That is one of the impressions
MotoringFile gets from driving the 2014 MINI Cooper S. It also drove the new MINI Cooper. Here is part of its ultimate take on the vehicles:
It seems impossible, but MINI has somehow made the F56 a more broadly appealing car and a better driver’s car for the enthusiast at the same time. MINI designers and engineers have brought forward some of the purity found in the R50/R53 generation of MINIs and added a massive dose of technology, safety and performance that car never could have dreamed of. Not everything is perfect, of course. The front overhang will take some getting used to. Also, the MPG figures, albeit not finalized, aren’t particularly encouraging for the one specification that many of you care about: the manual Cooper S. Yet the overall driving experience is such a huge improvement over what came before it, that I can’t look at the F56 as anything but a stellar achievement. Sure, maybe the car took one-and-a-half steps back in some regards thanks to safety regs, etc., but it also took about ten paces forward in the areas that matter most.
