Video: hands-on With The New 2025 F66 MINI Cooper S
Today we Go hands-on with the 2025 F66 MINI Cooper S – MINI’s last ever petrol powered Cooper. Is it a Worthy Successor to the F56?
When you first look at the F66 in person it’s almost like you’ve entered an alternative universe. At least that’s how it feels to a MINI fan who’s lived with its predecessor, the F56, for the last decade. Yes this is still an F56 based car but for all intents and purposes it feels entirely new. Come with us as we go hands-on with the F66 MINI Cooper inside and out.
First let’s start with why this new MINI Cooper isn’t entirely new. MINI is putting enormous investment in electrifying the product line-up with the J01 MINI Cooper, J05 MINI Aceman and U25 Countryman (available as both ICE and EV). This enormous investment prompted a decision; completely drop the ICE powered Cooper, spend billions creating a new one or thoroughly rework the current F56 adding performance, technology and a new design inside and out. In the end there was only one choice. The F66 is that answer.
Even though MINI made the decision to heavily revise the F56 rather than to create an entirely new car, there’s almost nothing that the designers left untouched. The exterior design is evolved to match the J01 MINI Cooper with the goal to make them look identical to the casual observer. MINI’s hope is that a potential buyer would be choosing ICE versus EV without styling differences to muddy the waters.
This will extend to almost every aspect of the cars. As you can see the F66 has (almost) identical wheels, mirrors and even lighting (including those controversial taillights). But interestingly no exterior parts are shared between the two cars no matter how similar they look.
MINI designers have applied the minimal design language we’ve seen on the J01 MINI Cooper by eliminating all non-functional vents, scoops and design elements. This has resulted in the F66 looking more elegant and minimal than it’s predecessor and (in our opinion) closer to the original aesthetic of the classic Mini.
But that’s our opinion. What’s yours? Let us know in the comments below.
You keep saying they wanted people to choose “ICE versus EV without styling differences to muddy the waters” when there are some pretty clear styling differences between the two now. Interior and exterior there are still clear elements on the F66 taken from the F56. If someone is wanting a fully new design, it would make sense to choose the J01. If someone likes their F56 but just wants it HEAVILY updated then the F66 makes sense and will give them familiarity in its design choices.
My opinion the mini has gotten uglier with each new model. The front end has been a disaster.
Gabe, you’ve just been banging out the articles over the last several weeks. Nice work. Can’t wait to see your reviews of these vehicles when they finally start appearing this year (with the Cooper in Europe, Asia, and South America).
I completely understand MINI’s need to blur the line between EV and ICE vehicles. Not every EV has to look like a weird spaceship that makes it stand out from other vehicles. In fact, most people just want it to look like a normal car. Maybe a little futuristic, but not so jarring as to constantly attract attention (both positive and negative).
Then there’s purchasers of ICE vehicles. They’ve been buying MINIs for decades. Without them the brand wouldn’t exist. Maybe they live in an apartment and don’t have a place to charge and don’t want to deal with the hassle of using the currently unreliable charging infrastructure (outside of Tesla’s Supercharger Network).
On a side note, MINI/BMW are adopting Tesla’s NACS port in North America, as are all other major automakers from Ford to Toyota. Therefore they’ll have access to Tesla’s Supercharger network from 2025 and beyond, as well as all other charging station adopting the NACS plug going forward.
Anyway, I think MINI is doing a great job with a very difficult transition. It’s a paradigm shift and so far they seem to be headed in the right direction. Things are going to get really interesting from here on out.
Thanks!