The original Mini Cooper was introduced in 1959. In the following 41 years, nobody saw a need for a total redesign, continually evolving and refining the design to keep up with what buyers expected. It was and still is an icon, the car of the 1960s, so there was little need to evolve it.
BMW has owned Mini since 1994, and introduced an all-new Mini in 2001. Sure, it was larger, but that R53-generation Cooper was gorgeous. The perfect evolution of the original that created a modern car. I was smitten. I didn’t get my driver’s license until 2004, but I remember sitting on early configurators and pouring over brochures, trying to figure out how I could afford one. I even had my spec settled: grey, the optional Minilite-style wheels, body colored roof, no stripes.
Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. They maintained value, and I couldn’t afford one. Now, they might be cheap, but my needs have changed that Mini doesn’t fit my life. We’re two ships passing in the night.
Over the last 25 years, BMW has taken a rather different strategy with Mini than its original English stewards. There are now multiple models and the cars have grown massively. And instead of evolving the same car over 25 years, we are now on our fourth generation of Cooper Hatch in that period.
In that time, it’s changed substantially. The latest generation hatch is 10 inches longer and about 500 pounds heavier than the 2001 model. It’s wider, more powerful, and full of tech. And now it doesn’t even have a manual transmission. All of that sounds like doom and gloom. This isn’t the same simple Mini Cooper. This is now a premium hatchback with a price to match.
Yet, somehow, the fourth-gen hatch feels the truest to the Mini mission since the 2001 reboot. Its emphasis is fun, it makes creative use of tech, and the design is fresh and interesting. And with the John Cooper Works package, it’s fast. But the car market is drastically different now than it was 25 years ago. Does a car like this still have a place?
Specs
- Engine: 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four
- Gearbox: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
- Drivetrain: front-engine, front-wheel drive
- Output: 228 hp @ 5,000 rpm, 280 lb-ft @ 1,500 rpm
- Weight: 3,047 lbs
- Fuel Economy: 27 city, 37 hwy, 30 combined
- Base Price: $41,775
- As Tested: $44,375 (including delivery)
Maximum Mini
Every automaker from Ford to Volkswagen used to offer a three-door hatch. It was such a big market that some brands sold more than one model. Now, things are different. You might not believe it, but the Mini Cooper is the last three-door hatch left in the U.S. The good thing is that this means Mini has a monopoly on the market. The problem is that the market isn’t big enough for anyone else to consider taking a piece. (Update: I forgot the Fiat 500e, which is still sold here. Sorry. – TO)
This Mini isn’t what I’d call groundbreaking. It has a turbo four with 228 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque, all of which is sent to the front wheels. Like all Minis for 2025, the manual is dead and buried, with a seven-speed dual-clutch being the only transmission option. The new hatch is slightly larger than the car it replaces, which makes it the widest, longest, tallest, and heaviest three-door Mini ever. That’s not to say it’s a large car; it’s still 17 inches shorter than a Volkswagen GTI. It looks great. But somehow, I got in it and it felt huge.
I got out of a Crosstrek and directly into the Mini, and it felt like I had a lot of car around me. Too much hood in the front, too much room to the side. Minis have always been airy; you feel connected. Here, I felt like I was locked in a fortress. The Crosstrek felt smaller. An odd thing to say. It was the same when I started driving, I figured I’d acclimate immediately and be fine, but it took a while on the highway to suss everything out. I think I know why. The beltline appears higher, but the overall height has barely increased, so that means there’s less glass creating an open cabin. It’s not like you’re in a fifth-gen Camaro, which was one giant blindspot, but it does feel more insulating than Minis past. That’s too bad.
Once I got used to it, though, it started to become fun. And it started to showcase some of the things that are wrong with so many other modern cars.
The Good And The Bad
The Mini Hatch might be bigger and not offer a manual gearbox anymore, but it hasn’t strayed as far from the 2001 reboot as you might think. It’s still front-wheel drive, and this top-spec JCW (until the inevitable GP comes along) has 228 hp. In 2003, the first JCW had 200 hp. The increase in torque to that original, though, is nearly 100 lb-ft, and Mini seemingly has done little to mitigate torque steer. That makes it lively off the line. Some might call it annoying, others might say it has character, I put it somewhere in between.
My initial time spent in the Mini was on the highway, and I was disappointed. I expected something compliant and full of personality. What I got was a nondescript fast hatchback that was way too stiff. It bounced over bumps and just wasn’t fun. Combine that with the visibility issues that I mentioned earlier, and I didn’t think I was going to enjoy my time with this car. Of course, the highway isn’t what the JCW is intended for, so I got it out to some fun roads to see if maybe I’d gotten it wrong.
