Mini One (2001-2007) Review

On the road

• Previous: Reliability and Quality
• Next: Safety and Security

All rather easy. You feel like you're sitting low and, because the upright screen is a fair distance away from you, and the back quite close, you feel like your sitting right in the middle of the car. Visibility is very good, thanks to the upright windscreen, sensibly sized pillars and good wing mirrors, and the controls are all almost BMW-like in their smoothness and precision, which makes punting it around very easy. The speedo is in the centre of the dashboard like on the original Mini, but is massive so it's easy to read. The steering wheel adjusts for rake but not reach, so long-legged drivers need to stretch out their arms or squash up their legs to get a grip of the wheel. Most definitely. The Mini is very agile and willing to turn, with understeer (the front tyres sliding wide) if you over-attack bends. The steering, while nicely weighted, lacks true feel, but it's direct and very responsive. Good brakes with solid, consistent brake feel, well-placed pedals and a slick gearshift add to the pleasure. For real thrills go for a Cooper/Cooper S, but don't be put off by the One tag.

If you want high performance from your Mini, best go for Cooper or Cooper S models (reviewed separately), rather than a One. The diesel is slowest, with a 0-60mph time of more than 13 seconds. In general driving, though, it's better than the figure suggests, the engine's smooth power delivery and generous torque (pulling power) allowing for easy overtaking. The petrol version (using a 1.6-litre motor jointly developed with Chrysler) is faster, and sounds good (sometimes strangely like the original Mini) while it's at it. It rarely feels underpowered, and with second gear stretching to more than 70mph in the manual version, its rev-range is very wide. A Steptronic CVT automatic is also available, which performs well but has a slightly jerky take-up from standstill and off-throttle deceleration rate is quite steep so coming to a smooth halt can be difficult.