opted to hold off an alignment until we get a new wheel. We still have the non-run-flat Dunlop Direzza DZ101 and haven't yet decided what to do with it. Some of us would like to experiment with a full set of Direzzas to see how much the ride quality improves. Others think that's an unwise plan given the lack of a spare. We'll see what happens.
The wheel man
Not too long ago, our long term Mini Cooper S lost a brief, but valiant altercation with a California
bomb crater
pothole. The casualty, originally thought only to be a Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST, turned out to include the wheel to which the Dunlop was mounted. While the wheel didn't seem to have suffered any structural damage, we thought it best to go ahead and pop for a new wheel.
When our usual go-to dealer, Long Beach BMW/Mini, didn't have one in stock, we tracked one down at South Bay BMW/Mini... Being as I live close to the dealer, I stopped by on my way to work to pick up the new wheel. After a call from us the night before, the parts guys had the wheel set aside and ready to go. The parts department was friendly and the transaction was prompt.
Before I go on, I must comment on the parts department. As someone who has frequented many parts departments, most are simply extensions of the service bays; catering more to parts runners and shadetree mechanics than to the manicured masses. This place was completely different. They had clothes. Nice clothes. All BMW based of course, but some really stylish Formula One gear along with watches, utility tools, exquisite models (Didier Pironi's M1 ProCar, for example) and whatever else I didn't manage to see. Nicely lit with attractive wood floors, I felt like I should be ordering a gin and tonic rather than a Mini wheel.
So what was the total for one Mini Cooper S wheel? A credit card melting $550.45.
It's hard to believe we've put 11,000 miles on our Mini Cooper. It's harder to believe that we haven't changed the oil yet.
We planned to combine a service with the installation of our new wheel. To our surprise, Long Beach Mini refused to perform the service. The advisor explained, "BMW won't pay us if we service the car early. You have to wait until the car's computer determines it's due."
Look quick...
This reminder displays immediately after startup for about 2 seconds. The computer compares total mileage to fuel consumption in order to establish this service interval. Heavy on the gas shortens the interval. Light on the gas pushes it upwards of 20k. Our first oil change is due May 2009 at 19,000 miles. That's cool.
Installation of the new run-flat to the new wheel and the non run-flat Direzza to the bent wheel cost $75.50. We plan to hang on to the extra tire/wheel for awhile as a just-in-case measure.
A few editors, including myself, have written about the Mini's stupidly designed audio controls. Last night I discovered that the stereo has sound quality to match. For reasons too uninteresting to discuss, I still carry around a full catalogue of CDs with me and last night I decided to pop in the new Muse album I downloaded from iTunes recently. It sounded awful, with virtually no mid range and the speakers sounded as if they were encased in mud. Having never listened to the CD before and knowing iTunes files can differ in quality, I immediately popped in a store-bought Coldplay CD and it too sounded awful...
There are violins in the song "In My Place," but you can't hear them in the Mini. I fiddled with the equalizer levels, but nada.
I remember the last-generation Cooper S having poor sound quality, so I'm venturing to guess this is typical. Hopefully it's a speaker problem (there's six), because there's certainly no way to replace the head unit. There's a 10-speaker Premium Hi-Fi Stereo option available for $500, or you can get it bundled in the $1,500 premium package that includes a panaramic sunroof and automatic climate control. Either way, it's an absolute must-buy because the base stereo is garbage.
The Cooper S is a performance car, right? Feisty turbocharged engine, sports car handling, blah, blah, blah.
So why isn't there a temp gauge in this thing?
I flicked through the trip computer's functions, thinking that maybe it was like recent BMW's where you access coolant temp info. via the trip computer. No dice. Then, not being too proud, I RTFM which simply states that "A warning lamp will come on if the coolant, and therefore the engine, becomes too hot." In other words, an idiot light. We can almost hear Napoleon Dynamite's reaction...
This is strange, because as you can see, the previous-generation Mini had one:
Are they serious? Our LT Ford Focus has a temp gauge. Granted, you hardly ever hear about modern cars overheating, but still, we enthusiast types like to know when the engine is warm for a few reasons:
1) To know when it's safe to drive it harder (having the oil warm and circulating freely is a good thing.)
2) To know when you can blast the heater on those cold commutes to work.
I dig our Mini's wheels. Wheels are one of those obvious details that can really make or break the looks of a car. I think our Minis' wheels really up its sporty looks and fun factor.
In fact, out of all the manufacturers out there, I think the Mini had the best selection of wheels available...They might not be cheap, but I think they have the right idea of offering all kinds of accessories to the consumer to make your car more personal.
Cars can say a lot about a person. Wheels can be the exclamation point.
As you Mini Cooper buffs know, the previous-generation S was supercharged while the current one is turbocharged. Before this version debuted and I had heard that Mini was switching from super- to turbocharging, it struck me odd. Granted, Toyota had done this with the MR2 — the first gen had a supercharged version, while the second-gen went to turbocharging. But isn't supercharging usually better in terms of a no-lag, right-now boost in performance?
