The Mini Cooper is an e-ticket carnival ride that can dry out wet pavement with its excellent handling. The shortest car on the road, it can be parked in the smallest of places. Yet it seats four, with surprisingly roomy back seats, and it can carry a generous amount of cargo. Its bulldog stance still generates smiles, four years after its introduction as a 2002 model.
Engineered by BMW, the Mini Cooper is a high-quality piece of equipment, as solid as any German sedan. And it boasts a multitude of passive and active safety systems.
Convertibles were added to the lineup for 2005. At the same time, all models were enhanced with new interior lighting, storage space and trim options, plus revised headlamps and tail lamps and a new grille. New manual gearboxes with revised gearing delivered improved acceleration for both the Cooper and Cooper S, and the S received a slight bump in horsepower.
For 2006, a new Checkmate trim package with exclusive interior and exterior modifications is now being offered for sedan models. And the John Cooper Works performance package can now be ordered as a factory-installed option or as a dealer-installed option. next page