Despite one of the worst U. S. auto sales slumps in more than a decade, the BMW-owned Mini brand is on a roll. The Mini Cooper hatchback offers the best of both worlds in the white-hot compact segment—a car that’s both tossable and fuel-efficient. Mini’s U. S. dealers are selling nearly every Cooper and turbocharged Cooper S they can get into showrooms. In addition, the well-received Cooper Clubman variant—which arrived in the midst of the recent gas-price crisis—has just joined the Mini lineup.
The slightly larger, second-generation Mini was all-new for 2007, so not surprisingly the 2009 Mini Cooper lineup isn’t changing too much, save for a couple updates. Those seeking the open-top Mini experience will have to wait, however; the Cooper convertible remains on hiatus until the version based on the updated model arrives sometime next year.
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For 2009, the automaker’s relatively simple lineup continues: the Cooper and the performance-themed Cooper S version of its three-door hatch (the larger Clubman shares the same model designations). Just two engines are offered: a base, 1.6L four-cylinder mounted over the front axle making 120 hp and 118 lb-ft of torque and a version of the same mill fitted with a twin-scroll turbocharger in the Cooper S, bumping power to 172-hp and 177 lb-ft of torque.
Both the Cooper and Cooper S include Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Cornering Brake Control, along with a brake assistant that recognizes emergency stops and increases pressure to scrub off speed even faster. The Cooper’s EPAS electronic power steering system is speed-sensitive and can be switched to different settings, with a “basic” mode stressing light effort at parking speeds and tightening up on the highway, while “sports” mode alters its forces for greater precision. Mini boasts that the EPAS setup provides improved feedback while minimizing torque steer.
Despite being one of the smallest cars on the road today, the 2009 Mini Cooper achieves impressive crash test results, offering high-end safety features like six standard airbags, a strengthened passenger cell, and a transversely mounted engine designed to maximize the car’s crumple zones and divert crash energy to the floor. In addition, crossbars and reinforced door structures help protect the car in side impacts, and in the event of any wreck the car automatically disables its electronic fuel pump, unlocks the doors, turns on the interior lights, and activates its hazard-warning flashers.
Minis are renowned for being highly customizable, and, besides options such as a navigation system, iPod interface, 17-in. wheels, and the John Cooper Works performance package, buyers of the 2009 Cooper and Cooper S can choose from 10 separate colors along with any number of different roof and sideview-mirror graphics.
With their combination of near-luxury style, impressive driving dynamics, frugal fuel-economy, and some subtle but appreciated changes, the Cooper, Cooper S, and Clubman should continue to find plenty of buyers in 2009. That is, as long as the automaker can keep enough cars in stock.
The body of the latest generation MINI - introduced in 2007 - boasts evolutionary development from the iconic 1959 Classic Mini, while the interior, including styling cues are evocative of the original and contain the latest technological advances found today. And powering either the 2009 MINI Cooper or MINI Cooper S are a pair of four-cylinder engines resembling the original MINI’s in cylinder number and placement, transversely over the front axle, but far more efficient, cleaner and powerful.
The MINI Cooper and the MINI Cooper S both come standard with a six-speed manual transmission. Both models can be ordered with an optional six-speed automatic transmission that features a sport mode and includes steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
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