While old common wisdom might've held that viewpoint, the fact is that today's turbochargers have virtually no lag. And I can vouch for that, having enjoyed our Cooper S over the long weekend. Of course, the power builds as the revs climb, and it's a thrilling rush that can make the steering wheel wiggle around some as the tires eagerly scrabble for grip. Yet down low, it never feels flat. Just for kicks, I compared the performance of our Cooper S versus the previous generation:
2006 Cooper S (Supercharged 1.6 liter I4, 168 hp):
0-60: 7.4 seconds. Quarter Mile: 15.6 seconds.
2007 Cooper S (Turbocharged 1.6 liter I4, 172 hp):
0-60: 6.5 seconds. Quarter Mile: 14.9 seconds.
Furthermore, the current-gen Cooper S has such a full-bodied powerband that passing on the freeway doesn't require a down change to fifth, just lean into it and it moves out with plenty of gusto to blast by those dawdling trucks and SUVs.
The roads were half-dried from last night's rainstorm — dry enough to justify a quick back-roads drive in our 2007 Mini Cooper S before heading to the office.
There aren't many words I haven't already used to describe this car's handling, but suffice to say the Mini can be even more fun when traction is low. It still bites into corners the way I like, but you have to be a little more alert at the steering wheel to mind the tail. Damp bits of pavement, ruts, a little extra throttle — all will get it wagging just a bit. Nothing dangerous, mind you. This is all play for a Mini Cooper S.
During harder rain yesterday evening, I noticed that the Cooper S has a rain-sensing function for its front wipers. Whether you have them in intermittent or regular mode, the speed automatically varies, so they're not constantly wiping at the glass when you're stopped at a traffic light.
Nice. And this functionality offsets the fact that the Mini's wiper stalk lacks a thumb wheel to vary the intermittent wiper speed on a manual basis.
I've not spent a lot of quality time in our Mini Cooper so I opted to take it home for the weekend. I think my expectations were too high — the car is disappointing to me. I suspect the optional Sport Package is to blame.
On the freeway, the car darts around like a nesting sparrow and the ride is so bumpy that even normal conversation sounds as if both participants are pounding their chests...
If it were my money, I'd skip the $1,900 Sport Package (17in wheels, HID headlights, stability control) and the $500 sport suspension. Instead of paying close to $2,500 extra for a car I would dread driving, maybe I could save some money by paying a neighbor $100 to slap me around a little.
I could also do without the faux carbon fiber trim. It looks OK but seems very flimsy when you start poking around — makes a similarly priced Malibu seem luxurious by comparison.
On the plus side — my wife managed to get quite a bit of birthday party junk in the cargo area (rear seats folded down) including a small kiddy slide and a tricycle. The tall roof is another bonus. Installing a rear baby seat is easier than in many other small cars with only a fraction of the Mini's character — not that it's going to come up for most Mini owners.
Finally, If you're looking to buy one of these, get the S. This thing goes like stink and the six speed manual's gear spacing is nearly perfect.
Note to self: After a drive, if you happen to be wearing a skirt and are trying to get something out of the 2007 Mini Cooper S's trunk, make sure to steer clear of the dual-exhaust pipes down below. Those things burn like the dickens!
If I'm offered a car for the night, I usually pick from the available wheels based on vehicle size as I have to park on the crowded streets of West LA. So when I saw the Mini was open, I jumped at the chance.
This time my choice wasn't based on the fun factor or my neighborhood's parking situation, but rather for the fact I was going to cheer on friends at this Sunday's LA Marathon. There were predictions of crowds nearing the one million mark in downtown plus there was a Lakers game... Having a small car to navigate the chaos would be key.
So, thank you to my coworkers for not picking it before me!
I was able to navigate through the cluster, well, mess, with no problem. While waiting for my friends to run by at several locations along the course I overheard plenty of people talking about the problems of parking, traffic and crowds. With the diminutive dimensions of the Mini, I didn't have issues.
Thanks little buddy!
Last night as a friend and I were leaving Pasadena, we took this long, wide speedway of a shortcut to get from the 134 freeway to Hollywood. Everyone seemed to be ignoring the 40-mph speed limit and zooming past. I was just driving along in our 2007 Mini Cooper S minding my own business when at the corner of my eye I saw this car hanging out at my passenger side door.
"Check out those boys...
They're excited that you have the same car they do," my friend laughed. Sure enough when I looked over, there was another red Cooper S with a black top, 'cept with a sunroof. The 20-something boys in it were excitedly gesturing at us through their driver side window but I couldn't really make out what they were saying since I had to keep my eyes on the road. Hello!
They moved forward a little and then moved back. "They want to race me...but I ain't gonna!" I told my friend. The road was tempting though. There was hardly anyone on it and it had nice turns and hardly any traffic lights. The boys kept baiting us, gesturing, zooming ahead and falling back. I kept my speed constant and my eyes forward. Finally they gave up and zoomed past. I'm sure if I was a 16-year-old boy I would have followed. But I'm not. ....I sooo would have smoked them anyway.
Now, this may not apply to all drivers, but at my height and driving position, shifting the Mini Cooper S is a serious pain in the arm. (What'd you think I meant?)