A lot of the decisions Mini took with this car were in the pursuit of fun at legal speeds. It’s not on huge fat tires, and they aren’t made of an overly sticky compound. It doesn’t have so much power or such tall gearing that it doesn’t let you shift a few times before getting to the speed limit. And while the steering is more distant than you’d want, it is direct and pointy, like those original Minis. The stiffer suspension makes more sense, too, thankfully, and the ride quality is vastly better when you’re not on a road with massive expansion joints.
I also think, shockingly, Mini didn’t make a huge error getting rid of the manual gearbox. Modern turbo engines, like the 2.0-liter BMW B48 in the Mini, work best when there’s no interruption in power delivery. Many times, a manual gearbox just won’t mesh with a complex engine like this. I’ve noticed this for a while, particularly with BMW’s newest high-performance engines.
Here, paired with a DCT, you kind of get the best of both worlds. Is it as engaging as a car with a manual gearbox? No. Is it effective, and while still allowing control? For sure. The best solution would be a lower-torque, high-revving naturally-aspirated engine like a Honda F20C hooked to a six-speed manual, but that isn’t the world we live in, sadly.
Out on some of NJ’s finest back roads–they exist, they really do, and they’re fun and not through sewage treatment plants, I promise–the little Mini was charming and engaging. The grand Mini tradition is to enter a corner and stay on throttle, because not being on throttle means you’ll loop it. Of course, this Mini is a lot more developed than the ones from the Sixties, so it won’t spin wildly out of control if you turn off the power. But it still has that fun character, it rotates on entry, and the front wheels scamper to pull you to the other side. It’s an enjoyable little thing. I shouldn’t be surprised, though, since I’ve felt this way about every Mini I’ve driven.
Little Details
View this post on Instagram
Mini has always gotten the details right even if they’ve occasionally felt forced, overly British for the sake of being British. In this car, though, they’ve done a stellar job, particularly with the design.
It doesn’t look large, the update makes it appear squat and aggressive, without being bloated, which I think the last two generations were guilty of. This one, the John Cooper Works, adds some stripes and more aggressive styling, along with a single central exhaust pipe. Why add more? One is enough. Of course, Mini can’t really go nuts and try something totally different, since then it’ll have Brits rioting around the factory and calling for BMW’s head.
The interior is simply fantastic, a retro-futuristic take on the traditional Mini interior that just works. There’s creative use of fabrics on the dash and doors, something I haven’t seen and it’s so much better than the oceans of plastic and piano black that other automakers are using. The switches below the screen for the transmission, engine start, and modes are also toggles that hearken back to what was on the original Mini.
It’s dominated by the large, circular screen in the center of the dash that holds all the gauges and infotainment. It’s actually the only screen in the car; the gauges in front of the driver are done with a heads-up display. When you change the modes–or experiences, as Mini calls them–the screen also changes. So if you go into Go Kart mode, which is basically the sport button, the stereo lets out a Damon Albarn-esque WooHoo, you get gauges that show power delivery and more, the suspension is stiffer, and it adds fake burbles to the exhaust that come through the stereo, not outside. Ok, that last part kinda sucks.
However, there’s a mode that makes up for that. It’s called timeless and it shows gauges in a sepia tone that look like they’re out of a Mini in the Fifties. I love it, even more than the mode that lets you pretend to be a DJ. As cars get heavier and more complicated, it’s good to see Mini using tech in the pursuit of having a laugh.
Of course, none of this comes cheap. This is very much a premium car, and it comes with a premium price. That’s a problem. It’s considerably more expensive than the GR Corolla and Golf GTI, and touching the price of the Golf R and Civic Type R. If you’re simply looking for a fun hatch in the mid $40k range, there are options. It’s why I bought a Type R.
The biggest problem for the Hatch isn’t the Mini itself. It’s the car market. If you want a three-door hatch, it’s the only option, but buyers seem to believe they need three-row SUVs to drive their cat around on the weekend. That mentality needs to change. Hopefully, it will soon.
So THIS is what the GR Corolla competes with.
It’s all coming together…
Perhaps it’s because I’m older and a parent so my priorities have changed but at $40k+ I no longer get the hot hatch segment proposition. They’re fun, sure, but you’re pretty close to some serious performance vehicles. Heck, if you go slightly used you can get a V8 Mustang for LESS.
And I say this as someone who has owned both a Focus and Fiesta ST.
