Well last night I ended up with a lift home from a friend in his Mini Cooper D. Having owned one of the last every original coopers produced I'd always scoffed at new Mini's, thinking they'd be nothing like the old version and nowhere near as fun.

Last night I got a shock. What an amazing little car, it gripped, gripped and then gripped some more! Looking at the stats they're slower than the Fabia VRS but it didn't feel it at all and if anything over this drive (windy through the Peak district), I had the feeling the Mini would win hands down. It reminded me of just how poor the suspension is on the Furbie in comparison.

Does anybody know how these behave long term being a smaller capacity diesel engine? They're out of my price range atm but I would be seriously tempted in a year or so!

(anyone own both?)

Try sending a PM to Chris GB as he has had one for the past year as a driving instruction car.

Next door neighbour is a huge fan . They have had the Toyota engined version for a couple of years and replaced it with the Peugeot engined version which they said was much better in both performance and fuel consumption.

Being over 6ft I was sceptical about how they woud drive but pleasantly suprised at how planted they feel. Certainly well put together and have the fun factor for sure.

They have just ordered the SD version which essentially has the same engine as a BMW 118D and once again a big improvement on its predecessor.

Think that because of all these model changes it makes buying secondhand a good proposition as there are plenty to choose from and obviously prices reflect that.

We tend to have clutches go on them and the rear anti roll bar bushes wear causing a clunking noise the new diesel engine is much better than that Peugeot French crap it's the same engine out of the 118d but put in tranverse also goes much better

We tend to have clutches go on them and the rear anti roll bar bushes wear causing a clunking noise the new diesel engine is much better than that Peugeot French crap it's the same engine out of the 118d but put in tranverse also goes much better

The 118 engined models will remain out of my price bracket for a while though I'd reckon. Drove the same road home today myself: The VRS certainly wins on all out acceleration and performance but it felt poor in the corners...

The 118 engined models will remain out of my price bracket for a while though I'd reckon. Drove the same road home today myself: The VRS certainly wins on all out acceleration and performance but it felt poor in the corners...

RARB might help if you don't already have one? Would save a few grand

Suppose it is no match for something that corners properly "out of the box" though.

Edited 9 June, 201115 yr by mark.r.cullen

I also looked quite heavily into the Mini Diesels at the end of last year.

Yes the BMW engine is the business, but like you I couldn't stretch for it's over inflated price.

The Toyota engine found in the Mini One D isn't as refined as that of the Peugeot, (in the driving sense) and just felt a bit rough around the edges.

Honestly the Peugeot isn't as bad as mentioned previously, the biggest plus for me was parts / servicing costs as there's lots of cars with that particular engine in (have a look on Wikipedia).

On a bit of a tangent what you'd save on the Peugeot engined Mini you could get it remaped (which makes it at least equal to standard BMW engine) and still have money in your pocket.

Edited 10 June, 201115 yr by ickleginge

Not sure about the D, but I've shown many a fast car a clean set of heels around the bends in a new mini one.

Sure they'll go past on the straight, but I don't think that matters as it's no slouch and is great fun to drive.