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By Jonathan Crouch

The latest MINI Cooper S serves as a timely reminder that a new car needn't have the fun engineered out of it. Jonathan Crouch reports.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 78

The improved MINI Cooper S is still one of the market's most engaging small hot hatches thanks to its hard-hitting 2.0-litre engine, its talented chassis and the fact that a big helping of fun inbuilt from the ground up. It'll get to 62mph in 6.6 seconds, has an exhaust note that's pure naughtiness and is sure to continue to win plenty of fans. It's even reasonably priced, as long as you don't get too carried away with options.

Backgroundword count: 118

The MINI Cooper S has long been an exercise in artful compromise, looking to occupy that sweet spot between the warmish Cooper and the incandescent Cooper S JCW. As a result, it's often been the best pick for those who aren't likely to subject their car to a race circuit and instead just want a MINI that's entertainingly quick without incurring huge running costs in the process. The third generation MINI range launched in 2014 saw this Cooper S derivative gain an all-new 2.0-litre turbocharged engine and become a bigger, better finished car than before. That's helped this MINI to make a case for itself against talent like the Ford Fiesta ST. Now, this variant's been subtly improved.

Driving Experienceword count: 218

Since this third generation Cooper S variant was launched in 2015, this hot hatch MINI derivaive has stepped up its game. Of course it needed to given that even a humble MINI Cooper these days has a perky 1.5-litre turbo engine that can spirit it from rest to 62mph in 8.1 seconds. Hence the requirement for the 2.0-litre 178hp four cylinder turbo unit that was inserted into MK3 model versions of his variant and which can now drive through a more sophisticated 7-speed Steptronic auto gearbox with paddleshifters - you can no longer have a 6-speed manual stick shift. We miss that manual, which used to feature a rev-matching mode on downshifts so it sounded like you had the most flawless heel and toe technique. As before, this powerplant certainly shifts a bit, thanks to the MINI's light weight and the fact that this unit develops 280Nm of torque from just 1,250rpm. This engine loves to be revved and, in its 'Sport' mode, it even puts a few crackles into the exhaust note on the over-run. This Cooper S dispatches the sprint to 62mph in 6.6 seconds and runs on to 146mph. This 2.0-litre lump is much the same as that we've seen in the BMW 1, 3 and 5-series, although here it's mounted crossways in the car.

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