“Offered
a drive of the revolutionary
electric-powered
‘million
buck MINI’ — the MINI
E — Iain Robertson didn’t
hesitate. And, keeping to the eco-
spirit of the event, he chose to drive
to Munich instead of fly. So what
better choice of eco-wheels for his
mad, 48-hour Munich-and-back dash
than the latest eco-friendly MINI
Cooper D...”
MY FIRST REACTION to the invite to the once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive
the revolutionary electric-powered 'million buck MINI'
in Munich* was an air-punching 'Yes'… almost immediately followed
by the far less appealing thought of the usual 'Heathrow Hassle'
followed by an uneventful CO2-rich Channel-hop aboard a German-bound jet. *Click
to read the MINI E review.
But why fly when you can drive? Instead, why not drive to Munich from my Lincoln
home and back? And the vehicle of choice? What more appropriate, in these stringent
economic times, than an eco-friendly car — which is how I came to find
myself at the wheel of the latest specification Mini Cooper D en-route to Germany.
Departing Lincoln at 04:15 on a Tuesday morning, my navigator/photographer and
I reached the Ferry Port of Dover in time to catch the 07:45 P&O ferry for the
90-minute crossing to Calais. Despite a slight reduction in headroom due to
my test Cooper D being equipped with the optional twin glass sunroof, the MINI
remains an excellent driving package for two people. Our arrival at Calais,
in glorious winter sunshine, was bang on our predicted ETA of 10:15am.
Driving north towards Belgium, and knowing that we would be too late on the
return trip, a brief shopping pit-stop was called for at Adenkirke. Our journey
continued at midday, past Brussels and on to a snow-blanketed Aachen (Holland)
and then into Germany (near Cologne) to make our tally of five countries by
mid-afternoon a reality. Germany, happily, is still home to several non-restricted
autobahns, where the full extent of the Mini Cooper D's performance could be
legally exploited.
While the MINI is renowned for its agility, poor Belgian road surfaces did generate
some head-jarring suspension-crashing moments. However, once on the Germany
motorways, the MINi was quickly cruising at a comfortable 90-100mph while returning
a still-outstanding 47mpg from its diesel engine.
Last year, MINI's owner BMW took advantage of its relationship with the French
PSA Group to install both its petrol and diesel units beneath the clamshell
bonnets of its cars. That fitted to the Cooper D I was driving is the same,
excellent 110bhp unit that powers the Peugeot 207 1.6 HDi and is, consequently,
not disadvantaged in any way.
So good is the rate of progress that — apart from the very slowest of overtaking
trucks on the two-lane stretches of the German autobahns — I scarcely needed
to shift out of 6th gear for most of that country's well-maintained roads. The
torque delivery (177lb ft) of the 1.6-litre unit is so strong from little more
than 1,200rpm that downshifts were unnecessary. Travelling at 100mph equates
to a little less than 3,000rpm, which means that refinement is not a negative
issue. I did, on a few occasions, touch the maximum. Yet the engine never felt
less than willing and the economy figure did not drop below 45mpg (against the
official combined cycle figure of 72.4mpg). For the record, the MINI D is said
to return 60.1 on the urban cycle and 80.7mpg touring.
When you consider that the unit emits 104g/km of CO2 from its tailpipe (Band
B and a £35 annual road tax charge), my test MINI transport was not only one
of the lowest running-cost motorcars sold in the UK, but also among that class
of low-CO2 runners that have become exceedingly popular, particularly during
the current economic downturn.
Rather astonishingly, despite the sub-zero temperatures, not even a severe snowfall
in the hilly Eifel Region had much impact on our progress and we reached Munich
in the south of the country by 21:00pm.
An interesting attentiveness to winter motoring can be seen in the use of tyres
across Europe. While our MINI slithered and felt slightly edgy on some snow-covered
roads, some ordinarily less stable cars seemed to breeze past us without problems
— due to our Euro-cousins thinking 'Winter' at this time of the year and
replacing their summer-time alloy wheels with a set of alternative (usually
steel) rims clad with Winter-spec tyres. Although looking broadly similar to
summer covers, a change of rubber compound and self-cleaning treads (these eject
any build-up of snow/ice in the blocks) means that they are better suited to
wintry weather and there are far less issues blighting progress — as tends
to happen in the UK, with our usual first snowfall of the year inevitably bringing
the nation's roads to a standstill. About time we Brits started taking our winters
as seriously.
After testing the MINI E, the return journey proved equally uneventful, although
torrential rain accompanied us across Europe for almost 450 miles. Even so,
the economy figure crept up to 48.9mpg — a measure of our slower and more
safety conscious progress. However, despite departing Munich at around 14:30,
we still reached Calais at 23:00 in time for a short wait because 'rough seas'
had delayed the P&O ferry crossing back to Dover.
The Mini Cooper D never missed a beat. Its wipers cleared immense quantities
of water from its screens front and rear and its 17-inch, 45-profile tyres gave
no cause for lost grip concerns during most stages of the trip. Despite its
premium-economy leanings, the MINI Cooper D served up decent performance (0-62mph
in 9.9 seconds/121mph) and, when we re-emerged from the car, 1,860 miles later
back in Lincolnshire at 04:00am on the Thursday, we were tired but, more than
anything, impressed! — Iain Robertson
MINI Cooper D | £14,120
Maximum speed: 121mph | 0-62mph: 9.9 seconds
Overall test MPG: 48.9mpg | Power: 110bhp | Torque: 177lb ft
CO2 104g/km | VED Band B £35 | Insurance group 8
“Offered
a drive of the revolutionary