August 16, 2006 - Zandvoort Circuit, Netherlands - It seems like only yesterday that BMW launched the first generation of the new, modern Mini. But here we are, four years and 800,000 Minis later pounding a pre-production, next-generation Mini Cooper S around the North Sea-side Zandvoort racetrack in southern Holland.

But look past the colour vinyl that’s camouflaging the lights and badges, and obvious first generation Mini design characteristics—hexagon grille, large headlights, upright rear clusters—are all here.



“With the goal of keeping the soul of the original Mini—its benchmark go-kart steering and handling—we wanted to improve the [car’s] fuel efficiency, performance and driving dynamics. And we wanted to make it safer,” stated Horst Radivojevic: Project Team Leader – New MINI Development.

So what’s so new about this new Mini?

First off, to retain that “go-kart” feel, la deuxieme Mini is still front-wheel drive, has a low centre of gravity, long wheelbase, wide track, and short overhangs. The front suspension remains a MacPherson strut setup, but the multilink independent rear suspension is now all aluminum and lighter by six kilograms.


BMW inherited the Mini’s present engines (co developed with DaimlerChrysler and currently built in Brazil) when the Bavarian company had a controlling interest in Rover. BMW frankly admits, they were never really happy with the end result. They assert the next Mini will be faster and more frugal with the two new 1.6-litre four-cylinder engines BMW co-developed with French carmaker Peugeot that will be built in a BMW plant in next to the Mini factory in the U.K.

The next base, normally aspirated Mini Cooper engine, now with variable intake valve timing, gains five horsepower to 120 with 118 pound-feet of torque. The future higher-performing Cooper S will boast 175 h.p., an improvement of eight, and torque will be up to 177 lb-ft. More importantly, torque arrives early at only 1,600 rpm., thanks this time around to turbocharging with gasoline direct injection being the choice of forced induction instead of supercharging.



Although not ready to communicate official Canadian model performance or fuel economy numbers, the Mini team claims the turbo/direct injection combo delivers better fuel economy, lower emissions and a 12.5% reduction in fuel consumption on the EU cycle.

Both new engines come with a six-speed manual standard. An Aisin six-speed automatic replaces the current CVT—steering wheel shifter paddles and all—as an option on the cooking Cooper.

The interior foam-cushion masking the Cooper S prototype’s dashboards and consoles didn’t hide the fact that the basic packaging is still the same (i.e. happy campers up front, vertically challenged to the rear). In addition to adding side curtain airbags to the two front and two side airbags in the current car, Mini spotters will notice a larger central speedometer, cleaned-up-in-design HVAC and ancillary controls, and like every new generation BMW, there’s a Start/Stop button that requires the insertion of a plastic key, which means a two-step process to start the car (this is progress? NOT!).



Wearing the equivalent of a string bikini for camouflage, BMW only brought next generation Mini Cooper S prototypes to drive on a low-speed parking lot slalom and then on the Zandvoort track itself.

Getting past starting the car, where BMW has made progress becomes immediately after you step on the gas and release the clutch on the forthcoming Cooper S.

With maximum torque now delivered earlier, you feel an immediate kick in the pants where the current supercharged Cooper S prods you on. Final acceleration times may not differ much with the existing car, but the perception of speed is certainly new.

What also became evident was the swapping out of the present Mini’s electrical-hydraulic steering with an electrical-mechanical setup. Combined with new, softer sidewall 17-inch Dunlop runflats, there’s more feel and less abrupt transitions from traction to no-traction.

Beyond the nearby beach sands that would inevitably blow onto the track, one of the reasons Formula 1 cars stopped racing at Zandvoort in the mid-‘80s was the lack of run-off areas and tight, off-camber curves. In pushing the next Cooper S in such conditions, one quickly discovers that the car’s not as sensitive at the limit as the current model and less prone to lift-throttle oversteer. You can easily trailbreak through decreasing radii corners and bring the car around.



Ironically, in an attempt to atone for one of the first gen Mini’s biggest shortcomings—a poor ride on crappy tarmac—the softer, additionally forgiving runflats make the future Cooper S more balanced, which means DSC is less likely to come on, which means it’s easier to drive at the limit, which means you go faster. At least around a traffic-free, smooth Dutch racetrack.

Although BMW has been priming the PR pump with last year’s extended-Mini Traveler concepts, it will be the familiar, regular-length Cooper and Cooper S that will be the first of the second generation Minis to go on sale in Canada sometime in 2007.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher, www.straight-six.com

PS - Since the press event in Holland, BMW has officially released photos of the next MINI free of any vinyl coverings.
-JL

© National Post 2006. This article originally appeared in The National Post's Driving.