hey everybody how's it going I've got a
really fun one for you today because
behind me is the 2023 Mini Cooper S now
did you know that this generation of
Mini Cooper called the f56 came out for
the 2014 model year so it's going on
seven years old and seven years is a
long product cycle for any car and the
question I have is this car still
relevant for the 2023 model year that's
what we're gonna find out today when
this mini launched right around seven
years ago it was a pretty big departure
for the brand it was the third
generation of the new mini which came
out all the way back in 2002 and the big
focus on this generation quality and
reliability now the first mini to come
back well let's be honest since 1959 was
the 2002 Mini called the R50 and that
thing was a great piece of design super
fun to drive but it rattled worse than a
tin can full of rocks they redid it for
the 2007 model year called it the R56
and they fixed a lot of the rattles but
then the engines would implode fairly
randomly they fixed that in 2011 but
well all right the reputation was done
on that car and then this thing came out
in 2014 and I've talked to a whole bunch
of owners I've looked at the reliability
data and they have pretty much nailed it
on this generation a mini called the f56
so all those comments that are like all
this thing gonna be unreliable do a
little bit of digging because this
newest generation has been really
surprisingly good now seven years ago
this car looked pretty different
obviously it still had the round
headlights and the Cooper S had the
little hood scoop and that kind of thing
but it's gone through a number of
changes and design wise it's looking
pretty aggressive and actually pretty
fresh so a lot of kind of vertical and
squared off lines we've got these ducts
vent air around the wheels we've got
this new grille for 2023 with kind of
this cool almost cogging look along the
side it's a very good looking car and uh
this is the Resolute Edition which gives
you some kind of cool goodies
which you wouldn't find on a typical car
so you've got these unique stripes in
this bronzy color you've got these crazy
wheels these 18 inch wheels
um a lot of fun stuff on the inside
which we'll show you so lots of special
editions over the years
um of course the Union Jack tail lights
which are way better than the old f56s
which had those creepy eyes by the way
so I think they've done a pretty good
job design wise keeping it up to date
you get cool colors like this one's
called Rebel green once again the bronzy
accents
right they're not just letting the car
language they are putting some effort in
to keep it exciting and relevant now
from an engine standpoint a horsepower
standpoint the traditional hardtop
really has three different engine
configurations there's the 1.5 liter
three cylinder
in the standard Cooper there is the
2-liter four-cylinder in the Cooper S
and then there is the beefed up two
liter four-cylinder in oh man
pulling a noob here gotta pull the thing
twice there's the beefed up uh
four-cylinder turbo in the Cooper S JCW
which stands for John Cooper Works this
one is a standard Cooper S
it so 2-liter Twin power turbo engine uh
right around 190 horsepower or so
not crazy powerful compared to some
other hot hatches on the market and
that's always kind of been the rub on
the new Minis right if you want
horsepower per dollar you're better off
with the GTI you're certainly better off
with like a Kona n but mini does offer
kind of a lot of luxury this is a
premium little car so from an interior
fitment finish standpoint this car is
way better than like a GTI or a Kona n
or some of those vehicles and check out
this insanely cool seat design now this
is like a yellow plaid it's a woolly
material and I just love it I really
think it feels very good it looks cool
this is gonna be one of those things
like those Tartan Interiors from the 80s
which are really in right now
um I think this this is going to be a
very collectible interior of course if
you hate yellow I understand there's a
lot of other options so don't stress out
now when this car launched in 2014 you
could get it with this little itty bitty
screen in the base models but most of
the new ones you're going to find of
course are going to have the big full
display start button down there in the
middle
we are in South Carolina on Mini tanks
Estates which is this Nationwide rally
having a lot of fun but it is fudging
hot out here
and very very humid now interior wise
does have some good stuff like like um
Wireless Apple carplay which is good
Dual Zone automatic climate control
heated seats get it with a heated
steering wheel I think this one has the
heated steering wheel uh maybe it
doesn't I think it just lights to the
heated steering wheel button by the way
in these cars is all the way down here
on the bottom left no it doesn't so you
kind of gotta be a little sneaky about
it they updated the gauge cluster
compared to when this car launched so
they have been doing some changes it
still has that really cool do dual pane
sunroof and then the Resolute trim gives
you those stripes some Wheels gives you
some badging on the inside it's only
about a thousand bucks and kind of gives
it a unique look which I think is cool
now the heads-up display needs to go
this kind of virtual combiner I think is
called heads up display with this little
panel I didn't like it from the launch I
still don't like it very much not very
useful and
um
yeah it's it's one of those things that
that I think needs to be improved
steering wheel still feels great
beautiful leather wrap quality but like
everything you touch right if you got
into this car compared to like an old
Mini and started squeezing and pushing
things an old Mini from 2004 2005 would
squeak like
a mouse on the Titanic and they just
were horrible but Everything You Touch
now feels really good can squeeze stuff
you can prod stuff nothing squeaks or
rattles it's very very good and it's a
pretty comfortable interior very very
spacious this Resolute trim also has
these cool things now this car is pretty
pricey so if we look at the um the the
sticker here
let's go to the full big one as equipped
we're sitting right around thirty six
thousand dollars
but you know which is a lot of money for
a compact car but
um
yeah it's I I there's really not a lot
of butt to it you can get a lot of car a
lot of performance car for 36 000 with
more than 189 horsepower what you're
getting in the mini though is the full
Driving Experience which is pretty
special fuel economy 27 combined not not
amazing but this one does have the
manual transmission uh one of the few
companies still regularly offering
manual transmissions across a lot of
their product line and it's a pretty
Snappy manual six-speed of course you
got reverse forward and to the left
which is not my favorite place for it
but
um it's a good it's a good stick overall
and then a couple of blank switches here
although we do have heated seats and
then down here you still have your
traditional iDrive by the way this