Pictured above is the interior of the Mini Cooper. Please note the center armrest. Nice touch, right? Well yes, in the most basic "where-should-I-put-my-arm?" way, beyond that, however, it is the single most irritating piece of hardware in our long term fleet. What's not pictured is the asinine actions of this repulsive rest. The top of the unit is mounted on rails, sliding backwards to reveal a shallow storage space that's would be suitable for an iPod if not for its length. Anything thin enough to fit inside is going to slide back and forth — loudly — at every stop and start. A ruler would fit. So would a small stack of mailing envelopes. Nothing else.
But useless I can deal with. What I can't deal with is the lid opening every singe time I shift gears. 1-2 opens the storage bin, 2-3 closes it. That's best-case scenario with my arm on the rest. With my arm off of the ledge it only opens on 1-2 shift. You'd think this was better, but you'd be wrong. What happens, see, is that on the next 3-4 gearchange my elbow drops into the storage bin just enough to smash my ulnar nerve (funny bone) against the opened lid!
Now you'd be right to ask, "well, Mike, why can't you just flip the thing back out of your way and be done with it?" Good question. Here's the answer: When the unit if flipped up, it rubs against my shoulder. Constantly. I can't live like that.
The final complaint is the noise. It squeaks if it's up, down, open, closed, bearing weight, not bearing weight — ALL THE TIME!
"The squeak would stop if it was lying on the side of the 101" my brain said. And it was right, if this was my car the first thing I would do is tear out the armrest and beat the rear-view mirror (it's mounted too low for me) off with it and chuck them both in the trash. Then, when I finally fished the shards of broken glass and plastic from my skin, I could start to enjoy all of the things the Mini does well.
I don't know if you can see that in the picture up there but that's a crack in our 2007 Mini Cooper S's windshield. I saw it when I took the Mini home last night and was instantly saddened. I wonder how that got there considering there's no mention of it happening in previous Mini posts. There doesn't seem to be a point of impact like where a rock might have hit it...
Did the Mini look a not-as-cute-as-itself vehicle in the face?
Mini fun.
If I could just write that for my blog and not get into trouble, I would. But seriously, it's the most concise and true explanation of the Mini.
Usually my choice for cars to drive is based the fact that a smaller car is better on the crowded streets for parking...
Our the Mini is the best choice. It's not a compromise to be able to fit into the tight parking spots available to me at night, the thing is an absolute blast to drive.
If you're not holding onto the steering wheel with both hands when you accelerate hard, it's like a wild horse trying to get away from you. You can blip shift pretty easily and it's got a great growl for such a small engine. Not only that but the handling is tight and you can corner reasonable hard.
"Yeah but..."
Save the reasons why not to like it, pal. If you don't get a kick out of driving the Mini 'round, you better check your pulse.
My esteemed colleague Mr Jordan extolled the virtues of our long-term Honda Fit's small wheels, and it reminded me of something that's bugged me about our 2007 Mini's wheels (and tires) for quite some time.
It goes beyond our Mini's flinty ride quality and the tires' susceptibility to damage.
It's the look. To me, the styling of the 2007 Mini just doesn't look right with all that wheel...
The New Mini needs sidewall to look right. Looky above — that original Mini has ten-inch wheels. And not only are the wheels on the early cars teeney tiny, but there's quite a bit of sidewall.
This is not to suggest that we need to go back to wheels that small. All I'm saying is the New Mini needs more sidewall. Like this:
Those are 15-inch wheels on the above 1st gen New Mini. As a result, the wheel/tire is lighter and doubtless more compliant, they still clear the stock brakes, and are probably less expensive. Best of all, now the Mini looks more like a Mini.
The crack. It's mesmerizing. Much like the Tide-To-Go ad where the guy is in an interview and all you can look at is the coffee stain on his shirt.
When you drive at night you think there's a twig lodged under the wiper...
During the day your eyes repeatedly give it a worried look. It's very distracting. I know you guys are sick of repetitive posts. The endless complaining. The whining.
That frustration you now feel with this post is the same I feel while driving this thing.
The above photo has little to do with this post. I was going to talk about the fact that while the seats in our 2007 Mini Cooper S fold down, they don't slide forward, so the space use is a trifle inefficient. . .blah blah blah...
News Flash: It's not a van.
What I really want to mention is the fun factor. It's such a little go-kart. I used to be annoyed by the torque steer, and the car's inherent skittishness really forces both hands to stay on the wheel at all times. (It's always a good idea, but in this car, the wheel really jumps, particularly with some solid throttle application.)
But it's really quite fun, and the steering is incredibly responsive. Formerly a fan of Sport mode, I am now a convert to DSC Off. Makes for some very enjoyable high-speed turns, when you can kick the rear out a bit. If I owned this car, I would force myself to learn how to really powerslide. Given an open lot and some cones, I might even waste a few sets of tires and brakes learning the power-park move.
Haven't driven the Mini Cooper S in a while. Jumped in last night and the previous driver had left the A/C on full blast. I got hit in the face with a musty, stinky, yucky smell.
It was like "feet wrapped in leathery burnt bacon."
(If you get that pseudo-Star Wars reference you win a gold star.)
It took a good five minutes for it to clear up...
