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2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop First Drive (Page 2)

2014 MINI Cooper S 9 photos
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2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop
Continued from Page 1 of "2014 MINI Cooper S Hardtop First Drive"Right in front of us we had the JCW steering wheel that feels great to the touch, as does the whole interior. As a matter of fact, compared to the retired model, all the materials and the finish look and feel like a big step up. The leather on the seats, wheel and even gearshift lever feels better and even the plastic on the doors and the dash has different touch to it.

Another premiere for MINI was the Head-Up display system that looks exactly like the one on BMW but works in a different way. Instead of the info being projected on the windshield, in this case it’s projected on a small screen that pops up in front of you when you start up the car. While it may seem odd at first, you’ll soon get used to it and you’ll eventually end up liking it.

New technology can be seen throughout the cabin and you’ll soon notice that the new Cooper is not a bad place to be even in heavy traffic. You get plenty of apps for your phone that can keep you entertained while the LED lights around the central instrument cluster pulsate when you’re idle or the engine is switched off, giving you the feeling that the car is actually alive. Get the panoramic roof as well and you’ll be feeling extremely cosy on your daily commute.



A few problems do emerge though from all this new tech and design. The lights switch, for example, could’ve been placed better, being positioned somewhere towards the lower side of the dash looking like it was somewhat hidden. Also, if you do go for the panoramic roof, it does cut into the headroom you get both up front and in the back and tall people could be in trouble sitting in the driver’s seat.

The only exception could be the fake wood inserts used which we don’t recommend. They feel cheap and you might be better off choosing something different in their stead. Another material that could’ve been better is the driving experience selector located at the base of the gearshift lever that feel thin and fragile, like it could break at any moment.

However, none of this really matters once you start the engine. The new 2-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged unit makes a nice sound, especially on Sport mode (as the new models now have driving modes onboard, for the first time) and even pops and crackles when its revved a bit harder. While the sound could’ve been a bit more enticing, we’re guessing MINI kept the best version for its JCW model that will be launched next year.



On the road the car is planted and feels very stable at speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph), the kind of speeds you’d get to in just under 7 seconds. After that margin you’ll feel the suspension and the chassis hesitating a bit, especially when stressed hard but that shouldn’t be a problem for most drivers, unless they go to the track. We still have to obey the law, right?

One of the things that might be helping the Cooper S out here could be the 18 inch wheels that have a similar design to the ones found on the previous model but they are considerably bigger. However, the gearbox is definitely not up on par here.

Actually, this is the biggest flaw we found with our test car. We had the 6-speed automatic onboard and, while this unit is not the worst in the business, on a car that is supposed to be swift and fun like the MINI, it just doesn’t keep up.

Around the city, in ECO mode you’ll feel it hesitating a bit, especially after a couple of hours driven in heavy traffic while in Sport mode it will be sluggish when you need it to be sharpest. Switch it to manual mode and use the paddles and you’ll notice an improvement as the shifts are quick enough for most people and you feel you have more control over the car. We’d still recommend a good-old fashion 6-speed manual for those of you that really want to feel something behind the wheel.



As far as pricing goes, don’t expect big surprises. The car starts at €23,800 (including 19% VAT) in Germany and at $24,395 in the US (destination and handling tax included). However, the one we had was fitted with almost every possible optional feature you can get and had a price tag of €42,657 which is extremely steep, even for a premium car like this. However, if you’re careful with the options you can still get a decent car for a decent price tag.

While it might be expensive to some, it delivers exactly what you’d expect, nothing more and nothing less. It’s the perfect middle ground between the Cooper and the hardcore John Cooper Works version that will be released later on.

Throughout our first drive we couldn’t help but notice that the entire car felt as if it was purposely held back to make room for the JCW and that’s fine with us, as long as the top of the range model will deliver what we expect and will turn this MINI into the hot hatch it was promised to us by the Brits. Fair is fair, after all.
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