Mini Cooper Chilli 2008 Review

Road Test

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0
About our ratings

Full marks to MINI. After our indifferent reaction to the toyland detailing and overly harsh tyre and suspension specification of the first press cars sent here for the MINI launch, the company built a Cooper to our specs. As it turns out, what we wanted in a MINI is virtually how many Australian buyers and dealers are now ordering their cars anyway. Indeed, the test Cooper Chilli in its champagne and black livery was such a delightful car, there will probably be a queue for it when it is time for it to be moved on.

The main MINI brochure is 93 pages thick and that's only for starters. There is also a 67-page option booklet and another 17-page Works brochure of performance add-ons to wade through. This must be some sort of record for a mass-produced car. Three hefty MINI tomes cover no less than 372 interior combinations and 319 exterior options for a total of 118,668 combinations. [Ed: MINI claims, in total, it can produce a staggering theoretical 1.5 x 1016 different cars!]

The bottom line is this: if every buyer carefully tailors each MINI to their particular taste and needs, the chances of finding another one exactly the same are low. Order the optional door sill plates monogrammed in your name in illuminated script and this baby really is yours.

Not even the low-volume specialist makers can offer this level of personalisation which goes some way to explaining the hefty price.

For just over half the price of the test car, the Ford Fiesta XR4 will run away from the MINI and deliver more fun while doing it. And you can buy some far more serious performance machinery for the test car's $40,000-plus. Yet the MINI in many ways is still a bargain when it doesn't have a direct rival.

Why the MINI still sells in record numbers and is prompting a swag of would-be rivals (think Tokyo motor show's Audi Metroproject/A1 and Fiat's just-released 500) cannot be answered with a quick flick through the spec sheets and price lists. Nor can it be adequately tested when each variation of the MINI can behave very differently on the road depending on which wheel, tyre, suspension, seating and electronic gismos you ordered.

Just spending $300 on the Sport button allows the driver to crank up the steering and throttle responses for when you are wide awake and pedalling to the max. Yet when tooling through traffic, you can switch it back for a more relaxed feel to match your mood.

The Cooper on test proved that it is not solely a young person's car, nor is it just for today's latest supermodel on her way home from a photo shoot. As was the case for the original, the MINI is non-specific to gender, age or class -- as long as you are willing to spend the time trawling the brochures and order smart.

The truth is that in its most basic specification the Cooper is not up to much and verges on the 'plastic fantastic'. Spend a dollar or a squillion (and this is where BMW/MINI is laughing all the way to the bank), and you can bring home a Cooper that will look and feel equally at home next to a Phantom or Aston, again, just like the original.

I can't remember a single car on test this year that made me feel this good walking up to it then continued that feeling the moment I entered the cabin.

The Cooper Chilli as optioned for this test is the cheapest car on the market to have escaped the relentless cost-cutting that defines virtually every model within the spending range of most mortals. In the Cooper's every nook and cranny there are the detail touches that have gone missing from most modern cars. Every testcar since has seemed bleak by comparison.

'Our' Cooper delivered a feel-good factor before the key was inserted that was comparable to a Jaguar or BMW three or four times its price. BMW engineering ensures that the feeling continues once on the move.

True, it is not the sharpest chisel in the rack with only 88kW and 160Nm, but its BMW pedigree, eager linear response, superb manual gearshift, sharp steering and darty handling (with the Sport button on) are entirely consistent with the presentation. Missing but not missed is the over-eager throttle response and unruly torque steer of the Cooper S.

The 16-inch runflat tyres and standard suspension deliver a firm but not unpleasant ride, that won't rattle your teeth like the previously tested 17-inch Cooper S combination.
Like a pedigreed sportscar, the Cooper can be driven flat out most of the time without worrying about any vices as the grip, brakes and roadholding are more than a match for the power. Even if it's not as quick as most in its price range, it is this balance that is far more impressive than any on-paper figures.

And so is the diesel-like fuel economy but without the clatter and compressed power delivery.

Also like a pedigreed sportscar, space is at a premium. Two big Aussies onboard will have the front seats pushed up against the rear cushions, but at least they will be enjoying outstanding comfort and vision levels. Boot space? A large cut lunch would fill it despite the absence of a spare.

The only real advantage over something like a Mazda MX-5 is the fold-down back seats, otherwise the bottom line in what each will carry is pretty similar. Both are very personal cars geared around the driver.

If you factor in the idea that the Cooper Chilli on test is the premium non-turbo level of what must be the most expensive light car in the world, the $840 ask for DSC is a disgrace, hence our lower Safety score than usual for a model with a Euro NCAP five-star rating.

Without the chrome line interior option and black highlights, the dash plastics and most of the switch gear have more in common with the model plane kits some of us built as kids. The column stalks with their weak detents are frustrating when it is impossible to feel where you are in the switch sequence.

The steering wheel conceals the top and most important part of the tacho for tall drivers, something that can't be addressed when it moves with the steering column. The sunroof lets in far too much heat for Australia with its token mesh screen. For me, the money would be better spent on the really nice woodrim steering wheel and keyless Comfort Access system on offer, with extra headroom as a bonus.

In the end, however, some of the above is nitpicking as you are soon having too much fun to notice.

Beyond any objectivity, I really liked this car and found myself adding up what it would take to fine tune my version only to wake up with a jolt when it was knocking on the door of a Golf GTi with DSG.

Yet I still miss it more than I would any Golf GTi. And that's the whole point to MINI.

* Vehicle pictured is MINI Cooper S Chilli, used here to depict exterior colour of test car

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