What to get when we feel selfish
I don't have to tell you that the MINI Cooper, revived by BMW in 2002, is a sales success. Despite its $25,000 base price, nostalgic people as well as those who just have to buy the latest trend ran into showrooms to get themselves one.
But like just about every 'retro' vehicle, sales diminish after a few years, because the more people see them on the road, more they get tired of it. So, MINI redesigned the hardtop Cooper for 2007, but look at the pictures: do you see a difference between the new model and the old one? Me neither.
Evolution rather than revolution
It's not easy keeping a retromobile modern; it must differ from the outgoing model, but it still has to remind us of the original. It's hard to tell, but from the front, one can distinguish a 2007 by the integration of the turn signals in the headlamp clusters instead of being mounted in the bumper, and the fog lamps are a little bigger. Looking at the rear, the taillight clusters have been slightly revised.
For the rest, the two cars are more or less identical to the naked eye. The new car is longer by a couple of inches, and that's it. Is that a good idea? Well, yes and no. Or course, the look of the car is one its most important aspects for consumers, but the novelty aspect just isn't there for actual MINI owners who would like to repeat their purchase.
I got proof when my test car, despite its cloak of red paint as well as a white roof and mirror caps, didn't seem to garner much attention.
Better fuel economy
The engine has changed, but displacement hasn't. The 1.6-liter 4-cylinder develops 118 horsepower and 114 lb-ft of torque, only 3 and 4 more than last year, respectively. Performance-wise, the Cooper accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in about 9 seconds, so nothing new here.
This engine is more than enough for the car; the S model, with its 172 horsepower and an impressive 192 lb-ft of torque, offers violent performance but at the expense of torque steer which is a little unpleasant; the front wheels have a hard time coping with all that power.
I don't have to tell you that the MINI Cooper, revived by BMW in 2002, is a sales success. Despite its $25,000 base price, nostalgic people as well as those who just have to buy the latest trend ran into showrooms to get themselves one.
 |
| It is hard to differentiate the new Cooper from the previous generation. |
But like just about every 'retro' vehicle, sales diminish after a few years, because the more people see them on the road, more they get tired of it. So, MINI redesigned the hardtop Cooper for 2007, but look at the pictures: do you see a difference between the new model and the old one? Me neither.
Evolution rather than revolution
It's not easy keeping a retromobile modern; it must differ from the outgoing model, but it still has to remind us of the original. It's hard to tell, but from the front, one can distinguish a 2007 by the integration of the turn signals in the headlamp clusters instead of being mounted in the bumper, and the fog lamps are a little bigger. Looking at the rear, the taillight clusters have been slightly revised.
For the rest, the two cars are more or less identical to the naked eye. The new car is longer by a couple of inches, and that's it. Is that a good idea? Well, yes and no. Or course, the look of the car is one its most important aspects for consumers, but the novelty aspect just isn't there for actual MINI owners who would like to repeat their purchase.
I got proof when my test car, despite its cloak of red paint as well as a white roof and mirror caps, didn't seem to garner much attention.
Better fuel economy
The engine has changed, but displacement hasn't. The 1.6-liter 4-cylinder develops 118 horsepower and 114 lb-ft of torque, only 3 and 4 more than last year, respectively. Performance-wise, the Cooper accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in about 9 seconds, so nothing new here.
This engine is more than enough for the car; the S model, with its 172 horsepower and an impressive 192 lb-ft of torque, offers violent performance but at the expense of torque steer which is a little unpleasant; the front wheels have a hard time coping with all that power.
 |
| This peppy 1.6-liter engine provides a good level of performance. |