The Truth about Cars tends to be both opinionated and pretty demanding when it comes to reviews. They’re not against calling a spade a spade and certainly seem to pride themselves in being outspoken about issues that other reviewers might gloss over. So it was with great pleasure that I read the 2007 MINI Cooper (not the “S”) score a perfect 5 (out of 5) stars in a recent road test. Here’s an excerpt:

>It’s a relief to see an automobile that wasn’t designed in anger. Unlike Japanese and German sporting machines’ menacing headlights and blood-drawing creases, the Cooper remains a four-wheeled cheeky chappie. Although the MINI was maximized for ’07, only OCD brand fans can make the call. In case you meet a MINI enthusiast, just remember that the front indicators now sit like laconic “floaters” inside the MINI’s eyes, and the rear window line rises 0.7″ higher up at the B-pillar than previously.

>…it’s amazing to us buy-by-the-pound Americans that BMW would dare offer the 118 horse Cooper for sale on this side of the pond. That’s less poke underfoot than offered by a lowly a Kia Spectra. But unlike the original MINI’s base (in the precise sense of the word) engine, which was made from rusted toaster ovens in a Brazilian Chrysler factory, the new 1.6 liter four-pot is a peach.

>Come to think of it, the Cooper is a smug little bastard of a car. I don’t have to brake for that turn. I can carve through traffic. I can fit into that parking space. I get 40 mpg highway. Unlike that psychotic dust-buster Civic, I’ve got completely customizable character. And I have to pay for home delivery because I can’t haul a damn thing. Err, never mind that last one.

The highly recommended full version can be found below:

[ MINI Cooper Review ] The Truth About Cars