2008 Mini Cooper S - Americas Best Handling Car Comparison
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.
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