Cooper Scores 5 Stars at Truth About Cars
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
When I see reviews with the following statements such as this:
“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.”
I stop reading the rest of the article. This is nothing but an ignorant cheap shot at a great little engine that served the first generation MINI very well. There is little to argue about the old Tritecs….cast iron construction, single overhead cam simplicity and nearly indestructible in terms of reliability.
While I personally have nothing against the PSA-BMW Prince engine (Hey I am getting a copy in the coming months) I read with great concern about the very high bonnet temperatures being recorded in Turbocharged equipped MINIs. The “rusted toasters” analogy may well be better applied to the heat management problems MINI is having with the Turbo Prince cars.
But I am eager to read “The Truth about Cars” comments when the PSA engine goes the way of the Tritec in 5 years from now. What will they say then…. “The old PSA engine was made up of burnt French toasts”?
I guess this publication should be called “our version of the truth about cars”.
Yes, this author was going for “clever” a bit too much. I think he liked the car…not sure.
Well Spectre makes a good point final point, but OTOH, every publication is “their” version of the truth. I personally thought the review was laugh out load funny.
It’s also great to read through all of the comments just to see what non-MINI folks actually think about our cars. It’s very funny to me that most of them absolutely hate the interior of the MINI. Especially the Fisher Price look of it and the grossly OVER SIZED center speedo…
I was invited to evaluate the R56 as an early prototype. My biggest complaint to them was about the hideously large center speedo. Apparently, they didn’t listen, or maybe I was the only one complaining???
I didn’t care for the center speedo in the R53 MINI much either (that’s why I ordered nav instead), but IMHO it was MUCH better proportioned to the car than the one in the R56 is. Everyone we show our new R56 too laughs at how big the speedo is (and we have the nav in that one too). I can only imagine what they’d tell us if we had a non nav car. They’d probably say the exact same thing as these folks are. Ha!
To each his/her own I guess.
I like the interior in my R56 and had an R53 as well. Like different things about both. If the R56 speedo had the metric numbers as the R53 did I would like it better. But Mini wanted to shake things up in a new model and basically scored high IMHO.
I’ve heard it said many times, the only people who don’t like the interior are R53 owners. Newbies love it.
As a R53 owner, The interior is vastly improved. I have to say it’s the outside that offends.
Thats got to be the most ridiculous load of bullsh-t I ever heard. Anybody can tell that the speedo is the size of a desert plate, not a dinner plate.
Ken. When the R56 came out I too had to acquire a taste for the larger body style(although lighter). Funny thing now is that I look at my new one and I have a hard time telling them apart until side by side. Actually like R56 better in most ways. The black mesh grill is more agressive. I’m beyond happy, I’m thrilled.
That would be “dessert” plate, unless you think it is as large as the Sahara.
I don’t care, I love it anyway!
Everybody tries to be Clarkson these days. His remark about the old powerplant is an obvious attempt at humor that (while actually pretty funny) isn’t really based on reality. Sure the engine is relatively low-tech but that low-tech means an iron block that gives the engine a bullet-proof pedigree. There are lots of engineering trade-offs that should be talked about that don’t get press in such a brief review. It’s a shame. I always thought the R50 Cooper had one of the best engine notes I’ve ever heard and it goes without saying the handling (w/SS+) was actually better than the MCS due to the weight advantage.
>While I personally have nothing against the PSA-BMW Prince engine (Hey I am getting a copy in the coming months) I read with great concern about the very high bonnet temperatures being recorded in Turbocharged equipped MINIs.
You’ll be happy to know that, at a recent track day, my engine fan didn’t come on once in my June build R56 MCS. The bonnet was in fact cooler than the two R53 MCSs next to it (who both had their fans come on).
>Thats got to be the most ridiculous load of bullsh-t I ever heard. Anybody can tell that the speedo is the size of a desert plate, not a dinner plate.
I was thinking wall-clock but to each their own.
Gabe, Odd question here, do you happen to know how much the sport seats weight in a 2007 Cooper S, in particular the Rooster Red ones?
I had a bad dream ’bout that speedo: I was leaning forward to push buttons and switches at random – I believe in intuitive controls and the new ones seem to work best that way – and I accidentally fell literally right into the speedo. It swallowed me whole, along with a tractor-trailer rig that got too close, and that’s when I discover how really big it was – it’s a worm-hole for intergalactic star cruisers. Fancy that. Ended up somewhere east of Andromeda, and had to spend a few days hunting up the Secret MINI Car Park In Space, where they hide the Colorados from Jon, so I could jump into another speedo and make it back to Motorin’file-land. Never did find out what happened to the Peterbuilt.
A MINI is a MINI is a MINI…
working for mini in S Africa its always wicked to see that the cooper is appreciated in all corners of the earth and not only here at home!!
Hey Gabe,
Check out this thread on NAM:
<a href="http://northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116642" rel="nofollow ugc">http://northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116642</a>
I find it hard to believe that every MCSm is not having the problem, remember to wait about 5-10 minutes after turning the engine off to feel these temps.