[Brosreview]

This is quite nimble to drive, but here's a thing this car makes it to a collector's list more than an enthusiast's shortlist. For the latter, and for almost the same price we would go for the FOCUS ST.

By the way, a good breakdown description, for sure.

[karan561]

Firstly a good review by S2, thanks for the thread.

Originally Posted by Cartman

And it'd be fun to see this go up against the 328i; which I reckon is better in every single way. Is BHPian karan561 listening?

Cartman,

Yes i am

Well, Rightly said the 328i trumps this car in every aspect other than the handling IMO (which too will be a close call as im running on the very sticky Michelin PSS')

This Cooper S having the 2L Turbo belting only 189 horses is less to me & with the kind of handling the MINI "boasts" it deserved the same power output what my car has i.e 245 horses, then it would be much much extreme.

Also sad to see no M/T option on the Cooper range :(

[Tushar]

Nicely done S2!!!. Not a big fan of Minis, particularly because of the number of standard equipment omissions, but if I had to buy one - I'd get the Cooper S. The diesel will still be the better seller though.

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by Tushar

Nicely done S2!!!. Not a big fan of Minis, particularly because of the number of standard equipment omissions, but if I had to buy one - I'd get the Cooper S. The diesel will still be the better seller though.

You really think the diesel will sell?? I haven't seen a single 2015 Mini on the street. I see too many units of the Countryman and the pre-2015 Cooper (both S and the convertible). I think Mini really messed up by launching the lousy, 3-cylinder diesel engines first, earlier this year. I guess it was done to turn the spotlights towards the diesel engine as well as the Cooper 5-door.

The 2.0 turbocharged petrol engine is what it deserves and it should have been the primary thing the guys at Mini must concentrate on rather than senseless and forgettable iterations that no one cares about.

[karan561]

Recently got the opportunity to spend some time in the Cooper S, also i had some track time too with her

To keep my driving impressions short i'd like to say that the Cooper S is solid as a rock, feels like a brick, handles really well & surely packs a punch.

Over exceeded my expectations & does live upto its legendary HYPE

[suhaas307]

A gloomy overcast Sunday usually calls for a hot cup of chai and a good book after having retreated under a warm blanket.

But, Vid6639 and I chose to spend our Sunday a little differently, when BMW-Mini invited us to Meco Kartopia to sample their updated range of Mini Coopers. BMW-Mini had organized this event called Mini Urban Drive not just for the press, but also existing and potential customers of the brand. They also took this opportunity to showcase the facelifted 3-door hatchback, which now sports the Union Jack set in the tail-lights – a pretty unique feature!

Located about an hour's drive north of Bangalore, Meco Kartopia is a facility established by a few prominent figures in accordance with International standards and approved by The Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI). Although predominantly a go-kart track, the venue is used for recreational motorsport and racing.

After having negotiated some pretty questionable roads and dicey rural traffic, we entered the venue and were immediately welcomed by a group of Minis sliding around in synchronized fashion a la The Italian Job! As we sauntered into their makeshift reception tent, we were greeted by a brand new and heavily specced Mini Countryman Cooper, complete with a camping tent mounted on its roof, along with assorted camping equipment and other knick-knacks. After examining the static Countryman and the accessories counter that had on display a range of interesting trinkets and merchandise, we were escorted to the track:


A fun briefing session with two highly-skilled racing drivers (Tommy Lee and a Yu) followed, and we strapped ourselves in a 2018 blue Countryman Cooper SD. Powered by 2-litre, turbocharged diesel motor churning out 190 horses at its peak, the Countryman gets off the line without much drama. But it’s when the 400 Nm of torque kicks in that you realize that this little city SUV packs a serious punch! As we lined up one after the other, we were expected to floor it on signal and keep it pinned till we entered ‘the box’, demarcated by cones, at which point, we were expected to slam the brakes as hard as we could and then steer away safely into a lane – again demarcated by cones. The object of this exercise was to demonstrate the car's ABS in assisting the driver in avoiding a potential obstacle while maintaining control of the car. Needless to say, we nailed it every single time and even turned the exercise into a little game, just to see how close we could get to the cone without hitting it. We got pretty close!