Haven't smelled it since. I'm assuming because the A/C was used so much over the hot weekend, that condensation built up in the vents and got funky. Then it cleared itself out.
Now with 98% Fewer Rattles!!!
I had the Mini Cooper S this past weekend (I didn't notice the A/C stink) and I once again realized the vast improvements made to this car over the original new Mini. In fact, I'd venture to say that this one went down in only three areas: center stack ergonomics, styling and steering. Even the last one is a mixed reaction since the two-mode electric set-up is far friendlier in parking situations.
My girlfriend owned a 2005 Mini Cooper S and I subsequently logged quite a few miles behind the wheel in it — including the same route I took this week to Moorpark, Calif...
Over the craptacular pavement that covers the journey, the old Mini's ride was punishing and its seats would make my lower back numb. New Mini's seating position is much better (thank you telescoping wheel), the seats are far more comfortable and the ride is much friendlier — although certainly on the firm side.
The best improvement, though, is build quality. Every interior trim panel on the last-generation Mini seemed to rattle and shake like crazy over the slightest imperfection. The blue dash panel on my GF's Mini would squeak so much, I would press down on it to prevent myself from going bonkers. This was virtually from the beginning of ownership. The new one after 13,000 miles? Nothing, absolutely quiet. Say what you will about the Playskool look of the dash, but they at least screwed it together well.
Various California Central Coast wineries were the destination for the 2007 Mini Cooper S over the weekend. As I'd expected, driving the Mini on all the back roads between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo was a bigger treat than tasting various pinot noirs. As previously reported, any curvy road is fun with a Mini. However, roads with tighter, lower-speed turns show off the car's personality to best effect...
Higher-speed stuff can still be entertaining, but brutal acceleration is not within the car's repertoire, at least not in stock form.
Even though my traveling companion, Deputy Managing Editor Caroline Pardilla, and I drove crazy enough to make each other carsick, the Cooper S still returned 29.5 mpg over 600 miles. One thing I noticed was that the ride quality was a little better on the roads we drove (considerable time on I-5, CA Highway 33 and U.S. 101) than it was on the roads I took to Arizona (I-15 and I-40). In addition, the cloth seats never got uncomfortable during 3-to-4-hour stints. Cargo space was perfectly adequate for three days of travel, even though we both purchased wine along the way.
The best scenery of the trip was found on CA Highway 58, which, between Highway 33 and the 101, is an explosion of wildflowers. We stopped for a picnic here (shown above). The best winery we visited on the trip was Wolff Vineyards — be sure to try the chardonnay.
When Edmunds.com Senior Editor Erin Riches and I took a road trip to Central California this past weekend, we stayed at the (low) Quality Inn in Pismo Beach. This ended up being a big mistake as this particular motel seemed to attract nothing but college kids.
So from 10pm to 2am, these kids were running up and down the walkway outside of our motel room on the 2nd floor as their party was going off two doors down from ours. Sometimes they would even bang on our door and run away...
Erin had considered calling the front desk to complain but then decided that they probably wouldn't have cared enough to do anything about it.
Anyway, the next morning we wanted to hit the road early so we got up at 6:30am. Still pissed off about last night, I entertained naughty things I could do to get back at those kids. Leave my leftovers from last night outside their door? Write them a nasty note on motel stationary? Knock on their door and dash? Surely they were sound asleep having partied for most of the night.
And then I heard a car beep outside giving me an idea. I know! I'll hit the panic button on the Mini key fob! That'll wake 'em up! But when I grabbed the Mini key there was no panic button to be found. And the Mini doesn't beep when you unlock or lock it with the key fob (usually a blessing).
I know. I wouldn't have really done it anyway because I wouldn't want to disturb the other motel guests but it would have been nice to even think I had that option.
When I was sitting in the Mini waiting for Erin to come down, I thought about maybe parking in front of room 407 and honking the horn signaling her to come down...but then chickened out.
Fuel Economy Update
It's that time again. On the eve of our four-car fuel-sipper comparison test, I thought I would calculate the lifetime fuel economy of another diminutive fuel sipper — albeit one that's fun to drive. Since our last update, we've actually improved our Mini Cooper's fuel economy by 0.6 mpg! How about that!
Average MPG: 26.24
EPA Combined MPG: 29 (d'oh!)
Best Tank: 33.70 mpg
Worst Tank: 16.57 mpg
There was a fill-up that reported 40 mpg, however, the entry's penmanship was questionable and it just seemed too good to be true. So it's certainly possible that Brian Moody went on a 123-mile downhill road trip with a stiff tail wind, but I've thrown it out just in case and used the second-best tank...
Yesterday our 2007 Mini Cooper S zipped past the 15,000 mile mark. Considering there are still three months to go before it must be returned to Mini, I'd say it'll pass the 20,000 miles mark during it's 12 months in our fleet. And that means we like this little hatchback.
In case you haven't noticed, if a car doesn't make the 20,000 mile mark, it's for one of two reasons...
1) Nobody on our staff like driving it so the car sits in our parking garage like an agoraphobic.
2) It's liked, but has a flappy canvas roof which prevents its from being enjoyable on long drives and is called the Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited.
