Marking its fourth generation, the Mini Cooper embarks on a journey where it doesn’t forget where it came from in somewhat keeping up with its tradition of being a small hatchback but with a welcomed modernized flare. Such a flare is elevated to new heights as the Mini Cooper S captivates its occupants with unique and clever tech that literally surrounds its new circular infotainment screen while offering up zippy performance that further entices some excitement.

Performance and Driving Character

The Mini brand has always been about unleashing cheeky fun out of a rather small package and that theme continues in the redesigned Mini Cooper. For the Cooper S you get a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that outputs 201 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque through a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Powering the front wheels the Mini Cooper S makes for a lively, action packed little ‘thing’ that often begs of you to push it harder, just like they do in the Italian Job. While you’re hopefully not out to commit illegal theft activities coupled with Hollywood style vehicular stunts on public roads, the Mini Cooper S is there to appease many senses where it feels as if it is stronger than what is stated on paper, which may pay homage to the collective of BMW engineering.

Riding on 18-inch wheels wrapped with Pirelli Cinturato P7 215/40R-18 Y tires, the Mini Cooper S is grippy and feels confident out on the road. The steering often feels light just off center and occasionally exhibits a taste of torque steer. Ride quality is good except for a sudden reverbing bounce that the rear carries through moderate road undulations and rises. It’s possible that opting for the John Cooper Works Style package, which adds adaptive damper control, the Mini Cooper S may feel better planted and can smooth out such road imperfections. Regardless, there’s a special nimble quality that remains in the small but somewhat tall-statured Mini Cooper S tipping the scale at 2,991 pounds for its curb weight.

Power from the turbocharged 4-cylinder engine is strong and seems to let loose when you select the clever Go-Kart drive mode, which plays on the character of a Go-Kart in its drive quality. Select such a mode and enable the Sport Plus setting and you’re prone to breaking the front wheels loose upon the automated launch control and barking through the second gear shift. It’s really fun, trust me – the part where onlookers stare you down as if you’re doing something illegal like loading up a trunk full of gold bars. In all, the Mini Cooper S is a fun little package that makes a dash to 60 mph from a standstill in 5.8 seconds.

Fuel Economy

The Mini Cooper S, as you may expect, sips on gas to match its EPA estimates of 28 mpg city, 39 mpg highway, and 32 mpg combined. There are often times you’ll see 40 mpg or slightly higher on the highway cruising just below 60 mph. Otherwise, the 11.6-gallon tank full of recommended premium fuel will offer a range of up to 452 miles of highway cruising.

Interior and Technology

The cabin of the new Mini Cooper S has been reworked somewhat to do away with the traditional gauge pod in front of the driver making due with a glass panel color head-up display and the rather large 9.4-inch circular infotainment touchscreen, which doubles to display important vehicle information. The circular touchscreen display is the main attraction of the interior after get over the fabric laced dashboard. The screen houses a new take on just a reworking of BMW’s iDrive setup. Instead, it has more of a customized integration of its core features that even after a week of playing around never feels under friendly or even natural.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say the infotainment system of the new Mini Cooper is bad, but its quirkiness is enough to frustrate you even after a valid attempt at going through a long learning curve. The menu sets are often confusing for bringing up commonly used features, such as the radio functions. Mini still brings many BMW traits of the system to the surface with an abundance of vehicle feature icons. Even those can often become confusing for when you want to land on a certain feature, such as the surprising offer of having a massaging driver’s seat function – you’ll need to press several times to reach such a setting. Fortunately, you do have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, which fits nicely nestled into the center of the round touchscreen.

Where the Mini Cooper S may make up for its somewhat cumbersome but unique and colorful infotainment system is keeping with a tradition of serving up ample space up front. The front heated seats are supportive and surprisingly comfy for most. There’s plenty of room for people over 6-feet tall and a good amount of adjustability to find a good driving or sitting position. Moreover, there are unique touches and clever customization features, such as the ability to change the LED pixel pattern of the taillights or toggle the physical flip switches for the drive mode or turning ignition. There’s a lot of cuteness here that I am all for!

For the obvious compromise, the back seats are mostly useless except for smaller children and maybe your odd grown friend who likes a challenge. Continuing that space compromise, as this is after all a MINI, the cargo area is limited as well with just 8.9 cubic feet of space to work with.

Safety

There are plentiful active safety features bringing the expected suite of functions in addition to having some autonomy through the active driving assistant feature, which is an extension of adaptive cruise control and the lane keeping system. Otherwise, you have a the typical blind spot monitor, lane departure warning/keep assist, forward collision warning/emergency braking, rear cross-traffic warning/automatic braking, and a welcomed 360-degree surround camera system with 3D viewing angles. For a such a small vehicle, the Mini Cooper S remains relatively safe.

Price

Probably the most appealing aspect of the new Mini Cooper S is its pricing, which starts at $32,200 ($28,950 for the base Mini Cooper) giving you a decently packaged vehicle with many welcomed features. My nicely equipped Mini Cooper S Signature Plus test vehicle comes to $38,295 for an ‘action’ packed MINI package that recreates the traditional theme of a Mini Cooper in a modern tech-savvy world.