2008 Mini Cooper S - Americas Best Handling Car Comparison - video Dailymotion

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We test the 2008 MINI Cooper S for Americas Best Handling Car comparison competition.

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00:00 Next up in the Best Handling competition is the Mini Cooper S. New for 2007, it wasn't

00:09 quite available the last time we gathered this group, but we couldn't resist bringing

00:13 a Mini along.

00:14 As front-wheel drive cars go, there's just no more fun vehicle to drive.

00:17 They're small, tidy, light, they steer like go-karts, so we brought along its predecessor,

00:22 the John Cooper Works version of the outgoing model.

00:25 This one will have trouble filling its shoes because it's a little bit larger and has a

00:28 little bit less power than that top-of-the-line version did, but it's still a dynamite car

00:32 to drive.

00:33 Let's see how it does at Laguna Seca.

00:55 I really enjoyed the Mini, and now I have a little bit of a reference because this is

00:59 the second car I've driven today here at Laguna Seca.

01:02 And while the Cobalt was definitely a good car, especially in the price point, it's clear

01:07 the Mini handles better.

01:09 And by that I mean I can place the car more precisely just where I want it.

01:13 There's a real enjoyable balance in the corner entry phase in the Mini.

01:18 It accelerated well.

01:19 The gearing's lower, so I was able to get up into fourth gear several times.

01:24 The Mini does exhibit a lot of wheel spin in second gear out of the hairpins like turn

01:28 11 here at Laguna, more so than the Cobalt did.

01:32 Again, I'll reiterate that the horsepower does not feel like 100 less.

01:37 I'm going to be real interested to see the lap time.

01:39 I think I went faster with the Mini.

01:41 It would carry a lot more speed through the corner because its middle corner speed, or

01:46 we say in racing, mid-corner speed, was so much higher.

01:49 I don't know if it actually was higher, it just felt higher, mostly because there was

01:53 so much less understeer.

01:55 Now the Mini still does exhibit a lot of front-wheel drive understeer under power, but in the entry

02:01 phase of the corner, it was nicely balanced.

02:04 I mean, I got more and more aggressive with my entries, and I could get the tail of the

02:09 car to move a little bit, which is really enjoyable.

02:12 Now you mentioned steering feel.

02:13 How would you rate this compared to the Chevy in that department?

02:19 If I eliminate the handling balance from the equation and just talk about only the steering,

02:24 I think they're both very comparable, and both good.

02:27 Linear, nicely weighted, I can't outstand steering that's too light, and there's not

02:34 an impression of power steering in the car, except when you're sitting still, it's easier.

02:39 But I mean, on the track, good feel.

02:43 The Mini was a more enjoyable package because it was better balanced, and I could drive

02:49 the car much more accurately, and I could be more aggressive.

02:53 I guess I had a lot more feel on my way into the corners at a high rate of speed.

02:57 I had a better sense of what was going to happen.

03:00 Basically nothing untoward, even though it was better balanced.

03:04 So I'd say that in contrast, the Cobalt didn't communicate the set that it was going to ultimately

03:11 take the way the Mini does.

03:13 [music]

03:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]

2008 Mini Cooper S - Americas Best Handling Car Comparison

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