But back to Mini, which has yet to need a single unscheduled pit stop and never ceases to put a smile on my face. This car is dead reliable, stupid fun and it's averaging 26.5 mpg. If there's a better small car on the market I'm unaware of it.
Heating the Stink
Remember when Donna reported that the Mini literally stinks? One of our readers guessed it was mold and after a waff of Mini stank a few weeks ago, that's certainly my guess as well. It's pretty disgusting and I'd much rather sit in a hot car that slowly die from mold spores being blown into my face. Anyway, before rushing to the dealer, we decided to take a holistic approach... I went to the garage, blocked the Mini in with another car, and then let her run for about 20 minutes with the heater on full blast.
I had the Mini this weekend and the stank has dissipated somewhat, but some still remains. I ran the heater again on my drive in (it got a little toasty), but we'll definitely have it checked out at the dealer. The problem with that, however, is Mini's service intervals are insanely long and we're not due for our first service for another 2,550 miles (according to the car).
That Old-Time Turbo Feel
Turbocharged engines used to have a unique character, a.k.a. "turbo lag." You'd roll into the throttle from a stop, wait a few beats for the boost to kick in, and whooooosh! The sudden rush of power would pin you back in your seat. Automotive journalists often had nasty things to say about turbo lag, but personally I enjoyed it... It was something cool you could show off to your passengers — that Jekyll-and-Hyde personality was what made a turbo a turbo.
Alas, times have changed. More and more turbocharged engines these days are designed to reproduce the linear, lag-free power delivery of larger-displacement normally aspirated mills. Try the new Subaru Forester XT's turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer four, for example — or any BMW with the twin-turbo inline-6.
Happily, our turbocharged long-term Mini Cooper S offers the best of both worlds: it's eminently tractable at low rpm, unlike those laggy turbocharged engines of old, yet the overboost function adds a furious and decidedly non-linear kick under full throttle that reminds me of turbos past. Boot the Mini from a stop, and you're thinking, "Well, this feels pretty quick but not exactly — " Whooooosh! Suddenly you're pinned to your seat and grinning uncontrollably.
That's why I can never refuse the keys to the Mini when they're available. In a lag-free kind of way, it reminds me of the days when a "Turbo" badge (which our Mini lacks, incidentally) virtually guaranteed an engaging driving experience.
I think the Mini is my favorite car in our long term test group to drive for one reason only:
The thing is so dang easy to blip shift
I'm not as good as the others on staff with the finer techniques of driving, but I try to practice my blip shifting while in traffic and around town. The Mini has a pretty responsive motor to rev it up, an easy throw gear, the pedals are nicely spaced apart and the clutch has a nice catch point. It's so easy it nearly over inflates your confidence.
When you get it just right and the little engine is buzzing loudly as you come to a corner, it's a sweet feeling. You can almost imagine you're Lewis Hamilton speeding through Monaco...
Everyone talks about how fun to drive our 2007 Mini Cooper S is. But I've found it has an amazing towing capacity. Look at this trailer I lugged around with our Cooper.
Not...
Actually, I used the Mini to block in a trailer being used by our contractor. He said parked trailers are targeted by thieves in Los Angeles so he asked me to park my car in front of it for the night.
Roadtrip to Sequoia...and why I wouldn't buy one
Mr. Kavanagh isn't the only staffer who made a pilgrimage to Sequoia National Park over the long weekend. With a friend in town and the long-term Mini at our disposal, we headed for the selfsame hills, largely in hopes of finding one of those hollowed-out trees that you can drive through. No dice on that front, unfortunately, but we did walk around the biggest tree in the world (39.5 feet in diameter!) and saw a bunch more that weren't much smaller. It's a truly Brobdingnagian landscape — you can't really conceive of how large these trees are until you've seen them in person.
There's another picture after the jump (gotta give a grateful shout-out to Austin, the aforementioned friend, for helping me stitch it together), but first let's talk about the second half of this post's title: Why wouldn't I buy a Mini like ours?
Two reasons: (1) harsh ride, and (2) demonic torque steer. Brian has already addressed (1) by advising prospective buyers to forgo the optional sport package (which includes upsized 17-inch tires) and sport suspension — anathema on a BMW 3 Series, for example, but sensible here given our Mini's buckboard-grade ride quality. However, I'm afraid (2) is just part of the car's DNA. For whatever reason the Mini's engineers apparently thought torque steer was cool (unlike the Mazdaspeed3's engineers, for example). It's definitely not cool when I'm powering through a lefthand corner and the wheel's trying to tug me into oncoming traffic.
Styled. That's what the Mini's problem is. It's been styled to have all the retro cues that you can fit in a car this small. It's got a big (obnoxious) center mounted speedometer...
It's also got toggle switches (their coolness neutered by guards) and a retro-y font on the gauges. It incorporates the Mini's winged logo into the steering wheel as well as echoing that design in the climate control. It's got a huge old-timey looking gas pedal that was no doubt influenced by early cars which were influenced by planes. I imagine they would have styled in prohibition and mutton chops into the interior if they had more room.
