The Mini Coupe drives like a proper sports car, but buyers are likely to fall more for its looks
It was quite a good idea for Mini to make a coupe version as the fifth body derivative in the model line-up because the earlier variations basically covered the widest customer expectations possible.
If you loved the Mini for what it has always been, you'd easily go for the classic Hatch. Want more fun and there's the Convertible. Need to be a little pseudo and the Clubman awaits you. Crave for family practicality and the Countryman's yours.
But if you needn't any of those values but want a genuinely good looking and driving Mini for yourself, the Coupe is the perfect choice.
The removal of the compartment for rear passengers has allowed Mini to put in place a three-box profile to give the Coupe a nice coupe profile. Adding more fun is a helmet-style roof distinctively coloured from the body.
But that's just about it when it comes to the cosmetic test because the rest of the Coupe is plainly a Mini.
There's no differentiation when it comes to the lights or front grille. Simply, it's the roof that holds the key to your liking of the Coupe.
The fascia is just like in any other Mini: fun but flawed to use.
Despite the booted appearance, the Coupe's boot lid opens in a hatch manner (together with the rear windscreen) which, in essence, makes the Coupe more of a liftback.
No rear perches means that the Coupe has that kind of boot space rarely seen in any Mini. Mini has also taken the opportunity to design the interior boot cover with stylish twin cowls. In functionality terms, the Coupe is all what two people at most would ever need.
And turning to aesthetics again, the interior reaches the same dead end as the exterior in which distinction is only confined to the rear bit. The front seats, steering wheel and fascia are like in other Minis, with the latest aspect being fun in appearance but flawed in ergonomic terms.
But you really can't blame Mini for the vast similarities the Coupe bears to its other siblings.
It's a diversification of a specific model, in the first place, and not entirely all-new on its own. Hence, the need to share as many parts as possible.
The pop-up spoiler has both visual and dynamic benefits.
So if you're expecting the Coupe to feel distinctively special on the move, prepare to frown because it doesn't. However, that can never be considered a bad thing since Minis have always been known to be cars that are great to drive.
The running gear of the Coupe is predictable enough: the engines and transmissions are the ones you have seen around since the Mini's facelift in second-gen form with no changes in power and torque outputs.
The one highlighted here for the Coupe test drive in Germany this month is the range-topping 211hp 1.6-litre petrol-turbo and six-speed manual gearbox for the so-called John Cooper Works guise.
The chassis setup is basically just like in other Minis including a sporty tuning. Absence of rear seats has also allowed engineers to place a cross-member in their place to further increase body rigidity for even better handling.
With this in mind, the Coupe drives very much like the Hatch. Performance is brisk in a straight line and impressive when picking up from low engine revs and when exiting corners.
There's no doubting the Coupe's handling, too. This is as sporty as a car of this small size gets, and the way it grips at high speeds when slamming down the autobahn to its top speed is quite amazing. Special thanks go to a new rear spoiler that pops up at over 80kph (and disappearing again when dipping below 60kph).
Ah, that spoiler, the item much talked-about in the Coupe which many critics have described as more a cosmetic gimmick rather than one for dynamic reasons. But as things turned out during the international driving trials, there seems to also be much weight leaning towards the latter factor.
The Coupe also goes around into corners with the same conviction as the Hatch: superbly agile, finely balanced and virtually free of understeer. It's equally as capable as a rear-drive sports car like the Mazda MX-5, unless your idea of looking out from the car is through the side windows.
There’s some stow space behind the front seats... and more of it in the boot.
Speaking of the driving view, the Coupe does feel different from the Hatch in the sense that the front windscreen is more slanted and not as upright as in the Hatch or Clubman. And the Coupe's rear view is limited, although the view of the spoiler (and the stripes painted on it) looks cool.
A more serious downside (in terms of marketing and not engineering) is the unavailability of an automatic gearbox. Mini still insists that JCW cars must be manual. This means that Thais won't be getting this powerful JCW, unless they order it.
