The MINI Experience

The MINI Experience

The Mini Cooper S.. the most iconic car to come out of Britain. Before I start with my experience with the Cooper S, let me give you a brief history lesson. Pictures courtesy: Google Images

Released in 1959, the original Mini, designed by Six Alex Issigonis was meant to be a 2 door 4 cylinder efficient city runabout for the British Motor Company. The car was commissioned in response to a fuel shortage and it was the first front wheeled drive car which led to a lot of space inside the cabin. At around 3m long it was extremely good for the increasingly crowded city. This small car then caught the eye of John Cooper of the Cooper car company. He launched the Mini Cooper in 1963 with a 848cc engine and the Cooper S with a 1071cc engine. This was when the Mini was introduced to the world of rallying. Now you may be wondering what a 70hp car with a 0-100 time of around 13 seconds will do around the bigger engine monsters. Yes it was slow but the light and compact body meant it cornered like a go-kart. The results speak for themselves. The Mini, with its tiny engine won the Monte Carlo rally in 1964, 65 and 67.It was also the star of the 1969 British movie “The Italian Job” . The future of the Mini was uncertain during the 80s and 90s when its ownership kept changing hands. It was rescued by BMW who bought the rights to the brand in 1994. The Mini Cooper in its latest avatar was released in 2000. It has been subjected to constant tweaks and new variants since but it is still being manufactured in the iconic Oxford plant.

So, is the latest Mini fit to carry the brand name forward?? Let us find out with the latest and most sporty Mini to date, the 3 door Cooper S.

The new Cooper S has grown in size when compared to the original. At approximately 3.8 metres long and 1.4 metres tall, it is still a very small car for today’s standards. A small car that suits my size. In flesh, the Cooper S looks attractive. It’s not a car that will let you walk by without looking at it. It is a magnet for attention. That’s what a Mini should be and this does not disappoint with its cute looks. It is even better in red with black stripes and those brilliant 16 inch black alloys. It is a highly desirable car. The same style is carried over to the interiors as well. Crafted with high quality materials, it is designed to be different and stand out. You get a circular speedo in the centre console and a digital one in front of you.

Let’s first take a look at the not so interesting bits of the car. The most important thing the Indian buyer looks for is fuel efficiency. For those people, the car will give around 13kmpl in normal drive mode. But in sport mode, the mileage drops to around 10. The luggage space for such a small car is good at 211 litres and another 540 litres available with the rear seats folded down. The sporty seats in the front are comfortable and give good support. At the rear, there is more room than you expect. They can be relaxing on a long drive as well.

Now that has been dealt with, the more important parts come into picture: the driving experience.

The power plant that gives this car a punch is a turbocharged 2 litre petrol engine producing a massive 192 bhp and 290 Nm of torque. That in a car that weighs just 1.2 tons. This means that 100kmph is dealt with in just 6.8 seconds from a stand still. Now to the key characteristic that defines every Mini Cooper S: the handling. Am happy to report that the car still retains its go-kart like handling. The steering is accurate and pretty sharp. The driving experience is something I have never experienced before. The engine that revs to 6000 rpm, the handling and that brilliant exhaust note which crackles as well, combines to bring a wide smile on your face and leaves you wanting for more. The ride is slightly on the harsh side but that is something you will not notice while enjoying the drive.

The Cooper S is expensive. Starting at 45 lakhs on road, it can go up to 55 lakhs depending on your customization. But for a petrol head, it is a must have car. All petrol heads should, at some point in their lives, drive a Cooper S. If you have the cash, you should definitely buy a MINI Cooper S. It is the best car you can enjoy driving in without any worries that the bigger cars have. For the sensation it offers, the MINI Cooper S is definitely a steal.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class: A Classy Way to Travel

Mercedes-Benz S-Class: A Classy Way to Travel

(Image courtesy: Google images)

Before I start, I would like to thank Akshaya Motors, Bangalore and their best in the business customer service for giving me an opportunity to drive the latest S-Class.

The S-Class. Does it need an introduction? I guess not. But here goes..

 Launched in 1954, the S-Class has always been the segment leader demolishing its opponents in every generation. It has now become the most important car in history. Every new generation released is watched closely for all the new features it brings along. In time, these are the features you will find in smaller cars like ABS, airbags and ESP. From the very beginning, it has been the flagship car for Mercedes-Benz carrying with it the history, legacy of the company along with latest technology and modern touches. Now let’s come to the latest S-Class. Called the W222, it takes luxury to a higher level and gives a scare to the baby Rolls and the Flying Spur. It gets Hot-Stone seat massage and Magic Body Control, which sadly does not make it to the Indian market. This is the first car which does not have a single light bulb in it. It has nearly 500 LEDs, 56 in the front headlamps, 36 in the tail lamps and 300 in the interior. The rest are used for the instruments, the hood area and the boot. The latest car comes with a spectacular 2 spoke steering wheel as opposed to the 4 spoke wheel in the previous generations. The 2 spoke wheel with “Mercedes-Benz” elegantly crafted on it is used in remembrance of the first Mercedes-Benz driven by Bertha Benz to prove a point. This flagship model for Mercedes-Benz carries forward the legacy of the brand.