The radio has been styled into uselessness in the most German of traditions; unlabeled buttons. Apparently, the buttons even have multiple uses. But I wouldn't know because I didn't bother to learn them. "But why didn't you just read the manual?" I can hear you cry. I'm sorry, but reading the manual for how to operate a radio is like having to read the manual on how to operate your toaster. If it was well designed to begin with, I wouldn't have to. But that's just it, it wasn't designed it was styled.
All of this seems a big stink to make about such a little thing. But in all honesty, if the car wasn't so good the silly interior wouldn't stand out as being so bad. I really like how it drives. It pulls hard, the steering is great and so are the brakes.
Let's look back then on the interior of an original Mini. To be specific, an Austin Mini Cooper S Mk II. Notice its distinct lack of styling and unnecessary details. Maybe Mini, or BMW or whoever, can style some of their styling out of the next Mini and let us focus on how good the car really is instead of spending time reading the manual to decipher the radio.
We now have an answer to the question, "Will our long-term 2007 Mini Cooper S ever need an oil change?" Yes. In 800 miles.
The above text-and-pictogram now flashes every time you start the car, but only for an instant. It took me four tries to capture the moment...
Over the weekend, I gave some thought to Kurt's last post, the one about our 2007 Mini Cooper S hatch's overstyled interior. And I do agree: Although materials quality and fit and finish are greatly improved over our long-ago departed '02 Cooper S, the cabin details are even more overdone.
Really, though, the entire car looks like a gimmick, thanks to the excessive fidelity to retro iconography. It's just that this happens to be the most fun-to-drive gimmick on the planet...
If I had it my way, the Mini would feel as raw and entertaining as it does now, but would look like the Volvo C30.
But obviously I don't have it my way. The Volvo likes to be led around by its nose. And the Mini? Almost the opposite. So I just need the right accessory to go with that big speedometer and those winged audio and climate controls. And over the weekend, I found it.
As an aside, the armchair mechanic in me wonders if there's some light wear to the 2nd gear synchro, as you sometimes get a "graunch" sound if you rush the 1-2 upshift. Also after 16K hard miles, the brakes don't feel new anymore and bite can be inconsistent during light efforts, sort of like it was in our '07 MX-5.
It took a while to engineer a comfy seating position as I settled into the Mini this weekend. The problem concerned the location of the seat-adjustment lever. I wanted to tweak the angle of the seatback. The lever that manages this task is located not to the left of the seat, but to its right, buried in a deep, dark abyss next to the parking brake; I felt like I needed a searchlight and an anchor sling to access it. Making things worse is the fact that it's hard to fine-tune the seatback's slope, since the lever's adjustments are made in fairly large increments...Of course, once that fiasco was behind me, the Mini was fun to pilot. Pile in, turn it on and go.
Our long-term Mini Cooper S is rated at 26 mpg city, 34 highway and 29 combined, which is already significantly better than every other pocket rocket on the market today (actually those are the '08 numbers; '07 models are rated at 25/32/28, probably because those numbers were just converted on paper from the previous EPA estimates, which were based on the old methodology). And check this out: during a 60.5-mile straight shot on the highway yesterday, I consumed exactly 1.612 gallons of gas. I'll save you the calculating effort — that's 37.5 mpg.
Now this would be a blogworthy achievement even for our efficiency-minded Ford Focus (24 mpg city, 33 highway, 28 combined). But in the Mini's case, we're talking about 37.5 mpg from a car that will rip off 0-60 sprints in the mid-sixes whenever the mood strikes. I think this could very well be a historic first — can you think of any other car, past or present, that matches the Mini on both counts? Pretty amazing stuff.
Eleven months. That's how long we drove the Cooper S before the service light popped on for the first time. At just over 17,000 miles.
Service was free under MINI's 3 year/36,000-mile maintenance plan. So when we pulled into Long Beach MINI we also decided to replace the cracked windshield. The service tech seemed to feel bad for us when he drew up the $1,400 estimate.
We'd have walked out and ordered aftermarket glass if we owned the car. But since it's on loan to us the best move was to replace the glass at the dealership. MINI required the vehicle sit at their garage overnight, and charged us $1231.67 for the repair ($725 of that for labor).
I've never been a fan of the central exhaust on or 2007 Mini Cooper S, or any example of this layout, for that matter.
For one, it looks weird. I can't get used tot he fact that the central location is somehow too ... biological. At least there are two exhaust ports instead of one.
And I also strongly resent the Mini's central location because the muffler routing eliminates all possibility of a spare, forcing the use of run-flat tires. Even with run-flats, I'd rather have a spare because driving out west involves distances that are too damn far to find a replacement tire within the meager mileage limit of a run-flat. Besides, the hyper-stiff sidewalls tense-up the ride and destabilize the handling on lumpy asphalt. I'd much rather have "normal" tires and a spare to go with them.
All of this is well and good. But last night it got personal.
My daughter went to the hatch to retrieve her things just after I parked the Mini at Grandma's house last night. Nonna lives at the top of a hill, so the exhaust was particularly hot from the ascent. My daughter was wearing shorts, so there was nothing between her leg and the central exhaust tips. And she hadn't read Caroline's earlier warning post.
Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark.
