SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you can get at home.
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* Please note that prices quoted are those in effect at the time the vehicle was tested
We indulge our post-mid life crisis in a Mini Cooper ‘S'
After a hectic few days with the Mini Cooper ‘S’, I am still trying to work out who it’s aimed at:
Its styling and interior décor is definitely youthful, as is its performance and handling, but how many youngsters earn the kind of money that can accommodate payments upward of R5800 pm after a ten percent deposit? Or is it assumed that most if not all will enjoy parental subsidy?
The other possibility is those going through mid life crisis (sorry; “the young at heart”), who are sufficiently established to regard such payments as normal.
They might find the acres of silver coloured plastic switchgear somewhat overwhelming, if not cheap and shoddy looking, while handling and performance will be even more intense than they remembered. The only part damped down somewhat is the ride, which is still firm but not tooth-rattlingly so.
Despite looking as if it suffers from terminal bloat when compared with the original, official figures show the current version is 709 mm longer, 512 mm wider and only 57 mm taller.
My own very informal comparison with an early Mini found parked in the street indicated that the new ‘S’ is actually about 200 mm taller, but who can be sure, hey?
Styling-wise the new model is a lot more aggressive in its outlook – the cute little puppy has grown into a cute young bulldog.
Under the skin the differences are like chalk and cheese: The 1275 cc twin carburettor naturally-aspirated BMC A-series engine has been replaced by a 1600 cc BMW unit featuring common rail fuel injection and a twin scroll turbocharger.
This helps overcome any hint of turbo lag, as pressure builds up from 1800 rpm and remains ready for use the instant you want it. Specification-wise, the stripped-down Mini of old has been superseded by a 21st century BMW, with all the comfort items and electronic safety kit one expects of the brand.
EPAS Electrically Power Assisted Steering helps to make the Mini extremely nimble and agile on the road. Its speed-related assistance ensures low steering forces when parking and precise control at highway speeds.
In conjunction with the optional “sport” switch, EPAS power steering offers a special sports mode specifically increasing steering forces for an even more direct driving experience. More on this, later.
With a strong and stable body structure, the new Mini offers a high standard of crash safety. In the event of collision, optimised load paths within the body structure serve to effectively divert forces acting on the car, despite short overhangs front and rear.
Six airbags are fitted as standard, serving to ensure occupant safety in all seats, while enhanced active safety is ensured in critical driving situations by ABS anti-lock brakes,
EBFD Electronic Brake Force Distribution, CBC Cornering Brake Control and switchable ASC+T Automatic Stability Control and Traction.
The Brake Assistant detects emergency operation of the brakes and builds up maximum pressure as quickly as possible.
I promised to refer back to the “sports mode” switch. Engaging this not only quickens steering response, but seems to have a direct line to the overboost function on the turbocharger as well.
The effect is like having similar throttle response in any given gear, as you would expect at the same speed, but at one ratio lower. Sounds odd, but try it.
What this translates to is that, driven quickly in normal mode, the car reacts instantly with bags of torque steer waiting to catch you out if you aren’t careful. With the “sport” button engaged, things can get downright squirrelly.
The centrally mounted Mini speedometer of old has grown to the size of a small dinner plate, which even the group of twenty-somethings I approached for comment on the car’s interior found a little overwhelming.
They were basically OK with the silver switchgear though. Big it may be, but the speedo is still out of normal line of sight, so I found it distracting to look at.
Luckily one can call up digital speed readout on the tachometer dial fixed to the tilt-and-height-adjustable steering column, if necessary. Possibly, like on Granddad’s MG, it’s only there to impress passengers while the driver concentrates on the rev counter?
Today’s Mini is one of a few current attempts at retro styling. Others include the S type Jaguar and the New Beetle.
In my humble opinion, none actually works, but the Mini might be marginally more successful than the others. What it does have is plenty of the original version’s point and squirt character, possibly in overabundance.
While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this new Cooper ‘S’, I think I might grow weary of its exuberance long before the 54th payment. A quarter of a million Rand can buy just as much energy and handling in a less demanding package.
The numbers
Price: R252 500
Power: 128 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 240 Nm at 1600 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,07 seconds
Maximum speed: 228 km/h
Fuel index: 8,49 l/100 km
CO2 gm/km: 198
Tank size: 50 litres
Motor Plan: 3-years/75000 km
Our review of the 2014 update is here
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to in order to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and visit to kick back and relax. So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8