Five Doors, But Still A Whole Heap Of Fun
To say the Mini has somewhat strayed from its original purpose would be a bit
of an understatement. in fact, BMW has basically taken all of the reasoning behind the original car and thrown it out the win- dow. But you know what? it really doesn’t matter.
The original Mini was designed to create a cheap and affordable car for the masses, one that could hold four adults and a bit of luggage as an extra bonus. it was designed to be as basic as possible.
But what its creator, sir Alec Issigonis, could never have predicted was that it would become a cult icon, a car loved by everyone from paupers to princesses. it also turned out to be a pretty good drive as well, again something the men at the top could never have guessed when signing off Issigonis’ designs on the drawing board.
Scroll forward 40-odd years and the new Mini bears little resemblance to the origi- nal. For a start it’s no longer ‘mini’. It’s also not cheap, morphing into a lifestyle brand, rather than a car to move the masses. On top of that, modern Minis are loaded with tech, synching to virtually any device you may or not have in your pocket.
But despite all this, the two cars, which at first appear to be poles apart, actually do share a common trait. The one thing both cars have in abundance is fun.
The original Mini was an absolute hoot to drive and over half a century hasn’t diluted that key gene. Driving a Mini will have you nipping around like a loony, slid- ing around corners, almost always with a huge, cheesy grin on your face. The very latest version of the Mini is no exception to this rule, despite, shock horror, there now being a five-door version.
In fact, the doors are so cleverly designed that you hardly notice them at all. The driving experience certainly isn’t affected by the extra weight. All you get is a lot more practicality, with seemingly no downside. It’s not often in life that you get to have your cake and eat it.
The five-door version is actually slightly longer than the standard car, but not that you’d notice. The extra centimetres are as well hidden as the extra doors. It’s also got a larger boot, making it a somewhat more practical alternative to many of the other cars in the segment.
Under the hood of the Cooper S ver- sion you get a frankly brilliant 2.0-litre, four-cylinder motor, which sends 192hp to the wheels. It’s also blessed with 300 Nm of torque. So much drive under such a comparatively lightweight body gives it far more power than it needs. Enter that Mini fun factor.
The 0-100 km/h dash takes just 6.9 seconds, and the car tops out at 230 km/h. Things have moved on a bit from the origi- nal car’s 850cc engine.
The ride itself is a little harsh, but that gives it great cornering ability. For a twisty mountain road, few cars will provide the same grin factor as the Mini Cooper S.
The exterior design of the new Mini is subtle when compared to the previous ver- sion. Perhaps the most obvious change is the larger rear lights, which is not a good pro- gression. They’re too big, losing some of the subtly of the older version. But everything else is a small tweak here, a slight change there, all adding up to a greater good.
The Mini is also one of the few cars that actually looks better with racing stripes.
In fact, spot one without them and the car starts to look a bit bland. Buyers have clearly become accustomed to the Mini’s ‘in your face’ attitude.
Inside, the car follows the same cool design of the previous model, but with a number of the annoyances ironed out. The switchgear is easier to use and the infotainment has become both easier and more advanced, allowing access to social media. The seats are very comfortable, whilst being extremely supportive. That’s handy, as you’ll soon find yourself flinging the Mini around the nearest set of corners.
In the back, rear passengers get more legroom, thanks to cut outs in the backs of the front seats—it’s a simple solution that works well.
One oddity is the heads-up display, which unlike most other cars with this option, uses a small, pop-up clear panel as the display. Strangely it doesn’t work if (like many people in the Gulf) you wear polarised sunglasses.
So with five doors now adorning the neat little body, will Sir Alec be turning in his grave? No, not at all. The new Mini isn’t the old Mini. The driving forces behind his iconic design now don’t apply. The world has changed and so has the Mini.
All adding two doors has done is expand the number of people that can get a slice of that famous Mini fun.