These exhaust tips protrude further than most, though this was exaggerated a bit by a slightly nose-down curbside parking space. And our Cooper S's rounded rear bumper doesn't overhang the tips at all — unlike most cars I studied during my morning commute. Compounding this further is the unfamiliarity of the central exhaust layout that puts the tips right where you'd stand when unloading the hatch.
And my daughter is far from the only one. A quick internet search turned up this, this, this and this.
Too many folks have had the same experience, and the problem stretches over two generations of this car. This isn't acceptable. Time for a redesign, Mini.
The other night I was dropping my friend off at her apartment in the 2007 Mini Cooper S when this car coming from the other direction slowly drove up to us. When I looked over to see what the driver's problem was, she said annoyed, with eyes squinting, "Your brights are on." "They are?" I replied, surprised since I don't remember activating them. "Yes. They are," she said while driving away.
I looked at the dash. Nope, no high beam icon. Then I pulled the headlight stalk to see if it the high beams were on. Nope, they weren't. Silly lady just mistook the Mini's xenons (part of the Sport package) for brights. Whatev.
I'm not the best Photoshop artist but above on the right is what my driveway (and that SUV) looks like with the brights on, the left is when they're off. When they're bright, they're really bright.
During a walk in Dresden, Germany, today, I was reminded of Dan's central exhaust tattoo post on our 2007 Mini Cooper S. You'll note that the pipes on this well-preserved old-world Mini (ill-fitting driver door excepted) stick out, too.
But I bet it has a spare tire.
Wrap-Up
Why We Bought It
Durability
Performance and Fuel Economy
Retained Value
Summing Up
Why We Bought It
"More important than that, we want to know if 12 months and 20,000 miles in a 2007 Mini Cooper S (with the Sport package) will grow old as it did five years ago."
This quote, culled from the introduction to our long-term road test of the 2007 Mini Cooper S, sums it up. Mechanically this second-generation Mini is a different beast from the 2002 Mini Cooper S we previously evaluated in a long-term test. It's fractionally larger, a bit more fuel-efficient and better built. We hoped these improvements would replace our memories of the exuberant but rough-riding 2002 Mini Cooper S.
We've always thought the Mini was fun, but we wanted to find out if five years of development had helped the Mini become livable, too.
Durability
Even 50 years after the stereotype took hold in the imagination of American car enthusiasts, there's a lot of negativity surrounding the reliability and practicality of British automobiles. A good deal of this can be attributed to Lucas Electronics; say that name aloud at a Jaguar convention and you're sure to make someone spew tea from his nose. Of course, the good news has always been that the new Mini isn't entirely British. BMW's ownership of Mini has provided engineering assistance and even production tooling, so it's built to the specifications that have made Germany synonymous with quality. This second-generation car's six-speed manual transmission is assembled in Germany, while the brand-new 1.6-liter inline-4 engine is produced in France in a joint venture with Peugeot. All of the parts meet in Oxford in the U.K. where they become a car.
With the international cocktail of ingredients mentioned above, you can imagine our confusion and concern when the Mini clicked over 10,000 miles without a warning from the onboard computer that an oil change might be a good idea. We got nervous and took the Mini to the dealership to make sure everything was OK.
The dealer personnel indulged us and ran the electronic information record stored in the ignition key (ah, the wonders of modern vehicle engineering), confirmed everything was in working order and then sent us on our way. As with a BMW, regular maintenance service for the Mini is free for a limited time, but the service people won't touch the car until the maintenance light turns on.
With no scheduled services on the horizon, we spent our time puncturing and repairing the Mini's tires. These run-flat Dunlop SP-Sport 01 tires were a point of contention with us from the moment the Mini hit our garage. The first tire repair was recorded at 1,318 miles, and the replacement cost came to more than $300; we ordered it from TireRack.com and installed it at Stokes Tire here in Santa Monica, California.
As it turned out, the tire had been trashed by a particularly cavernous pothole on a freeway out in the Mojave Desert and the wheel was damaged in both the incident and the ensuing trip to a service station. It was an example of the way in which a traditional space-saver spare tire would have been preferable to a run-flat tire. The replacement wheel was $550.45.
The only other expense we incurred with the 2007 Mini Cooper S was a windshield. It took a rock to the face and was damaged beyond repair. We had the glass replaced at a Mini dealership and the bottom line came to $1,231.67. Windshield replacement specialists quoted us between $400 and $500 for the same repair without Mini-branded glass. Maybe this is why windshield specialists are in business.
But, hey, at least the oil change at the dealership, of which the Mini required only one at 17,386 miles, was free.
Total Body Repair Costs: $0.00
Total Routine Maintenance Costs (over [12] months): $0.00
Additional Maintenance Costs: $2,469.12
Warranty Repairs: 0
Non-Warranty Repairs: 1
Scheduled Dealer Visits: 1
Unscheduled Dealer Visits: 0
Days Out of Service: 1
Breakdowns Stranding Driver: 0
Performance and Fuel Economy
It's as easy to find blog entries extolling the merits of the 2007 Mini Cooper S's performance as it is to find a Red Sox fan in Boston. After all, this is a 2,623-pound car wearing Dunlop SP-Sport 01 summer performance tires with optional limited-slip differential, optional sport suspension and a turbocharged engine producing 172 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. And then there's the engine's overboost, a neat little computerized trick that ups the turbo boost for a short while on full throttle and gives you another 10 percent in power.
