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Mini Cooper S long-term test review
By
the CAR road test team
18 July 2008 05:30
Long-term test update – 18 July 2008.
How is our new gearbox – recently replaced under warranty – faring? Brilliantly, in a word. Scroll down the page to read our gearbox woes, one of only two blots on the Mini’s copy book in its ten months with us so far.
The new transmission was fitted in two days by Sycamore Mini in Peterborough and the problem (a graunching at middling engine and road speeds) disappeared at a stroke. Engineers suspect cogs in the box’s innards had become fouled, causing a worrying whine very much at odds with the Cooper S’s slick, sporty, premium feel – and sparking a £4000 operation to fit a replacement. Thankfully all covered under warranty and with impressive ease by Sycamore.
Now the Mini is flicking between gears with the alacrity we’ve come to expect of a Cooper S. It’s not an amazingly fast, rifle-bolt gearchange – like that in the sublime Honda Civic Type R, for instance – but this is a decent six-speeder to operate: the action is once more positive, short of throw and with a very BMW, engineered, deliberate precision when you touch the chunky chromed gearlever.
It’s also thankfully free of any grumbling, wince-inducing clonks and whines. Just the way a small BMW’s gearchange should be.
By Tim Pollard
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Logbook
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Total Mileage
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8619 miles
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Since Last Report
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1598 miles
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Overall MPG
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34.3 mpg
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Since Last report
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34.8 mpg
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Fuel Costs
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£1042.10
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Other Costs
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None
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Highs
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Refinement of new R56 Mini, build quality, turbo grunt, clichéd ‘go-kart handling’
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Lows
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Gearbox claim under warranty, nobbly ride on 17in alloys, small screenwash reservoir, cramped boot
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Just how small is the Mini’s boot? The picture above illustrates the problem perfectly. Sling in two small overnight rucksacks and two laptop bags – hardly a giant cargo, I think you’ll agree – and that’s your lot.
Goes to show how small 160 litres really is. Thankfully we’re not running a Mini for its boot capacity. If you do need to play transporter occasionally, swing down the split rear seat backs (a simple task with easy-to-tug levers only a short stretch away) and the load bay expands to a rather more respectable 680 litres. We recently slung a pair of new tyres in the back easily, for instance.
But don’t pick a Mini for family transport. Buggies and baby paraphernalia are enemies of the Mini hatchback; and even the Clubman ‘estate’ isn’t much better in this regard. I know one young London couple who manage to transport a young family in a second-hand Cooper, but I wouldn’t recommend it…
Happily, things are much better up front. Drive the Mini as the makers intended – one or two up, day-to-day driving, little luggage – and the Cooper S sparkles. There’s plenty of room in the front for even the tallest drivers and stowage space aplenty. We even recently found a new cubby hole lurking behind the metal-look strip on the fascia above the glovebox. There are practical touches galore. Even if there is a pygmy boot.
By Tim Pollard
Regular readers will remember that last month we were shellshocked by the news that our pristine Mini Cooper S would need a new gearbox. After just seven months. And 7000 miles. At a cost of £2700... Not good.
In a weird way, we’re grateful something big’s gone wrong. Modern cars – and especially factory-fresh, lab-prepped press demonstrators – rarely break. Modern engineering means magazine critics rarely get to savage genuine mechanical failures – so you can understand our excitement when the Mini’s gearbox broke.
I say broke, but that’s a tad unfair. I was away for a week and the Cooper S apparently went from its usual frothy self to grumbling patient overnight while on loan to a sister magazine. It manifested itself in a decidedly unhealthy whine from the transmission at medium speed and revs; dip the clutch and it disappeared, suggesting a fault in the gearbox innards.
A trip to Sycamore Mini in Peterborough confirmed our diagnosis. ‘We don’t fix gearboxes any more,’ said a senior engineer. ‘It’ll need a new one,’ he added helpfully. ‘I hope that’s under warranty,’ I spluttered.
Thankfully it was – and a good job, too, as the total bill ended up north of £4000. I should point out that CAR always mystery shops on these occasions – we posed as regular punters and stripped the car of any media credentials. BMW vows it doesn’t tip off dealers about press cars and the administrator’s screen showed no visible VIP alerts.
