Comeback Trail Leads to U.S.
It’s cute, it’s cuddly, it handles like a go-kart, and it’s roomy enough for four full-size people, or two people and a lot of cargo.
It’s the Mini Cooper, and it goes on sale in the U.S. in two days.
It has history: The original, introduced in Britain in 1959, helped start the small-car revolution and half a decade later inspired designer Mary Quant to name her short-short skirt the “mini.”
It still is built in England, but the company now is owned by BMW. So you’d suspect that it would be nothing short of a pint-sized version of that ultimate driving machine the boys from Bavaria always are bragging about.
Unfortunately, it isn’t.
Oh, the Mini Cooper comes close. The car, reintroduced after a 37-year absence from the U.S., is a completely redesigned and re-engineered 2002 model--there was no 2001--that went on sale in Europe last year. And although it pays strong visual homage to the Minis of 1959-2000, it shares little mechanically with its predecessors.
It is a great little package, Teutonically tight and sticky as a cocklebur even on rain-slicked roads. It undoubtedly--and deservedly--will win a ton of awards and a flock of fans.
But it also has an engine that could use a shot of low-end torque, a five-speed manual transmission that ought to be a close-ratio six speed and a suspension that trades comfort for control.
The Mini, rolling on its standard 15-inch tires and wheels, is a rough rider, and probably will be uncomfortable for many on California’s increasingly potholed streets and highways. It takes a $500 upgrade to 16-inch wheels and run-flat tires and an additional $270 for the more supportive sport seats to start smoothing it out. And those upgrades turn the $16,850 base model (that price includes a $550 destination charge) into a $17,620 car.
This isn’t a car to take on a cross-country trip, but long- distance drivers aren’t expected to figure heavily in the Mini buyer profile.
As a car for daily commutes--especially for zipping in and out of city traffic--or for fun weekends, the Mini shines.
The appeal is largely its design--interior as well as exterior--and handling. There are other cars in about the same price range that are just as much fun to drive (the $17,995 Ford SVT Focus hatchback might be even more fun for drivers who like to push things to the limit), but the Mini Cooper is in a class of its own when it comes to looks.
It is much larger and far more aerodynamic than the Mini of yore, but there’s no chance it will be taken for anything but a Mini. The basic shape resembles a paper grocery bag tipped on its side. The intent of the Mini’s original designer, Sir Alexander Issigonis, was to create the smallest package possible in which to comfortably haul four grown-ups. The new Mini achieves Sir Alec’s goal without offending 21st century sensibilities.
The classic two-tone paint scheme remains--a colored body topped by a bright-white or gloss-black roof--but modernists can order the roof painted to match the body. The wheels still are as far toward the corners of the car as possible, but the new Mini’s 10.9-inch front brake discs are as big as the old Mini’s entire front wheel. The grille and winged Mini emblem on the nose mimic the original.
Inside, the new Mini resurrects dash-mounted toggle switches--done away with in most cars long ago for safety reasons--to control headlights, door locks, electric windows and the optional fog lamps and stability-control system. A neat use of cushioned tabs to separate the switches and catch wayward knees before they can be stabbed by the toggles makes it possible.
The interior features a tachometer mounted on the steering column and a fat, round analog speedometer and gauge pod in the center of the dashboard. The layout is a nod to Mini’s rallying days, when the navigator needed to use the speedo to make route calculations while the driver needed nothing but the tach to monitor engine performance. (Fear not: The new Mini’s center-mount speedometer is easily visible from the driver’s seat.)
Everything else, from big, round heat, vent and air conditioner controls to the audio system, is mounted in a center stack that hangs from the dash between two steel braces.
The only annoying touch inside is the location of the hood release, which is mounted on the passenger-side kick panel where it is hard for the driver to get to. (It makes sense to put it there in cars sold in England and Japan, where the driver sits on the wrong side, but it is awkward in a car intended for the left-hand-drive North American market.)
The car comes with six air bags: two in front, two in the front sides and two full-length air curtains for front and rear. The BMW-derived safety package includes standard anti-lock brakes with computer controls to modulate braking force on corners and to compensate for the car’s front-heavy weight bias (67% of its weight is in the forward half of the vehicle).
Tom Purves, chairman and chief executive of BMW Group Americas, says the Mini is the first step in a strategy by the company’s Munich-based parent, Bayerische Motoren Werke, to develop “outside of the BMW business.” The second step will come in a year or so, after BMW takes over Rolls-Royce production.
The strategy, Purves said, “is to cover the world’s entire luxury performance market with these three brands.” That would be Mini in the $17,000-to-$24,000 range; BMW in the $24,000-to-$130,000 range; and Rolls-Royce, “the jewelry end of the business,” for those who never have to ask “How much?”
By plan, that makes Mini BMW’s starter line, aimed at a youthful buyer with budget constraints.