While we love the added power, we had two complaints. Torque steer was the first, and though Automotive Editor John DiPietro brought it up first, he was not the last: "Accelerate really hard from low speeds in the Cooper S and the little bugger will feint left and right in spite of its equal-length driveshafts that are supposed to eliminate torque steer. On bumpy pavement it's especially noticeable. It doesn't happen too often and is nothing that minor steering inputs can't handle. But it's still something worth mentioning." The overboost feature also led us to consider the Mini's general lack of engine instrumentation. As Senior Automotive Editor Brent Romans noted, "Too bad there's no boost gauge on the Cooper S so one could see overboost happen. Come to think of it, there's no coolant temperature gauge, either. Guess Mini expects owners to drive, not worry about what's going on under the hood."
It wasn't all canyon roads and closed courses for our long-term Cooper S, and that's probably where it all went wrong for us.
First, that which makes this car a joy to drive does not make it a joy in which to ride. Deputy Managing Editor Caroline Pardilla found this out the hard way on a road trip. She said, "My brother rode shotgun with me for the trip up north to Sacramento and then back to L.A. and complained about the Mini's stiff ride the entire time." Automotive Editor James Riswick concurred: "The new Mini's seating position is much better (thank you, telescoping wheel), the seats are far more comfortable and the ride is much friendlier — although certainly on the firm side."
It was that firm ride that kept Editor in Chief Scott Oldham's prediction from becoming a reality. At the 15,000-mile mark he blogged, "Considering there are still three months to go before it must be returned to Mini, I'd say it'll pass the 20,000-mile mark during its 12 months in our fleet. And that means we like this little hatchback."
But it didn't make the mark, and we blame the car's stiff-legged ride. Although, really, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Mini went to some lengths to improve the ride quality delivered by the short-travel suspension in this second-generation car, and it succeeded by and large as we noted in our test of the 2007 Mini Cooper S. But we thought we might enjoy this car more as a sports car, so we ordered our Cooper S with the aggressive sport suspension and the performance tires, and the combination just proved to be too unpleasant on the notoriously choppy concrete pavement of Southern California's overused freeways.
But for every ding the Mini took for ride comfort, it earned a silent nod of respect for its fuel economy. Let's be frank for a moment here: This car loves to be pushed to the limits and we love to accommodate its wishes. But considering this, we were shocked to see a final fuel economy of 26.4 mpg. The best tank proved to be a remarkable 37.5 mpg (we were told by the driver involved that no hypermiling techniques were used). On the other hand, we're not sure that the driver who recorded the Mini's worst mpg over a full tank of 20.7 mpg is aware that the Mini has more than three gears and that a vast freeway system has been employed in place of those twisty mountain roads that cross the Santa Monica mountain range.
Best Fuel Economy: 37.53 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 20.72 mpg
Average Fuel Economy: 26.35 mpg
Retained Value
In the wake of this year's escalation in fuel prices, news reports have circulated that the Mini brand is sold out for the remainder of the year. Both the standard Cooper and the wagon-style Clubman have order lists extending through 2009. This means that prospective Mini owners will be looking elsewhere for pre-owned cars, and the result is reflected in the True Market Value (TMV®) of our 2007 Mini Cooper S of $24,207.
This figure is only $1,013 lower than the MSRP of this car. Moreover, if we had calculated the TMV with the dealer resale value instead of our private party resale factor, the depreciation would have been only -1.0007 percent, a $28 net increase in value after 18,000 miles.
The only other vehicle in our long-term test fleet to manage such low depreciation is our 2007 Honda Fit Sport, which is currently maintaining a value decrease of just 1.35 percent.
True Market Value at service end: $24,207
Depreciation: $1,013 or 4.13 percent of original paid price ($25,220)
Final Odometer Reading: 18,244
Summing Up
As we noted long ago at the end of our long-term road test of the 2002 Mini Cooper S: "After nearly 20,000 miles behind the wheel, we definitely learned a few things that any prospective purchaser would be wise to consider. For one, unless you absolutely have to have the most performance possible...forgo the Sport package and stick with the smaller 16-inch wheels and tires. They offer more than enough grip to satisfy even the most aggressive driver, and the added comfort around town will make day-to-day driving that much more enjoyable. Another point to consider is whether you really care to row your own gears. Given the Mini's lack of low-end power, inching along in traffic can be tiresome with the six-speed manual — the only transmission available on the Cooper S."
Unfortunately we obviously ignored our own advice when it came to the 2007 Mini Cooper S. So let's put this in writing for the editorial staff of 2012, or whenever the next-generation Mini is released:
The best Mini on paper is not necessarily the one you want to own and drive for a year. Yes, the quality will be better, and the ride will have improved, and it will probably be faster and more fuel-efficient, but if you make the wrong choices on the options sheet, hitting that magic 20,000-mile mark is going to be a problem for the third time in a row. Don't say we didn't warn you.
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.