6DR 2.0 Cooper S ALL4 6dr

Great fun to drive yet still ticks the family box

I bought this car used, my previous few cars have been beat up load luggers as I have a motorbike for my speed fix. Thought I'd spend a bit more for something up to date this time. Mini initially want even on the radar, saw mine for sale by chance and 2 days later the deal was done. I've been genuinely surprised by this car, the interior, build and paint quality are absolutely fantastic. It comfortably handles the kids, dog and mountain bikes along with all the associated junk that goes with them. Mine came with chilli, comfort access and jcw sport packs so it's loaded with some great features like contactless rear hatch opening for when you're loaded down with junk and the key is in your pocket. From a performance point of view it was pretty nippy, but I got it remapped within a week and now it feels much quicker and really woke the car up.
Handling is superb, I felt the TC could be a bit intrusive but then learned about dynamic mode on the forums which again totally changed the characteristics of how the car dishes it's power out in a really positive way. I'm glad I went for the all4 model, when you're pressing on a bit (which you will be, the car goads you into it) and feel the front begin drifting into understeer there's an almost imperceptible redistribution of power to the rear nudging the front back onto line again. Oh and then there's rev matching on the downshifts which is a great feature if you're not well practiced with heel and toe. When you're not in the mood there's eco mode which calms and quietens everything down making it quite a relaxing place to cover the miles.
The only downsides I've found are lack of wiper intermittent function in manual setting (annoying), reverse gear has a weird friction gate you have to push through (much prefer a lift collar or similar), and fuel economy- she's a thirsty beast when in sport mode (which I am most of the time as I'm immature and love the turbo flutter and exhaust popping and banging which it only does in sport mode) and whilst it's better since the remap it's still not great.
All in all I'm really happy with the car and an finding it a really enjoyable thing to drive and own

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