The 'new' Mini from BMW will put a happy street-cred smile on your face, writes Michael McAleer, Motoring Editor
It can be fun to make smart-suited German executives squirm. There's an evil streak in us all, and it's that strange vindictiveness that brings one word to my lips every time I happen upon a long-serving BMW executive: Rover.
You then sit back and watch the pupils of their eyes widen, hear the click of the tongue as their mouths go dry and watch little beads of sweat wind down the side of their brow.
Yet for all the nightmares it caused in Munich and the careers it ended on the altar of business ego, there were a few high points that the Germans took away from the debacle: the development of the X5 and the Mini.
As a lifelong Mini fan, a phrase that's sure to send a shiver down the spine is "the new Mini".
The very term seems anathema and when it was first rumoured the Germans were working on a new version back in the late 1990s, the fear was that they would simply repeat the mistakes of Volkswagen. VW had spent the early 1990s revamping the beloved Beetle only to come up with a car that lacked either the personality or pricing of the legendary predecessor.
Needless to say, the Bavarians didn't make the same mistakes and got the "new" car just right. It had its flaws, but they were minor and even the pricing didn't seem to bother too many people, perhaps because the VW had already softened them up to the premium cost of retro styling.
So now we find ourselves faced with yet another "new" Mini, only this time you'd be hard pushed to spot the differences. Seven years on, and with sales still rising - something that's anathema to the traditional lifecycle of a car - there was never any reason to doubt that BMW would stick largely with the current styling.
Yet the German engineers say that despite appearances it's a completely new car from tailpipe to front bumper. The changes were partly forced, due to new safety regulations and partly desirable due to improved engine technology. The end result is the same car but different.
Every motorist we met last week admired the car for its funky white "Cooper" stripes running up the bonnet, its raspy engine note when taking off, and the high rated "cute effect" it evokes in every man, woman and child. Not one commented on the fact it was the new model.
Why? Put simply, you need to be a grade one anorak to spot the difference. The front lighting clusters are changed and now incorporate the indicators. The car is slightly larger and the back lights have changed. Yet if you can notice this sort of detail in a passing car then you either work for a car dealer or spend a worrying amount of time studying car brochures.
Beneath the cloak of iconic sheet metal is a car that retains all the fun of its ancestry yet with more refinement. While the car is based on the same floorplan as the outgoing version, the biggest change is a new direct injection 1.6-litre petrol engine. In the case of the 175bhp Cooper S, this now features a twin-scroll turbocharger instead of the previous supercharger. The sad news is that it lacks some of the acoustics of the older model, but it certainly lacks nothing in its punch. Matched with one of the best front-wheel-drive chassis on the market, the Mini continues to put a smile on your face.
The Cooper S may sound a little tamer than its predecessor, but it's nothing of the sort on the road. Blip the accelerator and powerflow is immediate. Ride and handling have been refined slightly, which may not be to everyone's taste but it certainly fits with the growing demographic of owners who don't just buy a Cooper S for its raw power but also for its street cred.
Nevertheless the new Mini will continue to serve as the perfect social science study into the psychological impact of driving some cars that somehow manage to keep you smiling despite the traffic, the weather and even the taxi driver who cuts you up.
It manages town traffic well, but it's the open road that really fixes a smile on your face when behind the wheel.
There remains one irritant when it comes to the Cooper S and that's the difficulty it has in getting all 175bhp transferred on to less than ideal road surfaces. Even on dry roads we were constantly aware of the flickering of the traction control indicator on the dash when we pushed down on the right-hand pedal too hard. For that reason, we'd still opt for the Cooper version over the Cooper S. Better traction beats outright power any time.
Perhaps the single biggest disappointment for us was with the new six-speed gearbox. It's simply not as precise as its predecessor. In particular the gates are less well defined and reverse is easily mistaken for first gear when starting off, which could have unfortunate results for some owners. Several car firms use a simple pull-up switch to prevent this, and it's sorely missing on the Mini.
So the new car doesn't differ greatly in terms of exterior look or driving characteristics. Inside, however, there are far more clues to the fact this is an updated version. For a start there is far more elbow and legroom up front than on the previous version.
Then there's the enormous speedometer. It was never discrete, but the new clock can now be read by a garda three cars back. Whether this is some form of safety feature remains to be seen, but arguably the only person who doesn't get a good view of the speed is the driver, who constantly has to turn his head to check the speed. This is where art and design takes over from practicality, but again, given that it's out of respect for the original, we'll bite our lip and accept the need to leave it in the middle.
As with all the detailing on the new interior, lighting is impressive, with some really artful touches, like blue backlighting on the door handles and storage wells.
Plastics inside have been dramatically improved and the shiny silver-painted plastic switchgear is now replaced with strong hard-wearing dark plastics and proper metal switches.
The one gripe about the new interior - besides the tight back seats - is with the radio. While it's more stylish to have it fitted in with the central speedometer, the controls are messy, the volume switch is quite low down on the central console and the station buttons are toggle switches. Similarly the air-con controls are not as ergonomic as one would have hoped. For all these complaints it's still a ridiculously good car to buy. It combines smile-evoking driver fun with a real eagerness to please. It's the eager Labrador pup of the motoring world.
What's more, it actually offers quite reasonable value. It costs just under €30,000 to put the Cooper S on the road, and that's the range-topping version. The more practical Cooper starts at a bargain price of €24,400.
It's true that for this money you could buy a much more spacious family hatchback. But they would never have the same personality. It's hard to identify direct competitors for the Mini, for owners come from a vast array of different cars.
In terms of premium rivals, the future may see a serious challenge from Volvo's new C30. For now, apart from the usual array of quirky cars like the VW Beetle, the Cooper S is pitted against the serious hot hatches and even the new VW Golf GT, which puts out 170bhp from a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine. Yet most of these lack the Mini's charm.
The Mini can also boast resale values equal to if not better than the VW. BMW has increased production output for the new model but demand is likely to be buoyant for the foreseeable future, which means that resale prices will stay rock solid. Combine this with the great value service pack - €250 for five years or 80,000km of servicing - and you've got a desirable trade-in.
What all this means for potential buyers is that the ultimate net cost of ownership is significantly reduced and when looked at in overall terms you could possibly run a Mini for the same cost as a regular hatchback.
Overall the Mini has retained the charm and individual characteristics that won the hearts of many. This one is more polished and the better finish puts the car in a much better perspective.
Factfile
ENGINE:A 1.6-litre 16-valve four cylinder turbocharged unit offering 170bhp @ 5,5000rpm and 240Nm @ 1,600rpm
SPECIFICATION:Front, passenger, head and side airbags are standard, as is stability and traction control, electric windows, MP3 compatible radio/CD, 16" alloys.
Options: For the exterior, there are 319 possible combinations for customisation including eight light alloy wheels and four solid and eight metallic body colours as well as contract roof in black or white.
There are 372 possible combinations for the interior alone, with 11 different upholsteries, four interior schemes, five colour line options and six colour/materials for the interior surfaces.
Best deals are to opt for either the Salt, Pepper or Chili packs that offer a range of popular options at 25 per cent less than buying them individually.
L/100KM (MPG)
URBAN: 8.9 (31.7)
EXTRA-URBAN: 5.7 (49.6)
COMBINED: 6.9 (40.9)
CO2EMISSIONS:164 g/km
ANNUAL ROAD TAX:€391
PRICE:€29,650