Clarkson Reviews the 2007 Cooper S
Love him or hate him, Jeremy Clarkson is always worth reading. And when he’s reviewing a MINI, it’s usually worth reading a couple of times. Here’s a sneak peak:
>As you can tell, there is much I like about this new car. Like its predecessor, it pays homage to the original Mini, and has a genuinely classless feel as a result, but it’s loaded up with all sorts of gimmickry, too, which gives it a modern, funky feel.
Okay maybe we gave too much away. Yes he likes it. He does however, think it’s too pricey in UK pounds (looking at exchange rates I’m inclined to agree) and he’s really bothered by the faux scoop. But all told it’s a positive review from the worlds most negative man. Not bad.
[ If it ain’t broke … oh, fix it anyway ] London Times
…British humor,at it’s best. Great story.
In summary – the perfect car for the obsessive compulsive ADHD individuals. 🙂
Only £15,995, how many quids is that?
yay!
Wow, that’s about the most lenient on a common car I’ve ever seen him be. Normally he’s pretty snarky and then throws in something positive only at the tail end of a review (usually in the middle of a power slide 😀 ) but he was positive through the whole thing…amazing!
Well, he seems a bit ambivalent about the new MINI, but his approval does seep thru his usual faux-wide-eyed cynicism. I’m frankly amazed his deepest fault-finding is the price – does this mean all the fiddly things he twiddled with were the whole of the soul of the new?
“If it ain’t fixed … oh, fix it anyway” says it all. Revisions are, theoretically at least, intended to improve upon an existing product. The key word here — “improve.” A new MINI with MAXI design deficits is far from an improvement.
Although such humoresque commentary is quite entertaining it may fail to thoroughly underscore many of the serious design deficits that this vehicle unfortunately exhibits. Witness the sharp spike in sales of new ’06s. Clearly BMW will likely rely heavily upon reaching an entirely new group of consumers that have little or no frame of reference to drive ’07 sales and sustain previous volume.
Clarkson, Hammon, and May, simply the coolest “car talk” guys around. If they ever breakup it would be like the Beatles breaking up! The HORROR!!
Cool to know Clarkson’s up to his old does he like it or doesn’t he like mindset. I think a simple overlooked point is the reference he made about his furniture. Mini in a way is doing that with this car. Let’s rearrange some things and see if we(the consumer) like it. I would place a bet that the whole lower center console has a complete and utter redo within the next year or two. God’s it’s terrible!!
Not a bad review for the Mini considering that JC tends to hate all things BMW! However not even JC could deny that the Mini is great car – just look at the UK sales figures!
I totally agree with him about the price – I have said it before and I will say it again – RIP OFF BRITAIN!
Why are cars that are made in the UK more expensive in the UK than other countries which require the cars to be shipped etc!!!!!!!! The arguement that it is down to spec is bollocks!
Yeah, it never ceases to amaze me how brutally expensive new cars are in the UK. And that is not even taking into account road taxes, cost of petrol, etc.
I can see why the ONE and ONE D models are fairly good sellers there.
In countries such as Italy price is correlated to displacement, hence the Ferrari turbo editions — although if you have a pocketful of disposable lira like most Ferrari cognescenti have, what difference does it make! Car prices everywhere, including the U.K. are inflated as are most other consumer goods including fuel. Those of us residing in the U.S. are beginning to experience the “pump shock” /price gouging that unrestrained profiteering permits. Ultimately we will “adjust” and complacently acquiesce like our Eoropean counterparts have done for decades.
Addendum:
Diesel has helped to moderate the impact of price gouging in the EEC but unfortunately it may not adequately ameliorate the problem in the U.S since diesel is outrageously priced well above gasoline despite its lower production cost. That is not to suggest that diesels are without several other redemptive qualities which I, for one, thoroughly endorse and recognize. Hail MBUSA … it’s your move BMW. Bring forth to our shores the fantastic high-performance 3s, 5s, and 7s that are truly awe-inspiring. VW (Bentley Le Mans) and Audi have made their marks on the track as well. MINI D we eagerly await your debut.
15995 quid = about US$29768.
Does the USA get the Suzuki Swift? In sport version the Japper is a serious threat to MINI Cooper and it’s got four doors and legroom.
We haven’t gotten the Suzuki Swift (a.k.a the Geo/Chevy Metro) here in several years. I do however, remember the late 1980’s Suzuki GT hatchback that I got to test drive back then when they were new and that little sucker had great handling and exhaust note. I think the only other car comparable to the Swift GT at that time was the Honda CRX Si.
Those 2 cars do remind me a lot of the current MINI.
Now Suzuki just introduced a new model here in the USA:
2007 SX4:
<a href="http://www.suzukiauto.com/sr_07/sx4/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.suzukiauto.com/sr_07/sx4/</a>
Don’t know much about them, I have only seen one or two in the streets so far. Seems to be like a nice car and for it has standard 3-mode intelligent AWD all for US$14,999 (Nearly $4K less than a new 2007 R56 Cooper).
Not bad at all. Need to read some reviews about the SX4?
Is this the same car you guys have in the UK sold and marketed as the Swift?
I drove a few of those early ’90s Swift GTi/GTs – they were easily Cooper beaters, and with a set of strut braces, slightly beefier bars, stiffer springs, & with only a few engine tweaks, and they could put a scare into an ‘S’ driver in the twisties. They had one of the best twin-cam Fi production engines I ever saw – the G13B, they had great seats, and they weighed hardly nothin’, which was the real secret – a damned potent little hatchback. I wouldn’t mind one now, I look around every so often for a deal on one; they got pretty good mileage, too.
BCNU,
Rob in dago
By the way, Clarkson loves the BMW 5 series, always has, always will.
Clarkson loves the BMW 5 series – it is actually in the seriously uncool section of the Top Gear Cool Wall and when it came to the BMW 3 series JC noted for the first time ever that he simply could not be bothered even putting it on the wall!
Although I should note that I disagree with him.