January 26, 2017

BMW MINI offers excellent driving with its wonderful designing and fuel efficient engine

This smart third incarnation of the "new" MINI maintains the cute, retro looks of its predecessors, but proposes more space and technology, along with the improved efficiency and quality. Luckily, this newfound maturity doesn't really come at the expense of the driving fun that BMW MINI is famous for. For those after more space, there is also a MINI 5-Door, created to compete with the Audi A1 Sport back.

Engine of BMW MINI

There are efficient four petrol and three diesel engines to pick from. The entrance-level MINI One receives a 101bhp 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo, while the Cooper gets a 134bhp 1.5-litre three-cylinder. The Grand Cooper S has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with 189bhp, and the JCW model particularly, also a 2.0-litre, is boosted further to almost 217bhp. The One D and MINI Cooper D diesels both are 1.5-litre three-cylinder units that flourish 94bhp and 115bhp respectively, while the Cooper SD gets a real bigger 2.0-litre unit with 168bhp.

MINI Petrol Engines

Beginning with the One, it’s truly a petrol engine built for economy and demands to be worked hard to wring out any kind of performance. Its striking 9.9-second 0-62mph sprint is revealing (10.1 in the five-door), but more so is its 180Nm peak torque – perfectly half of what the Cooper SD has, for illustration. The 1.5-litre petrol engine in the Cooper really does glow, though. With 220Nm from only 1,250 it’s quite tough from low revs, but the real magic is simply at the top end of the rev range. It sounds raspy and pulls very strongly, with 0-62mph coming in only 7.9 seconds, or 8.2 in the five-door due to its extra bulk. The Cooper S engine perhaps loses some of its charm on account of being a four-cylinder, but it’s extremely quick, with a 6.8/6.9-second sprint to 62mph (3dr/5dr) and a more blazing tone from the twin central exhaust pipes -and the Works 210 version gets an even racier soundtrack. And then the smart JCW engine, a highly tuned type of the Cooper S unit, is positively rip-roaring, racing up the rev range, snapping and cracking all the way.

MINI Diesel Engines

The diesels are more magnificent in a day-to-day sort of way, along with the One D and Cooper D engines incredibly effortless and quiet given they are three-cylinder diesel units. However, the former is very passive and an engine bought for economy only, really. The BMW Cooper D is much better, along with much more in-gear punch, but set against the petrol Cooper there’s no uncertainty it’s distinctly lacking character, with its shortage of top-end punch. On the other side, the Cooper SD feels positively swift, with its 360Nm torque figure trumping even the model JCW – though it also runs out of steam at quite higher revs, when you actually want your MINI to keep pressing on in-gear. The impressive MINI now comes with a selection of new six-speed manual or six-speed automatic gearboxes. Genuinely, the manual is more precise than the previous one but isn’t quite as slick to the shift, while the auto is directly more efficient but yet never quite seems to know the perfect and right gear to be in.

What we say?

To conclude, there are plenty of small cars that are really more practical, but the MINI merges stylish looks with low running costs, and it remains a very entertaining car to drive.