Cnet Drives the Cooper D in the US
More on the Cooper D that Bosch has in the US for ‘testing’, this time by AutoExpress via Cnet.
>I’m not limping along in some wimpy gasoline-electric hybrid. I’m not drafting behind a semitruck. And I’m not relying on any of the dangerous maneuvers that hypermiling eco-geeks use as they try to extract every inch of distance out of a gallon of gasoline.
>Nope. I’m in a 2007 Mini Cooper D, and I am driving it normally. The D stands for diesel. It’s a version of the popular hatchback that isn’t available in the United States–yet.
It’s a great short review of what is a car I would love to have in my driveway. They even take a sentance to speculate on pricing.
>But they are a long, long way from that. For now, the Cooper D would cost at least $25,000, roughly $7,000 more than the base model.
$7,000 premium for diesel? Not sure where they are getting their numbers, but that certainly seems a bit high to me.
Watch for a review here on Motoringfile of the MINI Cooper D in the very near future.
[ Mini Cooper D(iesel) delivers, but not here yet ] Reviews.cnet.com
7,000 is way too much a premium for a diesel. That seems a bit excessive. A clean diesel VW jetta doesn’t need urea injection and is expected a few thousand more not several thousand more. I’m leaning toward a clean diesel for my next car and for that premium, Mini won’t be it.
In Europe “D” on your rear door costs just 600 EUR… Strange to see 7K, even USD.
I have driven a Diesel on an overnight demo here in NZ. The engine is quiet until you accelerate and decelerate when the typical diesel engine sound is apparent, and the slow revving response. It does pull away rather well, and performs just as good as a petrol Cooper.
However, I have a few concerns:
The 40 ltr tank can achieve 910 kms (546 miles?) – factor in the cost of diesel fuel at NZ$1.59 per ltr, the road user charges of 3.69 cents per kilometre, and for a tank of diesel it costs me 10.6 cents per kilometer. Whereas the Petrol car gets 690 kms per tank at NZ$1.99 per litre, no road user tax, costs me 11.5 cents per km.
The diesel cost an extra NZ$4,000 and costs an extra NZ$124.85 per year for the reg plate licence.
So there is a premium payable to drive a “greener” diesel to help save the planet.
In the UK (according to the MINI.co.uk website) the difference between the One D and the Cooper is GBP 1095, or about US$ 1937 at today’s exchange rate. I realize that the bean counters and the marketing people get involved in setting the prices, so just converting the currency doesn’t give you the final price, but a $7000 premium makes absolutely no sense.
the reviewer must drive a diesel truck because the average quoted would be about correct for a f350 with a diesel