Premium brands tend to be snobbish. Perhaps it’s part of the marketing allure to attract the haves as opposed to the have-nots; perhaps they do it simply because they can. But sometimes the bean counters who control the marketing budgets realise that maybe the cuzzies buying the thousands of Polos every month may be worth attracting to their bottom line.
Mini, in my opinion, is a premium brand. And bottom-line decisions like this realise the creation of products like the Mini One on test here – which not only hits the value bulls-eye but goes straight through.
Let’s start with the price, which is obvious was the brief to the product planners. Even after all of South Africa’s import and various other taxes, you can now buy a Mini for under two hundred grand – R198 000 for the manual – which is almost a hundred grand cheaper than the Mini Cooper S and 30k less than the standard Cooper.
What does the money saving mean in terms of fit and finish? Not too much visually, actually. The grille slats, door mirrors, tailgate handle and wheels are finished in black.
The exhaust doesn’t get a fancy tailpipe, and the roof only comes in the colour of the rest of the body. There’s only one physical change on the inside, and that’s the two-spoke steering wheel, but I’ve seen that wheel in other Coopers too.
The reality then is that the Mini One doesn’t look stripped out or cheapened. The wheels looked okay – I was actually surprised that they were 15-inches in size.
On the inside the cabin has no distinguishing branding, and like I said earlier is pretty much the same as in its siblings. Look closer and you’ll notice a few unmarked buttons where fancier options would live. But there’s still a button marked DSC meaning traction control is standard, as is a tyre runflat indicator and six airbags.
Other safety nets include disc brakes all round, ABS with EBD, Cornering Brake Control, Brake Assist, and Hill Assist.
The traditional grandfather-clock styled central speedometer is there, as are all the usual silver switches for the windows and central locking, and the rev counter above the steering wheel. The CD player and aircon are basic, but no different to those in entry-level Coopers.
The only thing that annoyed me was the lack of an on-board computer to check things like range and consumption. The cluster housing this is already there, as are the stalks with the button that lets you access other information. Surely a little microchip that extends the functionality can’t cost all that much?
Mechanically the Mini One is identical to the Cooper – the same 1.6-litre naturally-aspirated engine, the same suspension setup, and the same 6-speed manual gearbox (six-speed auto is a sixteen-grand option). But power’s reduced from 90kW/160Nm to 72kW/153Nm, which the carmaker justifies with lower emission levels and a claimed consumption of 5.4l/100km. Which is hogwash as our test car averaged 7.5l/100km.
The snip on power is a unnecessary move if you ask me as it doesn’t save the carmaker a physical cent (it’s just detuned through the software according to BMW SA), and handicaps the car in terms of performance. I reckon the real money-saving sacrifices in terms of the different finishes should have been enough.
The best 0-100km/h time we managed at our test facility was 13.3 seconds. And strictly speaking once you hinder performance in this way, you should in theory relook at the gear ratios.
There seemed to be a short flat spot when taking off, and the long gearing had the car feeling sluggish and heavy. You can avoid this to an extent, but it means more stirring of the ‘box for lower gears than I’d like.
The rest of the mechanical package is proper Mini, and I think I’d stick my neck out and say there’s nothing costing under two hundred grand in our price guide which will out handle the Mini One. Thankfully the brain surgeons stayed away from the suspension and steering, and terms like “go-kart” and “riding on rails” – which we’ve used to describe other Coopers – still apply here.
VERDICT:
Mini has taken the fight to mass market carmakers like VW and Ford, meaning that if you’re in the market for cars like the VW Polo and the Ford Fiesta there’s officially a new player on the block.
Aside from being a little underpowered the Mini One is every bit as Mini as its siblings, making it very decent value. -Star Motoring