Thanks for link, some interesting comments from the Top Gear team.....it must be good! 
Top Gear - First drive: the brand new MINI
And does it all work? Does it feel transformed?
If you're listening hard, the Cooper starts with a characteristic three-cylinder beat, but to be honest it's more obvious from outside the car than within. Head off and most of the sensations are Mini staples. The well-oiled controls; the low-set, straight-ahead driving position; the shallow, upright windscreen and pillars. The ride remains taut rather than soft, and it has the normal Mini bobbing frequency. The steering seems to have the normal Mini quickness.
Er, has BMW got too many engineers? What was the point of changing everything?
Because as you gather speed, all this car's moves are more polished than of old. The suspension has more travel, so when you hit bumps it y'know, copes with them. Suspension, as in suspension. Whereas the old car's undercarriage crashed and banged and too often jolted into its bump-stops. And there's less tyre roar on coarse tarmac now. The steering compensates for cambers and torque. It all feels more grown up.
I don't want a Mini to feel grown up. It's supposed to scoot about, frisky and intimate and connected.
Don't worry. Show it a corner and the Cooper comes alive. The front end is super-agile. The steering is sharp but notably progressive and you feel exactly what's going on. There's barely any understeer. And if you lift-off, the tail is surprisingly mobile, but easy to collect. The new-found suspension suppleness doesn't make it soggy, it just means it doesn't get distraught when the corner is lumpy. Any car that reacts so quickly but so predictably, and gives you so many options, and connects you so intimately to its moves, cannot fail to be a bundle of laughs.
Back to where we started. My point stands: meet the new Mini, same as the old Mini.
Sure, in character, things haven't changed. There's measurable progress. It's efficient - for the petrol Cooper, 105g/km. Plus it's more refined and better-riding and safer and has a bigger boot. OK, that's all rational stuff that Top Gear is reputed not to give a stuff about. Yet they did that while preserving the stuff we do care for. It's more lively, it sounds more interesting and the handling's more fun and visceral.
http://www.topgear.c...view-2014-01-30
Autocar magazine 5 February:
New Mini Cooper driven; Infiniti Q50 tested; classic Fiat 500 vs classic Mini;
"The first drive of the all-new Mini inspires a 25-page special on the iconic brand this week.
Taking centre stage is our verdict on the new MINI Cooper. The six-page first drive delivers the news all fans of the marque have been hoping for - that the new car is a substantial step forward over its predecessor.
Andrew Frankel then poses the question as to what the world's best small car really is, pitching his own original Fiat 500 against the Mini of fellow car writer and enthusiast John Simister. Rest assured, arguments ensue.
We also have a four-page run down of the greatest hits from Mini's history, from the original Issigonis-penned car through to the Outspan Orange conversions, and on to the modern day. And if you don't agree, be sure to vote for your favourite online tomorrow.
James Ruppert tells the painful story of rebuilding (more than once) the Mini of his dreams; his tale is both hilarious and heart-breaking, as he outlines how he's spent £35,000 over 35 years on a car he has yet to drive.
If that inspires you to get in the Mini mood, Lewis Kingston then outlines the best used buys for every budget - kicking off at £3k for a Mini Mayfair. Hilton Holloway also investigates what's next for Mini, concluding that bigger cars are almost certainly coming."
http://www.autocar.c...st-drive-review
Edited by mab01uk, 04 February 2014 - 07:46 PM.
