August 15, 2003
YEEE-OUCH!
I’ve been Texed. In defence of the Cooper, it does produce 125 horsepower, which should be sufficient to keep the estrogen somewhere below breast-development level. In fact, I suspect women will be drawn to the Mini. Probably, given my driving record, they will be policewomen.
Posted by Tim Blair at August 15, 2003 01:28 AM"it does produce 125 horsepower"
It's amazing what they can do with elastics these days.
Posted by: Bruce Rheinstein at August 15, 2003 at 02:27 AMThe Cooper makes the PT Cruiser seem respectable by comparison. It's even worse than the new Beetle.
Posted by: Roger Bournival at August 15, 2003 at 04:00 AMThe Cooper is fun to drive but I'm not sure I'd give it the dignity of the title "car". Perhaps "street-legal go-kart".
Posted by: LabRat at August 15, 2003 at 08:12 AMDoes it come with any bumper stickers? You know, like "Proud parents of a vegan honor student"?
Please say it's supercharged. Please say that you're not snuggly-wuggling with your wittle itty bittle furry teddy bears, biting your pillow, and wondering how many bags of groceries it'll carry.
Please say it ain't so!
Your pal,
bob
Posted by: bob at August 15, 2003 at 08:58 AMWhere, exactly, did you get those power figures Tim? 125hp? Am more realistice figure would be around 80-90, maybe 100 at the most. I'll have to check the web.
Posted by: Jake D at August 15, 2003 at 09:31 AMWell, well, according to mini.uk.co the cooper make 85kw @6000rpm, which according to these guys ->
http://www.turbonetics.com.au/ATS_info_conversion.htm
converts to about 113.98HP/115.56 metric hp [I think this is the same as PS (pferder sterke, i cannot spell in german to save my life)which tranlates from the german as "horse power"]
So more than I gave credit for but less than the 125hp the salesman probably told Tim.
It's like with cheese. I like Gouda, my mate Sil likes Wensleydale.
Mind you, they're all pretty good.
Posted by: F1 at August 15, 2003 at 10:38 AMI was in Bali in 1975 and a Kingswood hardly made it to Ubud.
Posted by: Prick at August 15, 2003 at 11:07 AMDon't listen to them, Tim! I drive the old skool Mini ('77 model), and it goes like a rat up a drainpipe... and it's not even a Cooper! From everything I've read I believe the nu skool Mini continues the legend.
It's also timely to remember the Law of Inverse Proportion that applies to men who drive small cars. There's a reason why some of us NEED to drive, say, E-type Jags, and some of us don't.
Posted by: Andrew D. at August 15, 2003 at 11:27 AMMINI is "the car of the year."
Charles Austin: Get stuff @ the MINI shop!
Cheers!
Martin Lindeskog
Gothenburg, Sweden.
If you think that Cooper makes better beer than cars there is no way I am getting in a mini. I wouldn't give Coopers beer to my worst enemy.
Posted by: Razor at August 15, 2003 at 12:46 PMMartin
I am also fond of Herrgardsost from your country.
Nice pickup, pooh!
Erm... so does Crown.
Posted by: Big Ramifications at August 15, 2003 at 02:26 PMPiss on Cooper. Piss on Mazda. This is the car I'm looking for.
Also looking for a way to afford it.
Posted by: Ken Summers at August 15, 2003 at 03:09 PMWhen are you going to road-test the Daihatsu Terios? It even has a clip on the dash for your handbag strap.
Posted by: Habib Bickford at August 15, 2003 at 03:45 PMPeople, people! Please! The Cooper really isn't that girly at all. Not compared to the Mazda MX-5 which Mr Blair usually drives. Now _that_'s girly!
Posted by: Jorge at August 15, 2003 at 04:38 PMPer their Canadian website Mini Coopers have 115 hp. Not sure where that puts the estrogen level, but Tim may want to throw a bra in the glove box just in case. Although they do top out at 200 km/h with the stick, so meeting lady cops is still a possibility.
Posted by: Sean E at August 16, 2003 at 02:00 AMMy sister is determined to buy one here in the US.... Maybe I should send her to this site, so she may see the error of her thoughts, which I can't seem to get through to her.
Posted by: Torin at August 16, 2003 at 04:42 AM