Graeme Fletcher and Derek McNaughton, writing for
The Vancouver Sun, review the 2012 MINI Cooper S Coupe. Fletcher decides,
If you’re in search of a practical set of wheels, don’t bother driving the Mini Cooper S Coupé — the cabin does not accommodate much more than the two occupants. However, if you want a mode of expression, this car is right up your alley. It demands attention and calls it to its occupants. That, however, is not its most endearing trait. The Mini Cooper S Coupé proved to be as much fun to drive as it’s possible to have while wearing loafers. Every trip, even the most mundane, just seemed to reinforce its enormous fun factor.
while McNaughton says,
That firm ride, coupled with 181 horsepower from a 1.6-litre, turbocharged inline four cylinder that presents most of its 177 lb.-ft of torque as early as 1,600 r.p.m., makes for a car that feels as swift as a sea lion in pursuit of salmon. There is a pinch of lag from the twin-scroll Borg-Warner turbo, but once underway, the pull from the little four is enough to elicit a series of sustained hoots and smiles, especially when mated to the tight-shifting six-speed manual that seems to have a clutch, and throws, weighted just right. I don’t doubt Mini’s zero to 100 figures of 6.9 seconds, as lighting the tires through second gear wasn’t much of a challenge, but just as impressive was the stability of the Coupe at high speed: A 1,240 kg car shouldn’t feel as stable as a Mercedes C-Class at 140 km/hr, but the Coupe manages to pull it off, and with respectable fuel economy, too, averaging 5.8 L/100km, according to BMW. Bringing a taller sixth gear (or a seventh gear, now that Porsche has raised the bar with a seven-speed manual) would boost economy even more. A lower highway r.p.m. at highway speeds, bringing it down from about 3,000 r.p.m. to a more desirable 2,000, would also settle the cabin that much more.
