Category: City Cars 
Price Range: No data available
Iconic image, the heritage, and it's still fun to drive.
Dreadful ride, cramped, noisy, impractical.
The Mini has long fallen behind the opposition in terms of refinement, practicality and just about everything else, but few other cars have been so loved. When you buy a Mini, you buy more than just a small, cramped, uncomfortable car - you're buying a design classic.
The driving position is uncomfortable at first because of the strange angle of the steering wheel, but you do adapt. The minor switches, and the radio, are quite a stretch, and many find the pedals a bit abrupt in action. But, the quick steering, sharp gears and responsive brakes make up for a lot. Ideally suited to nipping around town, and in a little car this cheeky, you won't incite road rage with too much lane-swapping. The full five stars for the Mini's sharp handling, taut, responsive chassis and go-kart-like feel. It's not actually that fast, when you look at the figures, and previous generation Coopers have accelerated quicker, but that shouldn't detract from the thrills the Mini still has to offer.
Generations of rally drivers can't be wrong. The body is so light, that the engines struggle less than you'd expect, even on the motorway, where you must make do with a mere four gears. Disappointingly, there's now no performance difference between the Cooper and the basic car, but every boy racer knows that sports alloys, bonnet stripes, driving lamps Italian-Job style and a white roof will make it go faster.
