Is the 2023 MINI Cooper S Hatch Really Worth £30,000? And What Makes a "MINI" Anyway?

I don't get the obsession with electric seats. Manual seats are much faster to adjust and less prone to breakage.

This guy is one of my favourite reviewers. Detailed, unbiased and knowledgeable. Keep up the good work. :)

I work at plant Oxford on these. And I’ve always wondered why they sold so well considering the price and how cramped they are inside. Saying that I’m also very happy about that as it kept me in a job (for now) 😂. Do drive very nice tho!

I had a company car which was a Mini. A 2021 Mini One with the 105hp 1.5 and a manual gearbox for the last 2 years. Even though it was the base version, it was such a joy to drive. Put a smile on my face every single time I drove it. Best driving car I have had until now and I think I’ll miss it for a long long time.

As a F56 owner, I can tell you that this is in fact magical to own and drive every day.

“Somewhat problematic” is the nicest thing anyones ever said about the r56 powertrain

Really glad to see Jay take on more subscribers he's got a classical style of british review without alotta gimmicks outside the expected and appreciated the dry humor and wit. I expect him to go far.

Fun little quirk with the ambient lighting in the mini, press and hold the switch to change colours for a few seconds and it activates “disco” mode as I call it and will cycle through all the available colours

Sold our R53 Mini today. Had wonderful times in it. Love the complete package of looks, handling and sounds. Done almost 60k km's with it and there has not been a week where I have not giggled. In closing, thank you for your video's. I enjoy them alot and you reminicing in this video of the R53 had me nodding along in agreement. Browsing the classifieds allready for the next bucketlist car.

You should drive the earlier (Say 2015/16) version of this shape of mini, they felt a lot more fun in my opinion, they always crackled and popped off throttle and felt a lot more fun, the post 2017 PPF and 2020/2021 facelift toned it down even more, they are still relatively fun to drive, but not as they used to be.

I agree with everything you covered in this review. My 2022 Cooper S (same moonwalk grey but different wheels) is now a year old. My gripes too are around the build quality; a few annoying rattles emerged within a few months of ownership and is not what I expect from a car in this price range. And yes, I too wish it made more noise from the twin exhausts. Lovely little thing nonethless.

The price is crazy now, I paid 21k for my cooperS in 2019, roll forward 4 years to when I was offered the obligatory “upgrade” it was 29k for the exact same speced car, I get the feeling instead of making electric cars cheaper they’re increasing ICE car prices to make them seem cheaper

I bought my wife a 2019 5 Door, 60th anniversary Copper S, DSG equiped version. I drive a 450 bhp HSV Track Ed, with 570nm, rear drive, 6 piston 390mm AP racing brakes. Yep it’s a fantastic car, you won’t see one as they only made 150, mine is number 90. HSV spent a considerable amount of time tuning the suspension. So yep, not only does the car stop and accelerate to 100 in 4.5 seconds. It’s rear wheel drive and handles brilliantly, both on the road and on the track. Every time I drive it, I hold the alcantara steering wheel, listen to the bimodal, exhaust burble in sport and I grin, love that car! At the time the reviewers gave it 9.5/10 & I agree. After 40 years of car experience including 3 years as a passenger in a new 1973 BMW 3.0 si, 3 years in a brand new manual Porsche 928, 3 years in a 733i as passenger and driver, 10 years and 200,000 owning a 735i Sport V8, I’ve owned 10 Alfas and spent 5 years selling Peugeot’s. I’ve driven many many cars that I don’t own. Having said that 5 years of driving my wife’s Cooper S. What do I think? First thing, change the tyres to Michelin PS4’s, secondly the brake pads to ATE Ceramic….then you have a car that’s set up well. Personally I don’t think there is a requirement for active suspension. The standard set up is great, the only time I’ve ever heard rattles is it there is something loose in the car, for instance my sun glasses case did not have the press stud closed and rattled! It’s not the car, it’s your belongings! The Sport mode makes a big difference, much faster shifts from the DSG and it automatically turns off the stop start, you also hear more of the exhaust. However if I really want to drive it hard, I push the leaver to the left and drive the car manually with the paddle shifts. It’s an nicely torque endowed little engine and always feels ready to go. When you need to get on it, it goes…hard. I smile driving this car and regularly. Sorry don’t agree about the Mini magic, I think this current Mini is the best Mini by a mile! My wife and I love it and for what we paid, we think it’s a bargain! Nothing better than cruising in summer either, roof open, Harmon Kardon cranking, sun glasses on, you shouldn’t be able to have so much fun, then pull into the a tight car park at the local Malvern Central in our case and we can park with ease….do our shopping then head back out for the fun trip home. Our daughter often tells us to take the long way home! We feel very fortunate to own and drive the cars we do! I’ve been seriously surprised at how good this Mini is, I don’t think we are the only ones, Mini sells close to 300,000 cars a year!

Like your vids...there's something they a lot people miss with the Green Mode...try this I set my cruise at 75mph...and then set it to Green Mode...and then set your display mpg...I've gotton readings up to around 60mpg...really surprising...I have a 2014 Mini Cooper F56s...6 6spd tweaked to about 280hp...with 165 thousand miles....to understand a Mini you have to drive one...always a smile on my face...Peace

Know what you’re saying about three door hatch , looks great , but recently bought my daughter a Cooper five door and the rear room is far superior to the Cooper S I used to have .

I’ve got a very late 17 plate manual 4 door,says it’s got 192bhp they have since added more emission stuff to lower the power a bit.The extra doors plus the boot is bigger than the two door I think it covers all bases and is great fun around country roads 😊

Brazil carried on the VW Beetle for years after it was axed as did the South Africans with the Golf MK1, with production only ending somewhere around 2009... As for the new Mini, I worked at a used car dealer in Johannesburg in 2009 that bought the supercharged Cooper S version by the dozen and we always sold them within days of them hitting the sales floor, then they released the turbo charged model and at first they sold really well but eventually the enthusiasm waned when it became clear that they were nowhere near as robust and reliable as the supercharged model... I drove both many times and as much as I like the supercharged model I found the turbo model much more entertaining to drive...

I have a 2014 S, 3 door, manual. My car pops and bangs thanks to no emissions. I am 5'11 and I can fit behind myself no problem. Yes the boot is small. I LOVE the way the 3rd gen looks, short, wide and lowwwwww. I love my car, and its a base S! no heated seats, no big screen, no H/K audio, and no dumb sun roof. I would buy my car twice if I could

I drive a 23 3door hatch JCW and I love it, motorway cruising is brilliant, but traction is always an issue and doesn't give me the confidence to floor it sometimes. But the pull from 30 to 70 gives me such a grin every time. I've never found the limits of the steering and I've got confidence in that on B roads. Love my car and don't plan on changing.

Great review. Funnily enough i know someone who went to a dealers the other day and said he was shocked by the new prices (he currently has a 19 reg Copper S) I've got a 17 reg manual Cooper S and it's brilliant! Probably the last great Cooper S before all the emissions stuff ruined it 😞In sport mode it make some very impressive pops and bangs on the overrun! Agree on the tyres, fitting some Michelin Pilot Sports made a huge difference.