Our first go in the new 2024 Mini: 'As Mini embraces digital and electric, thank goodness it still pulls out all the dynamic stops' 🏁
► The brand is going back to basics
But is that just skin deep or does it reflect a return to classic Mini eagerness? To find out, six months ahead of launch, we’ve driven an early Cooper SE on a test track and over a one-hour mountain road loop through Salzburg and Tyrol., so we’ll leave how it looks to you. But here are some stats: It’s still front-wheel drive. Its 53kWh battery needs to be recharged every 250 miles or so in real life. The initial consumption works out at a punchy 4.4 miles per kWh.
Inside, the redesigned seats are comfortable and generously adjustable, but long-legged drivers may have a problem with the wide, low-mounted toggle bar. Although the three-spoke steering-wheel is studded with pushbuttons and multi-mode switches, the main interface is the notably larger freestanding round touchscreen accessible to driver and passenger. It’s complex, yet anyone who can handle a smartphone should be able to master it.
Front-wheel drive is of course a limiting factor through a solitary super-tight 180º bend, but as soon as the 243lb ft of instant torque grab the tyres, the compact crackerjack picks up speed quickly and keeps accelerating seamlessly until that blind right-hander calls for a change of direction, velocity and balance. This is fun, and we’re still only going seven-tenths.
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