system is um one of those where it takes
a little bit to get used to but once you
figure out some of the shortcuts and
figure out the best ways to navigate
through it you can do most things you
need to hands-free and really quickly
using this little dial down here so I I
think it's good it's got real-time
traffic information if you're in
navigation they need to kind of step up
the game a little bit on your
intelligent safety like it's got frontal
collisional warning Lane departure that
kind of thing at 36 Grand nowadays in
2023 I think we need to sorry 2022 for
the 2023 model year we got to include
standard Lane centering I'd love to see
standard adaptive cruise control as well
they're still being a little stingy on
that and then no blind spot monitoring
as well so these are things that you get
in basically every Toyota
Let's uh let's see those make its way to
the mini lineup too right you're paying
for a premium brand let's get some of
those premium features in standard but
anyways enough blabbing along let's go
take it for a little spin
all right the Mini Cooper Resolute now I
don't know how you folks in the South do
it in the summer
my uh big respects to you I've been here
for like one day struggling pretty hard
with the humidity especially but that
doesn't stop me from doing a little rip
in a Mini Cooper S so we're gonna leave
our hotel here now many Texas States is
a nine-day cross-country rally with
hundreds of mini enthusiasts and owners
it's been a fantastic trip got to meet
some really cool folks and it's a great
way to get involved in the mini
community
and you don't need a new Mini you can do
it in any many of any age
it's got a mini badge in the front says
Cooper on the back or Countryman or
Clubman replacement or Roadster or Coop
come on out and try Mini Takes Estates
now initial Impressions driving the mini
f56 now when this car first launched I
wasn't a huge fan of driving it actually
uh I'm a big mini fan I own too many of
them but they always felt a little bit
kind of numb
and this new one
it feels pretty good right off the bat
now the steering is very BMW it's very
very very weighty and not a huge amount
of feel but more than your typical
front-wheel drive car that's for sure
the brakes are incredible I'm gonna say
that right now but uh I always felt a
little isolated driving these f56s where
the old ones are a little bit more Raw
they were also raw when they broke down
but um
it's a very insulated
fantastic car it's like a little baby
BMW it's very comfy
um good sound deadening lots of room
good Tech but not quite as like visceral
as some of the older stuff
having said that even though with 189
horsepower the car is pretty light you
get in the right gear
lots of low end torque and it feels like
the high-end push on this engine so the
previous ones I've driven they make a
lot of power down low and then things
kind of follow their face higher up in
the Rev range but this is
downshift a couple gears
squirt
four thousand five thousand oh yeah it
feels like it pulls really well I wonder
if they mess with the tuning of the
engine a little bit or maybe I just
haven't driven one in long enough the
transmission feel is very good they
really nailed it on the transmission
they really nailed it on the clutch
Department things got super responsive
yet easy to use clutch very easy to
modulate
um but a while though you couldn't get
the hard top in the manual now you can
definitely would recommend it I'm not
convinced that it's going to stick
around in the lineup much longer I mean
of course nothing official but if you
look at the take rates on manuals just
across the industry
and the shift toward electrification and
that kind of thing it's looking a little
a little frightening but great manual a
little bit too much rev hang especially
from the higher RPMs takes a little bit
a little bit too long for the Reds to
kind of Decay before the next gear but
pretty easy to rev match as well and
this does have different Drive modes we
got a sport a mid and a green and in
sport mode kind of tightens up the
throttle response gives you a little bit
more augmented sound in the cabin
and it makes it quite a good thing to
drive
so is it as fun as some of the older
ones yeah probably I think I think this
thing's growing on me again it's a lot
more sorted especially in tight turns
Twisted turns and you're really giving
it the goose it's it's better to drive
it really is uh not as Twitchy as the
old ones
um but still this is still a small car
and what is that noise
set an alarm off what was that about it
still is a really small car I mean a lot
smaller than something like the Volks
like golf so it's very very possible and
um you don't realize it feels like a
bigger car driving it fast but when you
get in a tight twisty Road you really
get the the short wheel base greatness
that the mini can provide the brakes are
amazing the suspension tuning is really
good some of the older stuff was very
harsh over
stuff larger than an ant the new one is
much more compliant the seats are much
better than the older models
um it's good now
is it my favorite mini of all time
probably not just because I don't have
to drive one every day
right I kind of use them more as weekend
toys and this just like I said it's not
quite as raw as of the older stuff but
if this was my only car I would be way
happier with this than some other
products
um that Minnie has come out with in the
past and it certainly does punch above
its weight class in the performance
department now of course if you get the
JCW you get over 220 horsepower but you
pay a lot more for it and I probably
would skip it just get the standard
Cooper S you can tune it around a little
bit if you wanted more power but 189 is
fine enough for this car if you want to
go really fast in a straight line get a
Mustang get a challenge or get a Tesla
this thing is not going to beat any of
those in a straight line but for kind of
cruising around zipping around some of
these back roads it's pretty good now
fuel economy 27 combined is pretty poor
from such a teeny weeny little car that
is that is definitely worth noting
I could probably do with a little less
augmented engine noise a little bit more
real engine noise
um so it'll feel economy not great but
um
depends how you drive it too if you
drive it like a Hool again yeah it's
gonna be pretty bad if you drive it more
responsibly you could probably beat that
a little bit especially on the uh
so is the Mini Cooper relevant in 2023
yes it still is a super fun car to drive
I like the way they've upgraded The
Styling they really need to give it more
power I think for the money in the
Cooper S and they gotta add some of that
driver assistance technology as standard
it's a big deal as we go into the next
couple model years but it still is an
amazing car to scoot around and it
handles really well and now that they
fix their quality
not a bad option let me know what you
guys think in the comment section below
as always it's been Tommy check out all
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