By the CAR road test team
We switch our Mini Coupe off its run-flats on to ‘normal’ tyres. Does it improve the ride? - 16 May 2012
Everyone that has been a passenger in the Mini has quickly commented on how hard and unyielding the ride is. Yes, I know the Coupe is pitched as the sportiest model in the Mini range after the hotshoe GP, but an unyieldingly harsh ride quality doesn’t automatically deliver sporting dynamics, something many manufacturers can’t get their head around.
So here’s the good news. On ‘standard’ Continental Contisport 3 205/45 R17 tyres – ie non-runflats – the Coupe’s ride quality has significantly improved. The brittle jaggedness that had the Mini crashing and thumping over every intrusion on runflats has been rounded off. There’s a welcome degree of compliance and give in the way the suspension now absorbs ruts and ripples. Yes, the ride can still only be described as very firm but it’s now less aggressive and harsh.
The handling hasn’t been adversely affected by this step up in compliance and comfort either. Body control remains exceptional, and the Mini can still be whipped through corners at silly speeds with the slightest flick of the wrist. The Coupe never feeling anything but taut, alert and agile. Superb brakes, too. So if you have the choice, opt for the standard tyres and get a tin of puncture foam. Your spine and filings will thank you.
The handling hasn’t been adversely affected by this step up in compliance and comfort either. Body control remains exceptional, and the Mini can still be whipped through corners at silly speeds with the slightest flick of the wrist. The Coupe never feeling anything but taut, alert and agile. Superb brakes, too. So if you have the choice, opt for the standard tyres and get a tin of puncture foam. Your spine and filings will thank you.
With the UK being such an important market for the Mini brand, I’m surprised that a hefty chunk of the Coupe’s development didn’t take place over here. If Mini’s engineers could have created a car better equipped at dealing with our crappy craggy roads as well as delivering exceptional handling, I’m convinced we’d see more Coupes on the road.
By Ben Whitworth
The Mini survives a collision - 1 May 2012
Some idiot drove into me last week. The optically-challenged octogenarian obviously didn't see me – the Coupe being tricky to spot being bright red with twinkling daylight running lights and all – because he entered the mini roundabout and tried to drive straight through me. The offside rear took the full brunt of the collision, but despite it sounding like a grenade had detonated in the Coupe’s boot and resulting in the nose of the retiree’s Civic looking mashed and mangled, damage to the Mini was visually superficial. The rear left wheel was deeply scuffed and the black plastic wheelarch lining was lightly scratched. And that was it.
After we swapped details, which took a while as the Honda driver had difficulty juggling his pipe and my pen, I gingerly attempted to complete the rest of my trip home – less than a few hundred yards – at walking pace, fully expecting the car to crab sideways and the cabin to fill with wince-inducing graunching and grinding noises.
There was no such anticipated ruckus and no wayward dynamics. The Mini rode and handled exactly the way it had done before the collision, but I was absolutely livid. The Mini had just been fitted with winter tyres – hence the switch to standard alloys – and was absolutely immaculate after a meticulous valet, but the Honda-Mini interface now meant I wouldn’t be able to drive the Coupe until the damage was repaired and the tracking was realigned.
The next morning I inspected the Mini thoroughly. Apart from the kerbed alloy and marked wheelarch lining, there was nothing I could see or detect that looked out of place. A few slow runs up and down the road further convinced me I would be able to trundle it up to Vines of Guildford – the Mini bodyshop closest to my office in Godalming – without further damage to the car, myself and the West Sussex and Surrey countryside.
Vines were very good in all respects. I dropped the car off later that week for them to assess and repair. I was offered a courtesy car – something the other driver’s insurance was very keen for me to have – but as I was only a few miles down the road and the job would take a day at most, I took Vines up on their offer to drop and collect me from their premises using their customer shuttle service – a Volkswagen Caravelle driven by an plummy avuncular chap who used to work in advertising. The alloy was replaced, as was the black wheelarch lining and despite the impact, the checked suspension and tracking were found to be fine. All a bit of non-event after a rather dramatic end to a day’s commute.
By Ben Whitworth