The Mini Countryman Cooper SD. You can see the cones that we had to avoid. The cones are intentionally tumbled over to point in the direction you need to swerve:


Here's a couple of videos with me driving. The trick was to basically go flat out and brake as close as possible to the cones and swerve. Brake too early and you stop too soon, don't brake hard enough and the ABS won't kick in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pf-WeUipSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUB52HsSrVY

With the braking test out of the way, we were asked to jump into any hatchback among a convoy of Coopers. We chose the Clubman Cooper S as it was the only car I hadn’t driven. The Clubman is essentially a long wheelbase hatchback similar to the 5-door Mini Cooper hatchback, but with barn doors for the boot. It's a bit quirky and interesting to look at, but it's also practical. It also packs the same 2-litre, 190 horsepower engine from the 3-door Cooper S. But, unlike the 7-speed double-clutch Steptronic gearbox of the 3-door Cooper S, the engine of the Clubman Cooper S is mated to a single-clutch 8-speed Steptronic transmission that may have been a tad slower to swap cogs. Nevertheless, we were determined not to get bogged down by a long wheelbase hatchback with a slower gearbox while we were up against a slew of Coopers 'round a tight go-kart track.

After a few sighter-laps around the circuit, we were asked to go pedal-to-the-metal and aim to get close to the magical 35-second benchmark time set by someone whom we did not know. As we received the green, we floored it and took a wide-ish angle into the first corner and proceeded quickly to the next sharp right hander, followed by another sharp right hander. We were guided by cones to take a wider angle around the first hairpin bend on the track. Aggressive throttle inputs will only yield understeer as I'd learned the hard way. Another hairpin and yet another wide corner were all that there was to negotiate before we braked hard into 'the box'. Vidyut managed a quick 36 seconds as a result of his clean and smooth approach, whereas I made a royal mess of it resulting in a rather average 38 seconds. Believe me, it felt a lot faster and a lot scarier than the time suggests, especially when you engage sport-mode and hear pops and crackles every time you let go of the throttle.

Having retreated into the makeshift tent in search of coffee and a brown paper-bag to bury my face in, we were told to line up by the side of the track and expect to be called into one of two Mini Cooper S Convertibles driven by the highly skilled pro-drivers for a brisk taxi-lap around the circuit, as if to show us how it’s actually done! And show us they did! The pair wrung the little cabriolets by the scruffs of their necks and pushed them hard around every corner. We flew down the straights, and with liberal applications of the e-brake, we slid around the corners in an almost harmonious melancholy. It was just then that the skies decided to open up, allowing our master drivers to slide around with incredible ease and negotiate corners with little fuss from the tyres.

In true Ken Block style, the drivers ended their taxi-laps in a flourish, by swinging around cones at the opposite ends of the pit-lane and eventually parallel parked in a plume of smoke! As the sun set and the rain got heavier, we wound up our day and headed back to town. Events like these do leave an impression on the young and old. And there really is no place more fitting to sample the quintessential go-kart i.e. the Mini Cooper S, than on a proper go-kart track:




Here's a couple of small videos of the taxi-lap with the instructors. Vid6639 tried taking a video from the passenger seat, but the video was unusable with all the sideways action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25Rn4XHbNsg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWsxrvozXi4

This was the first Mini Urban Drive event and BMW-Mini is planning to conduct it in other cities like Chennai and Hyderabad soon. Thankfully, Bangalore has one of the best go-kart tracks around. So, it was easy and apt to pick it to host the inaugural event.

Disclaimer: BMW invited Team-BHP for the Mini Urban Drive. They covered all the expenses for this driving event.

[Aditya]

Suhaas and Viddy, you guys seem to have had quite a lot of fun. There are very few cars in the world that can match the fun that the Mini offers, even though it's not quite as "Mini" as before.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

And there really is no place more fitting to sample the quintessential go-kart i.e. the Mini Cooper S, than on a proper go-kart track

Have to agree with you. Go-karts need direct steering and precise handling - just what the Mini offers.

Vidyut managed a quick 36 seconds as a result of his clean and smooth approach, whereas I made a royal mess of it resulting in a rather average 38 seconds.

The idea is to be smooth and give just enough throttle and brake inputs. Most drivers make the mistake of going in too hard.