The slightly used argument sadly doesn’t work, because anyone looking for a slightly used GT would be comparing it to a slightly used JCW, not a new one. 40k isn’t as much as it used to be, sadly. The MX-5 is now 30k, 37 with all the options checked off. The Cooper doesn’t make much sense to people like us who buy used cars and occasionally upgrade them, but for the Mini (read: BMW) buyer, it’s not that bad of a deal, speaking in 2025 dollars. The JCW is a bit of a prestige trim, the base and S models are a bit more reasonable at 29 and 32k, being a more practical alternative to a GR86, with the benefit of the snazzy interior, cute design and some brand prestige.
Much like we may consider the JCW overpriced for its performance and practicality, there’s a segment of buyers out there that would be offended by the Mustang GT’s interior materials for the price. It really is a matter of inflation and personal priorities.
That said, I’d never buy a hot hatch with an automatic, and I expect the current gen of Cooper to have quite poor sales, as the non-existent market of people who want premium, sporty subcompacts with an automatic transmission and dead steering continues to be non-existent.
For that amount, I am going with a slightly used Civic-R.
Or a V8 Mustang! $40k is a lot of money for any car let alone a supped up luxury economy car.
I’m still stuck back in 2018.. I paid $40k for a brand new Camaro SS 1LE. Sold it for $42k near the end of Covid, figuring prices would drop and and I’d pick up a used one for under $30k in a few years.. nope.
I bet there’s no fill plug on the transmission. “Sealed for life. When it fails, that’s life.”
Cue Sinatra…
I was thinking Sanyo.
I have always been fond of the exterior of the BMW Mini. I have never been a fan of that “we made it all circles on a dare” dashboard look. Is that circled dash iconic or something because I always found it odd looking and a poor shape for the job at hand. I ask because that glued on tablet circle just looks bad.
I do love that new rear end though.
The original car only had one gauge right in the middle of the dash to make LHD conversions cheap, so they did the same with the early reboot. The transition to digital displays was… less than graceful.
“ The original Mini Cooper was introduced in 1959” The other day on an article, I commented about the mini Cooper in the headline shot next to donut marks on the pavement, and some one busted my ballz. WTF What is the real
Deal!
For decades the big London Motor Show that all the major British intros were was held in October and for some perverse reason the intros were somehow not next year’s model, thus very short runs of “1949” Jag XK120s and Morris Minors, “1959” Minis, etc.
So, if you want to be extra-pedantic, the original Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor launched in August,1959 (and were built until 2000). The Cooper variant of the original Mini was launched in 1961.
I mean, that’s exactly what I meant. Haha. Good stuff!
Fun, quirky little car. A neighbor down the road has an original RHD 1960’s Mini. I would love to see the size difference between that one and this one side by side.
Nice to see more Travis articles.
I want to like this latest Mini, but there is just something awkward about the front end proportions that turns me off to the design. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but both in photos and real life it just looks…odd, in a bad way. I also don’t understand the pricing, but that “not enough car for the money” has been a Mini problem for a long, long time.
For me it’s the taillights, they look too small for the rear of the car, like they’re squinting.
Well, now that you point it out, I can’t help but see what you mean and agree.
That also got me thinking about the front end, and I think what is bugging me is that the headlights are too small for immense grill, but alone the headlights are perhaps a tad too large for the rest of the car, creating an oddly front-heavy look that doesn’t carry through thr vehicle – especially at the rear where the lights are too small.
I think the body color grill with black outline on the Cooper S looks much better. It gives the illusion that the grill isn’t so large.
That single central exhaust looks so awful
So the thought occurred to me that the single exhaust could look better if they had used a square tip to sort of flow with all the lines and semi-rectangular shapes they molded into the bumper, but since they didn’t it looks goofy and not OEM.
The correct JCW is the R55 Clubman with the 6 speed.
These are good
What’s the point of a mini now? They were small and sharp when the first gen came out, now it’s a big glob of pork fat and you can’t see out of it.
hi tarvis
I’m by no means a horsepower above all buyer (I have an ND1), but I can’t see any reason to buy this over a VW GTI.
As a GTI owner, I can tell you if the Mini’s infotainment system like … works … at all, it’s a vast improvement.
The GTI is fun to drive but a pain in the ass to otherwise interact with.
We had some issues with the infotainment on my wife’s Tiguan so I understand.
No, that ALL sucks.
“Tech” solution looking for a problem.
I hope it can be turned off.
The really ironic thing about pumping a burble tune through the speakers is that modern burble tunes aren’t even real. They’re ECU programming that siphons off a little bit of fuel into the exhaust system so it ignites late and gives you the pops. So this is basically using technology to fake something that’s already using technology to fake something.
It’s just sad…and I say this as someone who dailies a car that came from the factory with a burble tune. I think it’s fun and hilarious, but it’s still fake as fuck.
500 pound! OOOF!
