My editor will likely change this for stylistic reasons, but all you really need to know about the modern interpretation of the Mini, is that now they spell it MINI.
That's all-caps, bold if you can, and the largest font available on the toolbar.
Park the original 1960s version next to this current new model, and it's like watching Harry Potter have a chat with Hagrid. Where once the Mini Cooper's deft, nimble handling came as a direct result of a stripped-down, deceptively simple mission statement, now it's a complex bit of engineering, incorporating any number of BMW technologies.
Newly redesigned for 2014, the Mini Cooper S is even bigger and more powerful, and you immediately have to ask the question: but does that really make it better? Are we not drifting ever further away from the roots of what made this car such an icon - the essential character that made it worth resurrecting the Mini as a retro-designed upscale hatchback? Not to worry: while this new car displays a new level of polish and poise, it's still got the same bones underneath. You just have to know where to look.
Design
Don't start by looking it in the face. While some still herald the Mini's design as "cute," the new Cooper S is most definitely dialling up the style in an effort to lose that very image. It's still got a recognizable roundeyed gaze, but the blackedout grille and extra venting makes this little car just that more aggressive.
To be perfectly frank, I thought the old one looked just fine, and wish they hadn't messed with it (I miss the hood scoop). Having said that, the new available LED headlights give the Cooper a more modern look, and despite being 114 millimetres longer, 44 mm wider, and seven mm higher, it doesn't actually seem much larger. Start parking next to cars from the 1960s, and the Cooper looks huge, but judge it against its contemporaries and it's still fairly small.
From other angles, the style will really depend on your own choices. Like Porsche, only at a greatly reduced price, Mini will let you fiddle around with the visual options on your Cooper S until you get a combination that fits your personality. Seventeeninch alloys on this particular week's tester were a $740 option, but stuff like hood stripes are a bit more reasonable at $130. Make mine British racing green please.
Environment
While the Mini's new exterior can be argued to be a change rather than an improvement, no such quibbles exist about its new interior. It's more spacious, it's less cutesy, and there's a much higher premium feel. The trunk - sorry, the boot - is still quite small, but this is a Mini: what'd you expect? The biggest change is the elimination of the centrally mounted speedometer, a visual throwback to the original Mini that combined retro-chic style with a total lack of actual functionality. Happily, most previous Minis had a digital speedometer on the steering-column-mounted tachometer, as the dash speedo only really told your passengers what you were up to.
Now, that speedometer is replaced by a ring of LEDs that light up just like a tachometer when you turn up the stereo, as well as a large and useful multi-function display. If you've optioned the navigation system, you get the same navi layout that you'll find in a BMW 3-series, including the same circular controller with a touchscreen surface that lets you enter character inputs with a touch of your finger.
With the tachometer and speedometer now mounted right in front of the driver, the Mini's ergonomics are now hugely improved, and the fit and finish of all the materials in here is very good. The character's still there too, with the aircraftstyle switches tucked just under the centre display.
With the window controls now moved up to a more conventional place on the doors, the main feature of the toggles is now a bright red starter switch. With a flick, the Cooper S grumbles to life. Here we go!
Performance
A new, larger engine powers this new, larger Mini, although the power levels aren't what impresses most. The new 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, up from 1.6-litre, makes 189 horsepower at 4,700 rpm and a stout 207 footpounds from 1,250 rpm. To be honest, these are pretty mild figures to see out of a 2.0-litre turbo, but the new engine has a friendly tractability, especially from low revs. It snorts and parps just like the previous car, and the turbocharger chitters as pressurized air is released on throttle lift-off.
Transmission choices remain a sweet-shifting six-speed manual, or a paddle-shifted six-speed automatic. The latter will probably be the more popular option, and the larger engine's flexible powerband will please here.
It's also pretty good with the stickshift, as found here. Mini's Loaded package includes dynamically adjustable dampers, so with everything in Sport mode, you still get a zippy, enthusiastic driving experience, and when shod with the optional performance summer tires, it's a very eager car. A new rev-matching throttle won't please purists who'd rather rely on their own skills, but it's at least very unobtrusive.
Even though there's good low-end grunt, BMW's engineers have done a very good job of taming any front-wheeldrive torque-steer until it's practically invisible. The Cooper S darts into the corners eagerly, with a quick turn-in that seems unaffected by its new, longer wheelbase, and then scampers out of the other side. It's still got that puppy-dog enthusiasm, just that the puppy's been to obedience school.
The ride remains very much on the firm side, but is more compliant than previously. Mini likes to brag about "go-kart" handling, but thankfully this car doesn't skip over the bumps the way a real go-kart would. Instead, you settle into the nicelybolstered seats and get just enough of a connected feel through the seat of your pants to have a fun drive that's not exhausting.
Hit the highway, and the new Cooper S's greater low-end power makes it an entirely reasonable travelling companion. Obviously you won't be wanting to fold adult companions into the back for extended trips, but a blast up to Whistler with a road bike de-wheeled and folded into the trunk would be an absolute blast.
Features
Mini's old sales model echoed their BMW parent company to a fault - you can have anything you want, you've just got to pay for it. Sometimes, that meant eyewatering pricetags displaying numbers that would fetch you a very well-equipped rear-drive "proper" sportscar.
While the nomenclature of the new options packages might confuse - there are, for instance, several levels above "Loaded" - the options grouping is fairly sensible. Spec an automatic transmission and the navigation package, and you've got yourself a great little sporty city car for under $30K. Keep it to just the sport suspension and a couple of stripes on the hood, and you've got an enthusiast-pleaser for about the same price.
Fuel economy is also good, and note that this new Mini is being launched right at the changeover where quoted figures are getting 10 to 15 per cent worse thanks to more accurate testing measures.
Officially reported figures from Transport Canada are 8.1 litres/100 kilometres in the city and 5.2 l/100 km highway. More realistically, you can expect to see mid-8.0 l/100 km results in mixed driving.
Compared to other small turbocharged hatchbacks, that's actually quite impressive.
Green Light
Enthusiastic drive; upscale interior; responsive engine; and more-easonable pricing.
Stop Sign
Small trunk; stiff ride; exterior styling is somewhat polarizing; and slightly less raw than older models.
The Checkered Flag
Bigger, smoother, and more polished, but still a proper Mini.
Competitors
Fiesta ST ($24,995) When it comes to scrappy little front-drive hatchbacks, the Fiesta ST is the one to beat. Powered by a 1.6-litre turbo powerplant that outmuscles the Cooper with less displacement, the Fiesta offers a raw driving experience that's even more thrilling than the Mini. What's more, if you keep the options light, it's less expensive than the Cooper S - but not by much.
The Mini claws back any dynamic advantage the Ford has by being a smoother overall driving experience, with a more premium feel, even if you don't go nuts with the options list.
