For this week’s MF video Friday we have six new official videos of the 2007 Cooper S in and around Spain.
First, let’s get to know the exterior of the new Cooper S:
How about the interior and under the bonnet? Why not:
But how does it drive you ask? Ask no more:
…finally some spirited motoring:
Spanish canyon carving:
RIP Supercharger Whine 🙁
love that piping on the seats. miss the S/C scream, but the exhaust sounds pretty nice. the car looks much better on the road and in motion than when sitting. but let’s see some more colors!
If it’d been Cooper I’d watch…
Has anyone seen pictures of the wood trim steering wheel and dash trim?
Is that the Lightning Blue or the Laser Blue?
Still think they could have done better with the away from retro look transition… Interior center console material is cheap plastic, and it shows… and the one thing I will never get over is the radio display and controls built into the speedometer. Ugh!!
Why does the bonnet have the holes for the lights that don’t go up with hood anymore… Cleaner to not have holes in the bonnet. Maybe you can shoot hoops or play golf with the holes ???
Double Rear Fog Light – Interesting….
In all, I am sure it still performs well, but I really hope they get their act together better on the styling, they lost me on this version.
Want to see R56 Version 2.0 – redo the styling!
Looks great, I’m hoping they didn’t have the bonnet closed in the first video at the 1:04ish mark, big gap over the front wheel arch. Maybe it’s just the angle?
Not a huge fan of the black bonnet grille.
I agree with Charlie, they totally missed the mark on the styling. The car used to be subtle, but now reminds me more of a playmobile toy than a retro looking car.
Maybe with the addition of an aero kit and the removal of those hideous chrome bits (especially the obnoxious side vents) it can regain some of the styling queues we all love.
I also think they now gone too far in direction of a cartoonmobile. It’s now lost original casual seriousness and looks more like trying too hard to be cool. So heavy handed! Oh well, maybe they will make a major facelift soon…
Thanks for the videos Gabe. I have mixed feelings on the new MINI. I like a lot of the exterior but that gap above the front wheel arch is hideous. I like most of the interior but miss the ability to order a chrono package and I still don’t like the Fisher-Price heater controls. The seats look great and the Laser Blue is a terrific color!
…nice set of videos of the R56,Gabe. By the way,Gabe…in the third video clip(…how does it drive…),I’d noticed the R56 pass by a building with a roof in shape of a fish tail. I wonder if that was a Frank Gehry designed building(he has a thing for,”fish tails”). Anyway…great job,Gabe.
2nd Video… 56 sec. mark… watch the dashboard piece sink under the ‘pressure’ of pushing the start/stop button.
If that’s representative of this build… ???
<blockquote>Why does the bonnet have the holes for the lights that don’t go up with hood anymore… Cleaner to not have holes in the bonnet. Maybe you can shoot hoops or play golf with the holes ???</blockquote>
What are you proposing? To not have headlights? (Guess not…) Or to have a “conventional” bonnet, where the entire wings stays in place? That would mean there’d be seams across which is now a one piece front section. Than again, it would have also solved the gap between the front wheelarches and the bonnet I keep hearing people complaining about.
Actually, I like the new bonnet. Yes, the integrated lights were cool, but I don’t think this is any bit less cool. I too am hoping for an early facelift, though. Pet peaves: entire center section of the dash (speedo too big, ugly integrated radio controls, Fisher Price A/C controls) and the new aero-kit (too rice). New, big side “vents” are ugly, but not as big a problem as I first thought.