How did our mystery shopping go? The dealership experience was first rate: courteous, professional and the car was returned spotless and with a new gearbox under warranty after two days’ work. Now it’s time to ask head office to investigate the fault for our next report.
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By Tim Pollard
Took associate editor Tim Pollard’s Mini for the weekend, and it all started rather badly. There might be a new gearbox in the Cooper S (more next week) but there’s also a new crack across the windscreen. It's in an awkward spot and we'll have to get it fixed soon. But it didn't stop me thinking if I had to own any car on our long-term fleet, it would be the Cooper S.
Why? Well, I picked the Mini over the Civic Type-R and our newly arrived Evo X – both are too hard-riding and wearing for long journeys. Ben Barry’s Golf GT is missing the crucial 'i' from its badge. Diesel doesn’t do it for me when I have some back roads lined up, so that means the Defender, C-class, Allroad and my own Qashqai are off the list. And the editor’s 335i? He spends what free moments he has wishing for sun, which never seems to come. Except this morning and we were all heading inside to work. That's no way to live...
But don’t think that the Mini is winning my vote without having its own merits. It’s quick, comfortable, and has a badge and ambience that make you feel special. Treat it like a two-seat coupe, fold the rear seats, and there’s even a big boot too. I love it.
By Ben Pulman
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Disaster! The Mini might need a new gearbox – after just 7000 miles… Yikes. We noticed a grumbling whine from the transmission under part-load – it was especially noticeable in the middle rev range at middling speeds: a whirring and whining that made us wonder for the health of the drivetrain. Dip the clutch and it disappeared, suggesting it was the six-speed ’box.
How did this come to pass? It’s all a bit of mystery, happening while I was away for a week. Junior staff writer Ben Pulman drove the Mini at the weekend (it was fine), then a sister magazine borrowed the car for the Monday night and by the time assistant editor Ben Barry drove it on the Tuesday, the whine had appeared. The colleagues who borrowed the Cooper S denied any wrongdoing, but we are left wondering what happened in that short, overnight loan. Surely a modern gearbox should withstand most punishment thrown at it, leaving us puzzled as to what really happened…
Anyhow, we’ve dropped into the Sycamore dealership in Peterborough (incognito. Lovely place. Friendly staff), where an engineer identified the problem inside the gearbox. ‘We don’t fix gearboxes any more,’ he said helpfully. ‘It’ll need a new gearbox,’ he added. ‘I hope that’s under warranty,’ I spluttered.
Thankfully, it will be. We’ll report back with the full story when the work’s done in the next few days.
By Tim Pollard
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Our long-term Mini has shed its new-car sheen. Seven months into our year-long tenure, it’s bearing up well – all the alloys are in one piece (not bad, for the thinly tyred 17in items that come with the Chili pack) and there are no battle scars on the paintwork. Given a good dose of TLC it comes up sparkly new, feeling as glossy and new as the day it rolled off the production line. Sit it alongside a volume supermini – even our 2007 Car of the Year, the Fiat 500 – and you begin to understand where that premium price has been spent.
The cabin is proving durable, too, although I’ve noticed a sporadic creak from the dashboard near the offside windscreen pillar. It’s not been annoying enough to warrant a trip to the dealer yet, but if it becomes more frequent or louder we might have to pop into our local garage.
By Tim Pollard
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Had my first drive in a SportKa this week, and despite over a decade’s difference between the Ford and our long-term Mini, both share some remarkable characteristics. Both Ka and Cooper seem to pivot directly from the steering wheel. There’s no wallow, no inertia. You turn, they go, without any slack. These two are what hot hatches should always be like.
The differences are clear though, as obvious as the 78bhp gulf between the two. Sit in the Ford and the steering wheel sits in your lap. Step inside the Mini and it seems comparatively huge. The upright windscreen actually makes the Cooper S feel quite large. It is up front, but not in the back, and definitely not in the boot.
But despite the age gap you feel more involved in the Ka, even cruising around town. It's mostly down to the lack of refinement, something the Cooper S has far too much of in my opinion. The Ka’s engine sounds like it’s in the glovebox, but I like that. I don’t like the fact that there’s next to no feel or inertia from the Mini’s clutch or gearbox in stop/start traffic. You end up making clumsy getaways. Some might like this, but I wish our Cooper S was just a little less refined. Then again, the Mini could do with less tyre noise. Moi, a hypocrite?
