Mini Revival
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008Story by David Morley, SMH, 14 May 2008
THE born-again Mini is one of those vehicles that seems to have struck a chord.
Mind you, playing the nostalgia card, as BMW did with the new Mini, often removes some of the risk of poor new-model acceptance but it’s certainly no guarantee. All that suggests that the new Mini is, beneath all the hype and swinging ’60s nostalgia, a decent thing.
With just 85 kW from its 1.6 litres, the Cooper sounds a bit off the pace. But while it’s no race-car, the engine is quite flexible and gives the car all the performance needed for everyday driving. More importantly, it feels a little rorty and almost playful and encourages you to enjoy yourself while managing a degree of that raspy engine note that made the original Mini such good fun in the ’60s.
The controls are all light and positive to use and the power steering is weighted about right for decent feedback on where the front wheels are pointing and what sort of surface they’re rolling along. It’s longer, wider and higher than the original and while that’s no surprise (the original Mini was tiny even by ’60s standards), it means the new car is quite accommodating with loads of room, especially in the front.
The Mini will cope with very large and tall drivers, and there’s enough adjustment built into the seating for just about anybody to get comfortable.
And once you’re in, the Mini’s interior is a truly groovy place to be.
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