Autocar got their hands on a press car in Spain during the official press launch of the 2007 MCS and found the new car generally an improvement. Here’s an excerpt:
>The ride is less choppy than before, especially if you stick with standard set-up, though it can get turbulent at times. The Sport suspension is acceptable, but the trade-off isn’t worth it. All Cooper Ss run on fourth-generation run-flat rubber, which is less harsh than earlier iterations. This Mini is pretty refined all round, in fact, and also makes noises endearingly similar to a tuned original Mini — a coincidence, says BMW. And the twin pipe exhaust sounds brilliant from outside.
[ First Drive: Mini Cooper S ] Autocar
“an approvement’? eh?
<blockquote>also makes noises endearingly similar to a tuned original Mini</blockquote>
Good news to anyone who regrets the parting of the supercharger (which reminded me somewhat of the gearbox whine of a classic).
R50 – just what I was going to say. 🙂
Autocar review and Times of London review were written by the same author, Richard Bremner. Neither interview really contributed much additional information that the Mini community didn’t already know.
Well he says “also makes noises endearingly similar to a tuned original Mini.” You notice they say an original Mini and not an original MINI. I think he means the Classic Mini and not the R50/53.
Does anybody besides us know the difference between a Mini and a MINI?
I don’t know who wrote the post, but I fixed the typo.