New Mini Cooper India review, test drive

We've already driven the new Mini twice this year, once in sunny Puerto Rico, and then again in the UK earlier last month. Nothing however beats driving the India specification car on Indian roads.

What is it?

The car we have is a canary yellow Cooper. And it’s got a diesel engine under the hood. Mini wants to cash in on the craze for diesels among luxury hatchback buyers and that’s whom this one’s aimed at. This one’s 1.5-litre, three-cylinder engine makes 114bhp. While Mini will launch both the three and five door versions here, this three door is easily the more attractive of the two. What makes it so 'right', of course, is the combination of the fantastic neo retro design and the chunky cube like appeal of the car.

The upright cabin and squat stance give it the sort of presence not possessed by any other small car, and the typical Mini details add a lot to the look of the car too. All the traditional design elements are present: the hexagonal grille, round headlights, clamshell bonnet, upright windscreen, floating roof and the continuous band of chrome at the base of the cabin. On the new car, the surfacing is now tauter, and there's also a new sense of precision to the lines. The easiest way to identify the new Mini, however, is to look for the semi circular LEDs that run around the headlights. The new Mini sits on a new high-strength steel platform, called UKL, and it gets a wider track, and a new MacPherson strut type suspension at the front. Also revised is the rear multi-link rear suspension, that helps give it greater agility.