The MINI hatchback range which went on sale in the spring of this year, a dozen years after the first of the BMW-owned cars arrived, extends further in all dimensions than any of its predecessors, a fact that has brought back into play suggestions that it has the wrong name and should really be known as the Maxi.It's now over twelve and a half feet long, but the interior space might lead you to believe it's quite a bit shorter. Rear passenger room isn't much further from zero than it was before, and while there has been a 28% increase in luggage capacity with the back seats in place the resulting 211 litres is still well short of what you get in the much smaller Hyundai i10 or Volkswagen up!Other changes are more welcome. MINI has abandoned the idea of including a speedometer in the large, circular display mounted centrally on the dashboard, even though the display in question is meant to echo that very dial in Minis of half a century ago. In the last generation, the damn thing was unreadable, so you had to look at the digital readout straight in front of you instead. Now there's a proper analogue readout mounted in much the same place.The circular display is now devoted to providing information of less immediate importance, including, in this case of the Cooper S, a digital version of the entire owner's manual. It takes a bit of working out, but it's very impressive once you've got the hang of it.There are changes in the positioning of the minor controls too. Most helpfully of all, the switches to operate the electric windows are now mounted in the doors, where they should be, rather than in front of the gearlever. I prefer this arrangement, and a friend who owns an older MINI and finds the earlier placement to be the most annoying thing about the whole car tells me he prefers it too.The two-litre petrol engine in the Cooper S produces a maximum of 189bhp, which contributes to a top speed of 146mph and a 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds. What really matters, though, is that all that power is available at a relatively low 4700rpm, and a substantial amount of it is already at your disposal from just 1500.As a result, you can accelerate hard if you want to, but you can also pootle around gently in a higher gear if you'd rather do that. If you want your powerful supermini to be a frenetic, fussy little thing, you're not going to think much of the Cooper S, but for me this is the way they should be.The famous handling characteristics are not what they once were. There's a softer edge to them, and the front end isn't quite as well controlled as might be the case. It's all reasonably smooth and comfortable, though, and the tail is nearly as eager to follow the rest of the car round a corner as it ever was.You can switch to a firmer suspension setting if you like, but after trying this a couple of times I ignored the option for the rest of the test. All that happens is that the front goes from being slightly underdamped to slightly undersprung, which isn't much of an advance.The official line that the MINI offers "go-kart like handling" (not a term that serious kart racers will ever have been happy with) is less relevant than it used to be. Still, the Cooper S is good fun to drive, and before altering the suspension I think I'd be concentrating on improving the gearchange, which on this car was too notchy and unpleasant.The cornering ability means you don't have to work the engine hard to make good time, which can in turn lead to decent economy. I averaged 42.5mpg on this test (the trip computer said 43.3) and that's not bad for something that could reasonably be described as a hot hatch.As it stands, the Cooper S isn't as much of a thrill-provider as its predecessors, but it remains one of the most precisely handling cars of its type on the road, while also being surprisingly civil. And while I wish MINI could have made a better job of the packaging, I'd be the first to admit that there are many potential customers who won't see this as being particularly important. Engine 1998cc, 4 cylinders Power 189 Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 49.6mpg / 133g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 6.8 seconds Top speed 146mph Price £18,650 Details correct at publication date
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