Mini Cooper test drive since 2006 hatchback

Technology kitchen

Mini Cooper S. Price: 38 955. On sale: from March 2007
 
A gasoline engine with direct injection and turbine, seasoned with a 6-speed manual. As a side dish, a sports stiff suspension and low -profile safe tires. The branded dish from the BMW chef is ready. Add gas to taste. Burn the Mini Cooper S thoroughly, swallow in small portions.
 
In the right direction
 
If the appearance of the mini almost did not change, then the technical part was processed in the most thorough and merciless way. This is best seen on the Cooper S. A gasoline turbocharged engine is the focus of all BMW motor achievements. The air from the impeller, divided into two parts, supplies two cylinders. Direct injection from Siemens VDO provides maximum pressure of 150 bar. Naturally, nozzles with executive piezo element are used. These simple measures made it possible to provide a torque shelf (240 Nm) in the range of 16005000 min-1. There is no need to talk about power: 128 kW in absolute terms of 80.1 kW/l. According to the latest indicator in Europe, the Cooper S engine is second only to the 1.4-liter unit from VW (89.9 kW/l). However, Munich engineers can not contrast for something TSI technology (a screw compressor with a crankshaft and turbine drive). But they can afford to abandon Valvetronic and change the time of the start of the opening and closing of the valve only on the intake side.
 
The letter S, added to the name mini, pulls on a tidy sum. In our case, it will add 16 thousand euros to the cost of a standard version. What to pay for, except for the letter? For example, for a gasoline 1.6-liter engine. This unit occupies a leading position in specific power.
 
What a car electronics have come! From a single piece of iron you can get several completely different cars. Such construction is justified, since even leading world concerns are not able to raise a qualitatively new design. And simple things are already stamping together. Companies are united, units and assemblies are unified. But cars should be something different from each other, and it is not only about appearance. Everything goes to the fact that car insides will lose their face. But there will be several copies, by nature that are not amenable to unification. Mini of those.
 
True, the above 1.6-liter turbo engine in brutal for such a volume of 174 hp. You can also find PSA Peugeot-Citroen on some models of society. However, this case belongs to the category of technological cooperation. The French, in exchange for an introductory fee, gained access to secret technical documentation. But the parameters of the Munich mood with the taste of pork slyka, sauerkraut and non -refilled beer are not possible to design in a mathematical model or drawing. And if there is a need to get to the nearest zucchini of German cuisine in the shortest possible time, Cooper S is ready to strain all the muscles. He can: accelerate to hundreds in seven with a tail of seconds; turn around its axis almost in place; Instantly and imperceptibly for others to rebuild from a row.
 
Finding himself in the Cooper S salon, the driver quickly takes the starting position. Sports seats unobtrusively adjust the figure, providing support in all possible places. It remains only to lift the hatches and grab the rim of the steering wheel resembling the geometry of the Bavarian sausage. True, our copy is not burdened by excessive accessories. Moreover, other jewelry, which in other modifications of Mini cause only irritation due to their excessive decoration, do not bother here at all. In particular, the speedometer scale with an amorphous arrow crawling in the outer circle, toggle switches on the ceiling and the central console. All this is very convenient and ergonomically for one simple reason: all this will not have to be used in motion. You need to look only at the tachometer. By tradition, he tightly attached to the steering column and changes his position with her.
 
One bad passenger asked how to adjust the temperature in the cabin? Hehe ... not everything that falls in the penalty area is called a penalty. There is nothing to poke the buttons, they are not stationery! It is better to fasten everything that is possible and squeeze into the seat. In general, after an hour of intensive operation of the car, the guy lost one and a half kilograms of his own equipped mass. And what, tell me, the difference, how many degrees Celsius will be in the cockpit? This does not affect controllability, rotation and dynamic properties of a high -tech shell.
 
Cards in the back of the body, gripped, but perhaps the most accurate definition that can be given to the real mini. An extremely heightened sense of speed, a hard steering wheel and a feeling that the elastic elements of the suspension are completely absent. And the damping and shock -absorbing function performs directly the driver’s body, more precisely, its internal organs. Sticking from overcoming the next asphalt bump, they extinguish the dynamic load, thereby saving the most valuable brain in the driver.
 
Going into the light of God and wiping sweat from the forehead, it makes sense to think: what is the difference between the new generation and the old? It is clear that it is completely pointless to work on the appearance of such cult machines. But leaving the aggregate part in its original form is doubly pointless. You can walk arbitrarily in circles, both clockwise and against. But this is not necessary to do this, because the worm of doubt, moving from the brain in the spinal cord, will probably begin to whisper: is it really a deception, can one of the manufacturers be believed? The machine like two drops is similar to the predecessor. That is all the salt that the real forecast for the future is as follows: the appearance of the machines will be frozen, but the insides will constantly change. This will distinguish cars not only by eye, but also in taste.
 
We do not love
 
Stylish: chromed gas tank hatch emphasizes the integrity of the exterior.
 
Excess: it is better not to pay attention to extra toggle swores at all.
 
Beautiful: the stamping of the air intake only adds cooper s aggression.
 
Driving

The rotation is close to neutral, the steering informative, moderately tough.
 
Salon

The quality of finishing materials, as always, is at a high level. However, this quality plastic is striking.
 
Comfort

When driving in Cooper S, there is no need to think about comfort. However, he is, this comfort.
 
Safety

Mini in EURONCAP: 5 stars per passengers, 3 stars for children and 2 for pedestrians.
 
Price

The price for such a car is secondary. To whom they will buy a pocket.
 
Technical characteristics Mini Cooper S Chili

Dimensions, mm 3714/1683/1407 mm
Gasoline engine with turbocharged, 1598 cm3, 175 hp/5500 min-1
Automatic transmission, 6-speed
Dynamics 0-100 km/h, with 7.2
Maximum speed, km/h 232
There are no competitors in the price and technical categories.
 
Advantages and disadvantages
 
+ Dynamic qualities, handling, quality of the steering. Everything is aimed at a quick pasting in space.
 
Aerodynamic discomfort cannot be drowned even by music.
 
Our opinion
 
The situation with quotas is fixed for the better. Now the Mini Cooper S will be sold in Russia exactly as much as there are buyers. Some owners of the old Mini have already managed to update their cars, a new generation pulled up. A surge is expected. This car is good because it leaves no one indifferent. This is perhaps the most important, and maybe the only dignity.

  
Text: Sergey Arbuzov
Photo: Sergey Krestov
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [June 2007]