Another perfect example of how lack of competition is bad for the consumer. Camaro and Challenger die and look at what Ford did with Mustang pricing. Same thing here.
As a Mini owner for the last couple of years, I think they’re a hoot. Overpriced-ness aside, I’m glad they’re still being made. I suppose someone will pay those prices.
The S650 has been an abject disaster and the recent “let them eat cake” assed price cuts won’t save it. Even during Covid you could get an S550 GT off the lot for well under 40 grand, and that’s why they sold. Sure, they were sketchy base models, but isn’t that half the fun of a Mustang?
Anyway you can’t just turn around, sell the same damn car but uglier and with a worse infotainment system, charge $10,000+ more than people were used to paying for it, and go “it’s because of inflation”. It’s very clearly corporate greed, and the market agrees.
Anyway re: current Mini I think they’re kind of held up by well off empty nesters who want the first fun car they’ve had since their youth. You see them all over the place in nice suburbs, Ina Garten drives one if I’m not mistaken (she did just name her publicly released playlist after them), etc. Older folks with a lot of money who want a quirky but low key luxury product are into them.
And you know what? Fine by me. Drive what you want to drive and don’t worry about what anyone thinks….but for me as a mid 30s reasonably well off but not rich rich hot hatch enthusiast I definitely couldn’t justify spending well into the 40s and even 50s for one.
The faint screaming you hear while reading this article is the Fiat 500e, trying to remind you that it is also a 3-door hatchback for sale in the U.S.
Came to say the same, glad you remember that exists as well. Not many of us do haha.
So when anyone else does “everything on the screen” it’s awful, but this is good?
I don’t really care personally, I don’t mind screen controls, I just find the contrast to previous articles a bit jarring.
Right? It’s also funny that because of screen gauges we’re having another era of those 2000s central speedos like the Quest, Echo, Ion, etc. I bet you by 2030 the fad will be over and we’ll all look back and think about how cheap it looks to only have one screen in the car.
I don’t believe Travis is a full time writer for this site, he just contributes articles from time to time. As a result I’m not really surprised to see him not necessarily toe the line that the regulars do.
Good point. I’m used to group think on some of these topics and it’s probably not fair to always assume it.
Yeah, I know that British cars have a reputation for crummy thermal management, but that grill is ridiculous.
That’s how you know BMW owns them.
No thanks, a sort of neighbour is a mini fanatic, she has six mini coopers, ranging from standard to very very precise Paddy Hopkirk replica to ridiculously quick 2025 (largely Swiftune) race car. Ask her nicely and she will let you drive them, Hand her $40,000 and she will build one!
Ha! The woman in the condo across from mine has two Minis that fit in what is called a “two-car tandem garage,” but there’s no way I could get two Accords in it and still close the door. I don’t need two Accords, and I don’t know why she has two Minis, but there you go.
It’s $10k more than a base 3-door Cooper. The GR Corolla is $17k more than the base Corolla hatch. I think the base Cooper is the sweet spot, but for $40k, I’m taking the GR Corolla.
Honestly in this day and age I’m just happy that this still exists. I’m personally not going to nitpick a 3 door hot hatch with well executed retro-modern styling too much. It’s a cheerful car that doesn’t take itself too seriously. We need more of those.
Agree with you 100% on all counts
The only nit I will pick is the lack of a manual option. I am all for cars having autos when it makes sense. and nothing against them, but in a fun car it will always make me sad if there’s not an option for me to row my own gears. Especially something like this that is designed for fun at legal speeds.
RIP, manual transmissions 🙁
manual trannys are the best theft prevention available in this day and age! I mourn their demise, too.
I always hear this but I had a manual get stolen. I think it depends somewhat on the demographic of potential thieves, as a 30 to 50 year old tweaker looking for a spot to do drugs may be more likely to know how to drive stick than a 17 year old hooligan wanting to go for a joyride; at the same time however I feel like I know of many car-enthused youngsters who *are* able to row their own. I don’t know if I really have a strong point, but my stickshift did get yoinked.
Sorry to hear that your car got stolen. Your probably spot on about the thieves demographics. I’m pretty confident none of the Kia Boyz know how to drive a stick.
I drove my parents 2024 JCW Mini over the weekend and it is a riot. The Sport mode changes the feel and sound of the engine idle, and it has proper bangs and pops as it shifts through the gears. It’s not the fastest car, but it feels fast at legal speeds.
I think it’s a stretch to call this the ‘fourth generation’ Mini hatch. Yes, it’s a very deep refresh (to the point of including a new dash structure) but it is still fundamentally a heavy facelift of the third-generation car — to the point that the convertible even retains the old taillights as a cost saving measure.
The Mini e is properly the 4th-generation car.