But the car--sold continuously in Europe and Asia since its introduction--hasn’t been marketed in the U.S. since 1965.
When Mini took its first public awareness poll in the States a year ago, “less than 2% of Americans were aware of what the Mini was,” said Jack Pitney, Mini’s general manager. That’s good, because Pitney and his crew can start with a clean slate, selling Mini on its kicky looks and impressive performance.
Although this is a front-wheel-drive car (BMW’s first), it uses the multi-link independent rear suspension from the BMW 3-Series with a MacPherson strut arrangement up front. That setup keeps all four tires firmly anchored and lets the Mini take corners with almost no body roll.
The new Mini also uses rack-and-pinion steering that keeps it centered and responsive.
Steering is pure joy, electrically powered (no drain on the engine as with a hydraulic system) and needing but 21/2 turns lock to lock. A quarter-turn of the comfortably fat steering wheel is enough to negotiate all but the hairiest hairpins.
It is the shortest car on the road in the U.S. at 142.8 inches, but its wheels-to-the-corner stance gives it a respectable wheelbase of 97.1 inches.
Mini will introduce the hot-rod version, the Cooper S, in the U.S. on Friday as well, but mostly for show. Mini dealers will each get a pair of the supercharged Cooper S models, one to post on the showroom floor and one for test drives. But it will be summer before cars start arriving in volume. The S comes with a beefed-up suspension, six-speed manual transmission and a supercharged 163-horsepower version of the Mini Cooper’s engine.
The base engine is a transverse-mounted, 1.6-liter, 115-horsepower inline-4 built in Brazil by Tritec, a joint venture of BMW and DaimlerChrysler.
Mini manager Pitney said the company expects to sell 20,000 Minis in the U.S. in the next 12 months, 70% of them plain-old Coopers and 30% S models.
The base model’s five-speed manual shifts smoothly but needs to be shifted a lot, especially at lower speeds, to maintain peak engine performance. For those who prefer, the Mini Cooper (but not the S) also has an optional continuously variable transmission, or CVT, that has been programmed to act like a six-speed Steptronic transmission that can be shifted like a clutchless manual or left alone in D (for “drive”).
Final Words: A car with a past, but not from there. The Mini Cooper should be considered if you are under 30, have the hots for the PT Cruiser or VW’s New Beetle or just enjoy a fun ride.
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2002 Mini Cooper
Type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive sporty compact with seating for four. Models include Cooper and supercharged Cooper S.
Cost and Equipment
Pricing: $16,850 to about $24,000 (includes $550 destination charge).
Standard equipment: Cooper includes five-speed manual transmission; four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes with corner braking control and electronic brake-force distribution; electronic throttle control; multi-link rear suspension, sport-tuned suspension; 175/65R15 tires; alloy wheels; power windows, exterior mirrors and door locks; remote entry; air conditioning; folding rear seats with 50-50 split; driver and front passenger air bags and side air bags, plus side curtain air bags (head protection system) for front and rear passengers; six-speaker AM-FM stereo with CD player; tilt steering wheel; four-year, 50,000-mile basic warranty with free scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles. Cooper S adds supercharged engine; six-speed manual transmission; 16-inch wheels and 195/55R16 run-flat tires; stiffer anti-sway bars; body-colored grille and bumpers; dual tailpipes; sport seats in front; leather-wrapped steering wheel; rear spoiler.
Options for both models include: stability control system; xenon headlights with washer; fog lights; leather upholstery; heated front seats; cruise control; wood steering wheel with fingertip cruise and audio controls; upgraded Harmon Kardon eight-speaker audio system, satellite navigation system; power sunroof.
For Cooper only: continuously variable (automatic) transmission with six-speed Steptronic mode; 16-inch run-flat tires and alloy wheels; stiffer anti-sway bars; rear spoiler; sport seats; leather-wrapped steering wheel.
For Cooper S only: 17-inch run-flat tires and alloy wheels.
Engine
Cooper: transverse-mounted, 1.6-liter, 115-horsepower inline-4 with 100 pound-feet of torque. Cooper S: same engine supercharged and tuned to achieve 163 horsepower and 155 pound-feet of torque.
Dimensions and Capacities
Overall length: Cooper, 142.8 inches; Cooper S, 143.9 inches. Height: Cooper, 55.4 inches; Cooper S 55.7 inches. Width: 66.5 inches (75.8 inches including side mirrors).
Wheelbase: 97.1 inches. Turning circle: 35 feet.
Top speed (electronically limited): Cooper, 124 mph; Cooper S, 135 mph.
Maximum payload: 948 pounds.
Fuel consumption, factory estimate, for Cooper: 28 mpg city, 37 mpg highway. Fuel Type: 91 octane premium. Fuel capacity: 13.2 gallons.
Curb Weight: Cooper, 2,315 pounds; Cooper S, 2,513 pounds.
