Price as tested: €36,440
+ Lots of fun, cracking engine, image
– Not any better to drive than the hatch, but less practical. Not pretty
= For those who crave something different. The rest of us should stick with the hatch
You would have to question the wisdom of taking a Mini and actually making it less practical, but with the new Mini Coupe, that's exactly what has been done The rear seats are gone, the roofline has been chopped by about 52mm. The whole car appears to have been sucked, as if from an under-floor Dyson, down onto its wheels. Distinctive and aggressive it most certainly is. Pretty or attractive? Hmmm. Not so sure there. The roofline, which is meant to ape the style of a baseball cap being worn backwards (honestly), is awkward and moving the Mini away from its traditional two-box profile to a saloon-like three-box outline hasn't, to these eyes, been an especially successful operation.
So what then is the point of the Mini Coupe? If coupes are purchased mostly because of their looks, then its role in life looks a little precarious. And considering that the Mini hatch, with its tiny rear seats and small boot, is effectively already really a 2+2 coupe, then the case for a bespoke two-seater is looking ever more tenuous.
Perhaps this is Mini, and BMW, marking out its territory. After all, Mini admits that it's not the first to produce a chopped-top version; the likes of Marcos and Broadspeed got there first back in the sixties. Maybe then Mini is producing a Mini coupe largely because it doesn't want any other independent coachbuilder to beat it to the punch...
The serious intent behind the Coupe is of course to take the Mini's already engaging chassis and distill it a touch, purify it so that its responses are even sharper and more enjoyable for a committed driver. And in this aspect, the Coupe succeeds, albeit to a level that will most likely pass unnoticed by a majority of its drivers.
The dampers have been firmed up, the springs are a touch stiffer and the anti-roll bars are thicker and more resistive. In terms of the construction of the car, the Coupe uses the same basic chassis as the Mini hatch, but with the underfloor panels from the Mini Convertible, which add greatly to the body's stiffness, but bring with them a 25kg weight penalty. That stubby rear boot deck incorporates an electrically powered rear wing that extends at speeds above 80kmh and can add, claims Mini, a useful 40kg of rear downforce at high speeds.
Certainly, there's no lack of stability, always a worry when you see car makers adding in extending spoilers and wings. With the chance to give the speedometer a thorough exercise on the Autobhans near Munich, we can report that the Mini Coupe sits rock solid and stable at speeds up to and above 170kmh. Not perhaps the most useful piece of news for irish buyers, but reassuring nonetheless.
Find a slower, twisting stretch of road and the Coupe responds with the alacrity that we have come to expect of the Mini brand. The electric power steering, as on most every other car fitted with such a system, robs the driver of pure road feel, but it's weighted in a pleasingly hefty manner, and there's no doubting the speed and accuracy with which the Coupe can be pointed into an apex. No doubting either that there is grip and poise aplenty when you do so, and proper enjoyment and fun to be had. Far from being over-grippy and "on-rails" the Coupe feels alive and adjustable. On the test track it can even be coaxed into a gentle four-wheel-drive, if you disable the electronic safety systems, although we'd never advise doing such a thing on the public road.
And it's that gap between on-track antics and road driving that shows up the biggest chink in the Mini Coupe's armour. On a closed circuit, with the benefit of run-off and no oncoming traffic, you can really stretch the chassis' ability and feel that extra stiffness and responsiveness. It is there, and it is quite brilliant. On the road though, restricted by speed limits and sanity, there's just not enough of a difference between the driving experience of the Coupe and an equivalent Mini hatch to warrant the extra money, and the reduction in practicality. A Cooper S hatch, day-to-day, will be just as enjoyable to drive as a Cooper S Coupe, will be around E3,000 cheaper and still have back seats for when you need them. True, the Coupe's 280-litre boot trumps even that of the Clubman estate, but personally we tend to fill our seats more than our boots.
The engine range is probably the true star of the show though. In John Cooper Works form, the Mini's 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine is putting out 211bhp and 26Nm of torque. A 0-100kmh time of 6.4secs doesn't sound all that exciting, but it's the torque, and the way the Cooper S Works pulls hard in high gears that really makes this not just the outstanding engine of the Mini Coupe range, but one of the most outstanding engines we've ever sat behind. Most, of course, will buy a standard 122bhp Cooper Coupe, and with a sub-10sec 0-100kmh time, and 127g/km emissions, that's probably not a bad performance compromise for Irish conditions. Most surprising, especially on the track, was the 143bhp Cooper SD diesel. 143bhp doesn't sound like much, but with 305Nm of torque, the SD really flies, and in the hands of Mini ace rally driver Rauno Aa ltonen (he of sixties Monte Carlo rally fame) proved that yes, you can opposite-lock a front-drive diesel hatch. The range is rounded out by the 184bhp Cooper S, which remarkably is actually a Band B car in tax terms, with emissions of just 136g/km. All engines, except that of the John Cooper Works, can be optionally fitted with a six-speed automatic gearbox.
Prices range from €23.410 for a Cooper Coupe to €27,790 for a Cooper S, €28,410 for a Cooper SD and €36,440 for the range-topping John Cooper Works Coupe. Those prices don't represent a massive excess over the price charged for a standard hatchback but still, there remains the niggling doubt that you're not actually gaining all that much for your money.
For the dedicated motoring fashionista, who also fancies themselves as a bit of a handy driver, a Mini Coupe might just make sense. For the rest of us, the hatch is a far better prospect, and in real terms, every bit as invigorating to drive. Next year's very pretty Roadster convertible may tip the balance in favour of a two-seat Mini, but for now, we prefer to still be able to get two elephants in the front, and two in the back.
Facts & Figures
Mini Coupe John Cooper Works
Price as tested: €36,440
Price range: €23,410 to €36,440
Capacity: 1,598cc
Power: 211bhp
Torque: 280Nm
Top speed: 240kmh
0-100kmh: 6.4sec
Economy: 7.1l-100km (39.7mpg)
CO2 emissions: 165g/km
Road Tax Band: D €447
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested
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