MINI – Why Not?

Apparently, the best thing to buy these days is a Mini.  Why is that, I hear you ask?  Well, very simple.  The Mini is the most popular car on the social networking site Facebook.  I guess they found that out through one of their scientific surveys of course.  Well, there’s 24,000 members of Mini Cooper related Facebook groups, the next being Honda Civic fans.

There aren’t too many cars that have as much of a reputation, or indeed a history, as the Mini.  Going to a quick history lesson, the BMC (British Motor Corporation) produced the car and its successors from 1959 – so this car has a long shadow.  The first variant is considered a style icon of the sixties, as nothing else quite matched it for profile or indeed fun driving.

One of the most amazing things about the Mini is the small form factor.  It’s pretty damn tiny on the inside, but due to the way in which the design maximises space, it is actually reasonably roomy on the inside.  This gives enough space (just about) for five people.  There have been numerous parodies on this, with a record being set back in 2000 when 18 women fit into the car.  I’d imagine they were all of one sex as it could lead to some compromising positions, even in the new, larger Mini One.

Driving forward (pardon the pun), Mini was given a facelift by the newest owner, BMW.  This MINI (capital letters, or Mini One) is bigger than the original, in height, weight and breadth.  It also weighs almost double the original style icon.  The biggest change perhaps it the addition of modern configurations to the car.

Of course, as the MINI is a modern car, it had to be updated for safety and expectation reasons.  Has it lost its charm though?  Well if you ask me, it never really had that much.  A product of the time it was made, it seems now a dinosaur.  A relic.  Would I have an original?  Frankly no, I prefer bigger cars, and more to the point, I’d hate to see how it fared in a NCAP safety test.  What with some of the monster-sized vehicles we have on the road these days that could end up messy.

What of the new cars’ driving ability though?  Well, it is interesting.  It comes in a variety of formats such as the MINI Clubman (insane – why do you need a small car in an estate version?), the Mini One (hatchback, very reasonable), the MINI Convertible (yeah, okay, I’ll admit this is actually cool) and the Mini Cooper S (or the newest version of the sport, the John Cooper Works) – the sports variant.

Let’s look at the Cooper S – it’s the car I’d be most likely to own, if I were ever to own a Mini (or MINI).  The 7.1 seconds to 60 is actually quite quick, and it has the superb handling characteristics you’d expect from a smaller, road-hugging vehicle.  The turbo kicks in nicely and creates an engine that is a little peakier than the supercharged variant.

The car handles well, being both agile and responsive through turns.  You’ll also find that it is quite grippy too, so it should do you quite nicely whether you’re journeying through the city or those B-roads we all know and love.  Overall, the MINI is extremely good – if not personally to my taste.  I think it’s the faux-retro that annoys me actually – you’ll see what I mean when you step inside one.  The huge oversized speedo might get to you.  Or maybe how the MINI isn’t actually mini anymore.

Whatever your opinion on the MINI, you’ll find it reliable, a good driving experience and something that other people will respect you for driving.  I’ll be one of them.  I’d just never have one myself.  But then, that’s the beauty of cars right?