MINI had a terrible string of bad luck lately. Sales haven’t been doing great before we heard about all this Coronavirus madness and the company was hoping that the new MINI Cooper SE would help in that regard. From the beginning, there was a huge interest in the car right.
But, unfortunately, right when it went on sale, dealerships worldwide were forced to close. It’s quite a shame too as the new electric MINI is quite fun to drive.
The review posted below features a familiar face if you’ve been watching as many car reviews as I have over the years. That’s Rebecca Jackson, a well-known journalist and racer from the UK who used to do reviews wit Mat Watson not long ago.
She is now doing what she loves for Car Gurus and delivers a rather on-point review of the MINI Cooper SE, which is praised for its intuitive and easy to drive feeling. One thing that sets it apart from its competition is the one-pedal driving feature.
This was a first on the BMW i3, when it was launched, back in 2014. It’s a means of recuperating a lot of energy whenever you’re not accelerating. The regenerative braking is so powerful, the stop lights turn on, whenever you don’t have your foot on the go-faster pedal.
It does take a bit of taking used to it but on the long run, it’s actually a pretty useful feature and it helps maximize the range offered by the battery pack.
As for the way the MINI Cooper SE drives when you’re not trying to be economical, according to Rebecca, it’s a better experience than in the i3, mostly because of your driving position. Whereas in the i3 you sit up high and the car feels tall, the MINI feels planted and a lot more in control.
Too bad it’s heavier by about 100 kilos and 145 kilos compared to the Cooper S.