This is a big moment for Honk. We were in love with the old MINI because it was just the ultimate city car. This new one a bit bigger, a bit porkier and the one we had on test was very diesel. Does this kill the Joie de vivre of the MINI? Or does this make it more appealing? That’s what we’re here to find out.
If you park it next to the previous generation car, you can see that this one’s bigger. I’ve heard many people go on and on about how it shouldn’t be called a MINI anymore because it’s grown too big. All rubbish. It’s a beautiful size. It still fits in the tiniest of gaps despite and it still is the easiest car in the world to park. And most importantly, it’s still cheeky.
Then there’s the interior. Oh man. They’ve pulled out the stops. Satnav, head-up display, full glass roof, and that’s only the beginning. Virtually everything in the cabin is operated by a selection of beautifully-milled metal toggle switches. Fighter jet enthusiasts will go nuts with this. I certainly did. But then there’s a little bit of a let-down because the seats are manually adjusted and for a fun and sprightly little car such as this, there are no paddle shifters for the 6-speed automatic gearbox. Not cool, BMW. Not cool. It gets a little worse because my test car didn’t have leather seats. Come on. My 11-something lakh Fiat Linea had leather seats as standard.
And then we arrive at the heart of the matter. Literally. This MINI CooperD has a diesel engine. And it’s a tiny 3 cylinder which have 1.5 litres in which to shuffle about. It’s boosted by direct injection and a turbo, but that really isn’t enough engine for a car with a Cooper badge on it, surely? Actually it is.
This blend of small but torquey engine with a genius chassis setup means that the CooperD performs very differently to the petrol engine. Here you get up close and intimate with the little droplets of feedback, the crispness of the steering, the sheer balance of the whole setup, while getting over 20kpl. But is that what a near '40 lakh (On road) super-hatch is meant to be? Or is it critical that it have a petrol engine?
It’s not that the diesel is underpowered or anything, it’s just that it happens to be diesel. In most cars, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid about it. Modern diesels are clean, torquey, efficient and very economical. But the MINI isn’t most cars. It’s special. It’s one of the most recognisable shapes in the automotive universe because it is unlike anything else in the world. And it feels like it. The diesel’s fine to pootle around in the city, but there are times when you’d like some proper grunt to go with the handling. And sadly, the diesel falls a bit short.
Of course it makes more sense than the petrol. But buying a MINI isn’t a cold and calculated decision. You buy it because you must. Because your heart is set on it. And to complete that emotional connect with it, it needs a petrol.
The CooperD then will always be a gift-to-the-kid-when-he/she-turns-18 sort of car. And I’ve got no problem with that. But my MINI will always be a full-fat very petrol, Cooper S.