Walking up to the new S-Class, you get a sense that it was made with perfection in mind. The exterior design itself tells you a lot about what exactly the car is. Looking at its simple yet beautiful and elegant lines, one can conclude that the car has no sporty intent in it and is loaded with luxury and tech on the inside. The sleek design means a very low coefficient of drag value of just 0.24. This means it cuts the air more efficiently than the out-going model. Open the door and you are greeted with one of the most luxurious and equipped interiors you can find in a car. The interiors have been crafted to give a classic luxury feel combined with modern design. The clock in the centre is a nice touch. As soon as you get in and shut the door, you are completely cut off from the crazy, noisy world outside. Push the starter button and you can barely hear the engine come to life.

Put the car in drive mode, release the hand brake, leave the brake and tap the accelerator. It feels like an invisible force gently pushing the car forward. The cabin isolation is fantastic. There is absolutely no engine noise or any suspension noise coming inside. Only a small amount of road noise is audible and only sharp potholes give a slight whack when you drive fast over them. The ride on this car is sublime. The body of the car does not move at all. You can drink your coffee without spilling a drop in a moving S-Class. It remains stable even while going over a pothole. Body roll is absent.

The S-Class comes loaded with features. It comes with all features that can be put into a car. Since this car will be mainly chauffer driven, Mercedes-Benz has concentrated on making the rear seats as luxurious as possible. The rear seats come with a “Hot Stone” massage which satisfyingly relaxes you after hard day’s work. The front passenger seat can be moved by an additional 77mm and you get an electrically extended foot rest. The rear seats can recline at an angle of 43.5 degrees. In this car, you can catch up on your sleep without any disturbance. For those who would like to work on the move, you get a folding table, temperature controlled cup holders, a 230V socket and windows which can be tinted optionally. A WLAN connection can be established via COMAND Online. The rear of the S-Class can be used as your office on the move where you can have 1-to-1 meetings. For entertainment, you get two 25.4cms display screens with cordless headphones. You can access every media source like radio, TV, SD Card, internet, navigation, DVD and USB from any seat. You can also connect your game consoles.

Coming to the cabin, you get a 13 speaker Burmester audio system which has sound optimization for front and rear seats. It has Dolby Digital 5.1 for surround sound, Sub woofers integrated into body shell for bass reproduction and a 9-channel DSP amplifier with a total output of 590W. You get ambient lighting with a choice of 7 colours with 5 dimming levels-an option that has to be ticked, active perfuming system and heated armrests on the door and centre console. The COMAND screen is a 31.2cms TFT screen with its controller in the centre console along with a touch sensitive telephone keypad. It comes with a 200 GB hard disk and a sim card slot which can be used for receiving live traffic information.

Mercedes-Benz has left no stone unturned in the safety department. The new S-Class comes with 360 degree cameras which can be used while parking. But if you want a more relaxed way, then the car comes with an Auto-Park feature which uses sensors to park the car on its own taking over from the driver. The LED lights on the headlamps individually dim or brighten on their own depending on traffic so as to prevent blinding the eye of the driver in the car travelling in the opposite direction without hampering your visibility. It comes with night vision which can pick up humans and animals on the roadside. This car can even distinguish between humans and animals. If it is a human, it flashes the light a few times. But this does not happen when it picks up animals as the flashing might scare them. This shows the attention to detail employed while engineering this car. The other important safety features include Acceleration Skid Control (ASR) which reduces wheel slip to prevent the vehicle from skidding on snow, wet roads or loose ground, Pre-SAFE and a system which automatically applies brakes during emergencies. You get 8 airbags including side bags and window bags to protect the occupants. Unfortunately, the diesel I drove does not come with night vision and 360 degree cameras. You get only a reversing camera.

Technically, the latest S-Class is way ahead of its predecessor, the W221. It uses lightweight aluminum in most places and stamped steel in the important parts like the safety cell. The W222 is 50% torsionally stiffer than the W221 but slightly lighter as well. The powerhouse for this car is 2487cc V6 diesel producing 255bhp at 3600 rpm and a torque figure of 620Nm between 1600-2400 rpm. The state of the art diesel has aluminum parts and precise spray guided piezo injection. This engine is mated to the company’s proven 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission. It can skip over individual gears during multiple downshifts. The 5.2 metre long car weighing around 2.5 tons is no slouch. 100 comes up in a brisk 6.8 seconds and it hits top speed of 250kmph. The performance is brilliant but is more suited to gentle and luxurious driving than sporty. The acceleration is gradual but during overtakes, when you floor it, it takes a second to respond as the turbo spools up before the car is hurled forward. Other than that, there is no flaw in its power delivery. The diesel rides on 18 inch wheels while the petrol rides on 19 inch wheels. The turning circle at 12.3 meters in pretty impressive. The petrol (S500) is powered by a 450 horse power V8.

Now coming to the biggest question of all. At 1.4 crores (on-road price, Bangalore) is it worth it? Without a doubt, yes. If you have that kind of money and are in the market for a luxury sedan, the new S-Class is the best in the business and does its job brilliantly. If you are a Mercedes-Benz fan, then buy it without giving a second thought. If you are not a Mercedes-Benz fan, then think twice and buy it.