Daniel
5th June 2007, 09:51
http://cars.uk.msn.com/News/car_news_article.aspx?cp-documentid=5112584
It was 2001, the Mini was all new and the people behind it had come up with the genius plan of having us run about London looking for London landmarks to photograph with the car. So we stopped it at Buckingham Palace and took some snaps, got a couple of shots with a bobby in frame and generally had a right giggle driving it around the nation’s capital city.
Click images to enlarge, more below
It was the reaction it got that amazed me the most. Everybody speaking on their mobile phones would stop and stare before mouthing ‘new Mini’ to whoever it was they were speaking to. We were stopped constantly by people wanting to know where to get one and given the thumbs up, waves and smiles from people everywhere. Someone even chased us in a taxi because they wanted a closer look. We were also offered the keys to a BMW 8-Series on the spot as a swap. And the chap was deadly serious. No car I’d driven before or since has caused anything like the reaction that the Mini did on that summer afternoon in 2001.
But I’ve got a confession. I don’t like them. No car on sale is as overrated in my opinion. It’s not because I am one of those people who hold the old car in such reverence, or dislike the fact that they’ve been adopted by estate agents as the wheels of choice. I’m not. Sure, I admire the original Mini’s clever engineering and packaging, and I’ve certainly enjoyed driving them, but times have changed. And the current Mini represents this perfectly. I’ll concede that in some forms it drives decently enough, but rivals do much the same for much less money. And the packaging? Think of it as a two-seater as really those rear seats are next to useless.
Larger than life
That’d be forgivable if the Mini was as its name suggests – Mini. But it’s not. It’s massive. I understand that to pass today’s crash regulations the Mini needs to be bigger and heavier. Even so there are plenty of similar-sized rivals out there that offer better interior accommodation, and crucially, a decent-sized boot. The original Mini’s boot wasn’t much use, but the current car offers little more useful space than it despite its massive growth in dimensions. It’s not unreasonable to think that people might have use for a boot, a buggy for a child for example, but you’ll struggle to get one in.
Which basically means the Mini’s no longer a car in the conventional sense. It’s a fashion item – a trinket for those lacking the imagination to choose anything else. It’s got character, but it’s the sort of vacuous character you’ll find with a reality TV ‘personality’, endearing at first, annoying very shortly after. It’s got the looks of the original inside and out, details ripped off and recreated in a shameless pastiche of the original cars. Where’s the innovation? BMW had a chance to do something really interesting with the Mini, but instead they’ve provided us with a fatter copy of an old car. And it’s been flawed from the start.
Flawed from the first
It’s only now in its second incarnation they’ve managed to get it to ride properly on its run-flat tyres. After years of denying the ride was compromised a Mini engineer admitted to me that the new car that the suspension of the original wasn’t set up with run-flat tyres in mind. That’s not the case today, and the Mini now rides better. The engine’s improved too, the best thing Mini ever did was bin that Chrysler partnership unit. Some say it’s lost some character as a result of this improved refinement. Bunkum.
The Coopers might be quick, but try driving one for any distance in comfort. A Vauxhall Corsa VXR or Peugeot 207 GTi would do a far better job, and cost you less too. The new diesel sounds like a tractor, and the old one wasn’t very diesely when it came to mpg figures. They’re all expensive as well, especially when you start dipping into the extensive options list. Not that that matters, as sales don’t seem to be slowing down despite the Mini’s omnipresence, poor packaging and price.
Which, despite my dislike of it I’m delighted about. Why? Because it’s a real UK manufacturing success story, an excellent export product and huge employer as a result. And I’m excited to read too that BMW are adding stop-start technology and brake energy regeneration to the Mini. Hurrah, some innovation at last. Will it change my views on it though? I seriously doubt it.
It was 2001, the Mini was all new and the people behind it had come up with the genius plan of having us run about London looking for London landmarks to photograph with the car. So we stopped it at Buckingham Palace and took some snaps, got a couple of shots with a bobby in frame and generally had a right giggle driving it around the nation’s capital city.
Click images to enlarge, more below
It was the reaction it got that amazed me the most. Everybody speaking on their mobile phones would stop and stare before mouthing ‘new Mini’ to whoever it was they were speaking to. We were stopped constantly by people wanting to know where to get one and given the thumbs up, waves and smiles from people everywhere. Someone even chased us in a taxi because they wanted a closer look. We were also offered the keys to a BMW 8-Series on the spot as a swap. And the chap was deadly serious. No car I’d driven before or since has caused anything like the reaction that the Mini did on that summer afternoon in 2001.
But I’ve got a confession. I don’t like them. No car on sale is as overrated in my opinion. It’s not because I am one of those people who hold the old car in such reverence, or dislike the fact that they’ve been adopted by estate agents as the wheels of choice. I’m not. Sure, I admire the original Mini’s clever engineering and packaging, and I’ve certainly enjoyed driving them, but times have changed. And the current Mini represents this perfectly. I’ll concede that in some forms it drives decently enough, but rivals do much the same for much less money. And the packaging? Think of it as a two-seater as really those rear seats are next to useless.
Larger than life
That’d be forgivable if the Mini was as its name suggests – Mini. But it’s not. It’s massive. I understand that to pass today’s crash regulations the Mini needs to be bigger and heavier. Even so there are plenty of similar-sized rivals out there that offer better interior accommodation, and crucially, a decent-sized boot. The original Mini’s boot wasn’t much use, but the current car offers little more useful space than it despite its massive growth in dimensions. It’s not unreasonable to think that people might have use for a boot, a buggy for a child for example, but you’ll struggle to get one in.
Which basically means the Mini’s no longer a car in the conventional sense. It’s a fashion item – a trinket for those lacking the imagination to choose anything else. It’s got character, but it’s the sort of vacuous character you’ll find with a reality TV ‘personality’, endearing at first, annoying very shortly after. It’s got the looks of the original inside and out, details ripped off and recreated in a shameless pastiche of the original cars. Where’s the innovation? BMW had a chance to do something really interesting with the Mini, but instead they’ve provided us with a fatter copy of an old car. And it’s been flawed from the start.
Flawed from the first
It’s only now in its second incarnation they’ve managed to get it to ride properly on its run-flat tyres. After years of denying the ride was compromised a Mini engineer admitted to me that the new car that the suspension of the original wasn’t set up with run-flat tyres in mind. That’s not the case today, and the Mini now rides better. The engine’s improved too, the best thing Mini ever did was bin that Chrysler partnership unit. Some say it’s lost some character as a result of this improved refinement. Bunkum.
The Coopers might be quick, but try driving one for any distance in comfort. A Vauxhall Corsa VXR or Peugeot 207 GTi would do a far better job, and cost you less too. The new diesel sounds like a tractor, and the old one wasn’t very diesely when it came to mpg figures. They’re all expensive as well, especially when you start dipping into the extensive options list. Not that that matters, as sales don’t seem to be slowing down despite the Mini’s omnipresence, poor packaging and price.
Which, despite my dislike of it I’m delighted about. Why? Because it’s a real UK manufacturing success story, an excellent export product and huge employer as a result. And I’m excited to read too that BMW are adding stop-start technology and brake energy regeneration to the Mini. Hurrah, some innovation at last. Will it change my views on it though? I seriously doubt it.