The Independent Drives the 2007 MCS
The Independant drives the 2007 MCS and comes away rather impressed with both the engineering and the performance of the car. Here’s an excerpt:
>Crash-test regulations, especially for pedestrian impact, are the reasons for the re-skin, minimal as it is. Every outer panel is new.
>At which point, may I lead a rousing cheer for Gert Hildebrand, the Mini’s design chief? You may have noticed that new cars are growing longer, uglier noses to cope with crash tests, ruining proportions. It doesn’t have to be so. “The engineers wanted another 100mm on the front of the Mini,” Hildebrand says, “but I told them they couldn’t have it. They would have to find another solution.”
>The engineers did exactly that and, by means of clever energy paths through the structure, have made the new Mini both regulation-compliant yet still visually Mini-like. So, why can’t other car-makers do this? Are they just too lazy? “Yes,” Hildebrand says, smiling.
Read more below:
[ Road Test: Mini Cooper S ] The Independant
<blockquote>What is clear is that the BMW-era, post-2001 Mini has been a huge worldwide success and has established itself, like its predecessor, as a classless, gender-neutral and – dare I say it? – iconic car.</blockquote>
Now that says it all. The MINI/Mini has always been a surprising car. Some get it, and some just don’t. The ones that don’t are known as commonly known as “commuters”. 😉
Incidentally…does this make the MINI androgynous?
wait a minute….I don’t like the sound of that! Who wants to drive a gender-neutral car?…..I have not been neutered and i certainly know my gender and if I thought this car was gender neutral I would not be driving it
Do not confuse wide appeal with a “classless, gender neutral” car…..those are called toyotas
I would say that the MINI is one of the most androgynous cars on the road. Maybe the Honda Accord? Pretty much every car on the road seems to be marketed to a certain gender, or in the case of Mercury, Cadillac, and Audi, an entire brand.
I would say that men and women are equally drawn to MINI, though they might end up with different cars in the end. Something decidedly masculine about matte black web spoke wheels, and something feminine about those white wheels…
Before I got my current Cooper Checkmate, I drove a Chili Red Cooper for a few weeks. Although at the base it’s the same car (just a few years older), that was clearly (at the risk of making a sexist impression – whenever I make generalising remarks, remember they’re just that and that I know there are exceptions) a girl’s car. A girl was the previous driver – it was a company car just like my current one – and it showed. Girls don’t care about big wheels, so it had the standard 15″ 8-spokes. Sports seats? Why, they just add cost… Girls do care about some fresh air and light in the car, so add a sun roof. And finding your way is a challenge to many girls, so spec a sat nav. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying these are girly per say. It just all added up to “girl’s car”, and it wasn’t for me. Another girl is now driving that car and loving every minute of it. It and my current car (apart from being both Mini Coopers) couldn’t be more different. Sunroof raises the point of gravity, so ditch that, satnav spoils the cool center speedo, so I can live without that too. Gimme big wheels (17″), antracite headliner, sports seats and sports suspension (OK, all standard spec Checkmate, but I would have gotten them even if the Checkmate package didn’t exist).
Cooper-girls car. Cooper S-boys car. JCW-mans car.
Hmmm…I guwss that means I was a girl for a few years, then I turned into a boy, and soon I will become a man!
Another great test drive report! It amazes me that so many of us waver…the view from the driver’s seat appears pretty darn good.
Perhaps the’08 JCW will turn men into apes.