By Ben Pulman
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The better half rather likes Minis. And while she wants a cream or green one, and very rarely approves of any car I bring home, even she couldn’t resist the Mini’s charms.
While I’m happy behind the wheel (the Mini really is a great car) she gets everything else she needs. A digital radio, comfy seats, and that large central speedo to keep an eye on how quick I’m going. In fact, the only thing she doesn’t like is the switchable interior ambient lighting that lets you choose your preferred hue. Which must make me a bit of a tart because I quite like this gimmick.
By Ben Pulman
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The Mini is now run in and feels, frankly, bloody fast for a supermini. We limited ourselves to below 4500rpm for the first 1200 miles (hardly a problem in a lightweight, low-pressure turbo supermini) but the odo passed the magic number in the first week, so we can now explore the more interesting upper reaches of the Cooper S's rev range.
For those who have yet to drive the new, new Mini, here's what happens when you bury the throttle. You lose the intriguing compressor whine from the old supercharger - a shame - and instead witness a more gradual, but relentless shove. It's impressively fleet of foot, and helped by the delightfully precise, snickety gearchange. Mind you, it's so flexible, you rarely have to rev hard for swift progress.
I know of one Cooper S owner who took their standard car on a dyno test and found 205 horses under the bonnet, some way more powerful than the claimed 173bhp, even taking into account the overboost function. Maybe it's time we took our Mini to the gym to see how strong it really is.
By Tim Pollard
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Speccing CAR's long-term Mini was like taking an indecisive teenager clothes shopping. Does that blue go with that charcoal? Hasn't the girl next door got those wheels? Does my bum look big in this seat? I kept scuttling back and forth betwixt brochure and browser, formulating the exact combination of options and accessories to make our Cooper S one in 15,000,000,000,000,000. No, I don't know how to pronounce that number, either. Suffice to say, ours is the only Mini ever to roll out of Plant Oxford in this precise choice of 14 trim and colour variables.
Cue blushes and no more pocket money for the rest of the year. Yes, we picked 14 options totalling just over four grand, but that's about par for the more eager Cooper S buyers. You can see why personalisation is all the rage these days (it was a lot of fun) and it's also testament to BMW's ability to prise money from the wallets of potential buyers.
Picking the colour was a two-way toss-up between laser blue and chili red, contrasted by the white roof and mirror caps. I didn't pick the Accident With Tipp-Ex matching white wheels though (a no-cost option). Apparently, there's a geographical split on colour choices: Londoners prefer black Minis while buyers in the US like theirs in cool white. I plumped for the laser blue, exclusive to the Cooper S. It suits the Mini's chunky stance down to a tee.
The £1995 Chili pack was a no-brainer, and the majority of buyers pick it for the air-con, xenons, onboard computer, extra storage and sports steering wheel. I was less keen on its 17-inch alloys, fearful of their effect on the ride but there's no way you can request the original 16s if you spec the Chili pack. Even a week into our ownership, I think that's a shame, the Cooper S jiggling over the bumpy unclassified roads round my way.
Our other big luxury was the classy carbon black lounge leather (£1210). It's the selfish choice - your cheeks spending far longer in contact with the seat than your eyeballs do the outside, and it's offset by the new brushed aluminium trim and chrome line interior. Smoked rear glass for £120 was a must (to shade our 10-month-old), as was the £280 digital DAB radio (Peterborough not being famed for the quality or choice of its local airwaves).
In effect, BMW is letting Joe Public loose on the design process, freeing up our imaginations to create more bespoke products. There's clearly potential for bad-taste excess (although more lurid combinations are banned) but overall I'm pleased with the result. This isn't just any Mini, and heaven knows, there are enough of them around nowadays. It's my Mini and that counts for a lot.
In a month that included CAR's greatest performance cars test and an altercation with a grey Cooper S Works, plus a trip to the airport, we've already passed the 1200-mile mark in its first week. So we can now exceed 4500rpm and start to exploit the responses of the 1.6 turbo and the character of the new, new Mini. Has it really lost the magic of BMW's first effort? And should you really spend £20k on a supermini?
We're about to find out if it's special or specious.
By Tim Pollard
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