Instead, the Cooper S and Cooper variants will come at the year-end with six-speed slushers, the prior spec having steering-mounted paddle-shifters. There wasn't the chance to sample the Cooper S, but it's fair to say _ based on previous driving experiences of other Minis _ that the Coupe with this power treatment will still be a fast car to drive.
You need not have suspicions about the Coupe's ride: the underlying firmness of the chassis makes for a stiff ride, even on the slightest of potholes on German roads. We'd easily say that the ride on Bangkok streets would be terrifyingly hard.
The good news, we hear, is that Mini Thailand will spec both Coopers with a more comfort-oriented setting (distributors worldwide can choose between three settings from the factory in the UK).
It would really be a good idea if there was an adjustable suspension mode in the Coupe (and other Minis) for the driver to choose from, just like what the Volkswagen Scirocco and Golf GTI have at 2.6 million in Thailand. And hey, it's a Mini we're talking about here _ with premium pricing.
And talking about premium, the Coupe will be sold with a roughly 15% premium over the Hatch in similar specification. This means we're talking circa 2.7 million baht for the 122hp Cooper and 3.2 million for the 184hp Cooper S, despite the recent ability by all Minis to run on E20 gasohol and gain on a 5% excise tax discount.
As expected, the Coupe will be expensive when compared to nearby rivals. The 210hp Scirocco/Golf GTI is, as ever, far better value and the 160hp MX-5 is priced nearly the same as the Vee-Dubs.
But we'd doubt that most potential buyers in Thailand would really weigh the opposition when considering the Coupe proposition.
We'd even question whether punters would really appreciate the Coupe for how sporty it drives or for it being the first two-seat, modern-day Mini (the GP Works based on the first-gen Hatch was a limited production model and not series like the Coupe).
We'd reckoned that the Coupe would more or less sell on appearance, despite still being very similar to other Minis. Simply put, another Mini _ with emotion, as ever.
Mini's sporty diesel
Today's diesel technology has advanced so well that it now has a place in sports cars sold in Europe. And you really don't need to drive one in order to understand its benefits of offering a fine blend of highly usable performance and good fuel economy.
But Life did go for a drive in the Mini Coupe SD at the driving trials in Germany alongside the range-topping John Cooper Works model featured in the main story here.
The SD, complete with a 150hp 2.0-litre diesel-turbo engine, performs as expected, just like any other car with a modern-day oil-burner in which you could easily dismiss petrol technology.
On paper, the SD is marginally slower than the Cooper S. But in the real world, the SD feels substantially brisk and is not necessarily outdone by its petrol-turbo counterpart. On the German autobahn, the SD easily does 200kph.
But what is lacking in the SD, especially in Coupe application, is aural thrills and high revs to really suit the car's sporty concept.
Had it been about a more functional Mini, say something like the Countryman SUV, the SD would make lots more sense.
And this is exactly why the Countryman will become the first Mini in Thailand to go diesel on an official basis. Next year is when the Euro 4 emission standard comes into effect in Thailand, so expect to see the diesel-powered Countryman in early 2012.
Even though some Thai fans may accept a diesel in the Coupe, there's no immediate plan by Mini Thailand in embarking on such a move.
The ultra small sales, if hardly any, of the 120d and 320d coupes from BMW is good proof that sports cars with diesel engines have really yet to get off the ground in the country, despite their increasing popularity in Europe.
NEXT PROGRAMME
ROADSTER
Mini has formally announced that the sixth derivative will come in the mould of a soft-top roadster. It will be near-identical to the concept version pictured here when it goes into production next year. Unlike today's four-seat Convertible, the Roadster will be a strict two-seater with a three-box profile and support the Coupe in capturing customers of the Mazda MX-5.
PACEMAN
Described as a "potential for expansion" of the Mini family, the brand's bosses say the Paceman would definitely go into production though no specific timeframe has been disclosed. The car shown seen here is virtually ready for the showroom and it is essentially a three-door version of today's five-door Countryman to grab the attention of Range Rover Evoque punters.
Credit: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)
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