It might sit at odds with its custodian, but the latest arrival to our fleet has put a spell on him
DENIAL is an odd thing. I’m not one for drawing attention to myself or hurling fast cars into bends with a whinnying of tyres, but I’m finding myself inextricably drawn to a car that lures you into doing these very things; the Mini Cooper Coupé John Cooper Works.
That red roof, with complementing wing mirror caps and racing stripes, allied to off-white paintwork is means it’s fair to say that ‘my’ Mini is far from what you’d describe as subtle. But, given the car’s unabashed sportscar packaging; just two seats in a very snug cabin, such go-faster addenda is fitting enough. One aspect of the Coupé’s packaging that has proved most welcome is a surprisingly practical boot that has already managed to shoulder a couple of cases of red during a trip out to the winelands without protest.
Driving the JCW is brings forth an odd mixture of self-consciousness and huge feel-good factor, in equal measure. Being so small, brightly liveried it elicits the odd squirm of awkwardness. But its terrier-after-a-rat agility somehow goads you into leaping off your sofa at seemingly inopportune times to track down a twisty back road with gusto and, with a prod of the sport button, it announces your presence with a surprisingly vocal crack and splutter of exhaust. The ride, which we seemed to remember as being jackhammer-hard in a number of JCWs, is firm but only becomes crashy when encountering broken surfaces at speed.
Our memories of copious trim creaks and rattles, however, were accurate. It’s a shame, especially given the Mini’s premium label and our example’s low mileage, and hopefully won’t worsen over time.
The generously kitted example that has found its way into our fleet is the first of our four Mini long-termers to come equipped with the firm’s Connected infotainment and sat-nav system. Essentially a mildly watered-down version of BMW’s iDrive, the Mini’s version is suitably easy to navigate and pair with both Android and Apple phones. Its refusal to stream audio from a 160 Gb iPod Classic- especially annoying as the files and album art are displayed – is a black spot against what is otherwise a very neat set-up. A visit to the local Mini dealership that hopefully won’t end in the purchase of an expensive connector cable will be on the cards soon.
It has already tackled a couple of lengthy day trips to the likes of Hermanus, Grabouw and Stellenbosch, but it remains to be seen how this fun-lover fares on a longer haul.
QUICK FACTS:
Mileage on arrival (km): 270
Mileage at update (km): 2 381
Fuel consumption (litres/100 km): 7,9
We like: Agility; strong, flexible powerplant; sheer feel-good factor, intuitive infotainment system
We don’t like: occasionally crashy ride, trim creaks already evident, iPod connectivity not happening
