2025 Mini Cooper S First Drive Review: Small Package, Big Improvement

2001 saw the reintroduction of a British icon to the United States; back under BMW ownership, Americans could finally buy the Mini Cooper. It was tiny by American standards, which is typically a recipe for sales failure, but the Cooper has proved there is an appetite for a small hatchback with nimble handling.

The 2025 Mini Cooper is now in its fourth generation, arriving in the US as a two-door hatchback with a longer four-door model coming soon. DrivingOnRoad had a chance to join Mini Takes the States, an owner event where hundreds of Mini vehicles drive across the country on a curated route. We got to experience the Cooper S on mountain roads in New Mexico and Colorado, giving us the perfect opportunity to find out if the fourth-generation Mini lives up to the cliché of “go-kart” handling its smaller predecessors made famous.

First Drive events provide our initial impressions of a vehicle in a restricted environment under certain time constraints. Keep an eye on DrivingOnRoad for our comprehensive Test Drive review which will follow soon.

Exterior: Modernized Classic

Brand enthusiasts would riot if Mini changed the Cooper’s design too drastically, which is why the new model still looks recognizable. The new design is smoother, eliminating unnecessary protrusions from the front end, such as the lower air intakes and hood vent. From the side profile, the new Cooper looks similar to its predecessor, though its mirror caps are now more elongated than round. At the back, the oval-shaped taillights have been replaced by more pointed units, which can be customized with different lighting patterns. Oddly, Mini deleted the exposed exhaust pipes, instead opting to hide them under the bumper. This makes the Cooper look slightly unfinished or like it could be an electric vehicle, in our opinion.

17-inch wheels come standard in one of three colors and patterns: Parallel Spoke two-tone, U-Spoke Grey, or U-Spoke Vibrant Silver (which looks light gold). Mini also offers 18-inch wheels in Slide Spoke two-tone or Night Flash two-tone as part of the ‘Favoured’ Style, both of which come wrapped in Summer tires. Customers can choose between Classic and Favoured style packages, the latter of which is only available on the middle and top trim, altering the grille trim color, wheel options, and other exterior details.

Mini lets owners customize their vehicles with 10 exterior colors, six of which are new. The carryover options include Melting Silver III, Midnight Black II, Nanuq White, and British Racing Green IV, while the new colors are Chili Red II, Ocean Wave Green, Blazing Blue, Sunny Side Yellow, Icy Sunshine Blue, and Indigo Sunset Blue. Our tester came in Ocean Wave Green, a teal-like hue that really pops. Those colors can be paired with four different roof colors: Jet Black, Multitone Blue, Glazed White, or body color.

In terms of size, the fourth-generation F66 Cooper is actually 0.2 inches shorter than its F56 predecessor, though the wheelbase has increased by 0.7 to 56.4 inches. The most notable increase comes in the width, where the F66 is 1.7 inches wider. We noticed the width when parking the 2025 Cooper next to other Mini vehicles, but this is still a small car by anyone’s measure. The scale is one area where you may not notice the Cooper has grown. The outgoing model weighed in at 2,813 pounds, while this new one tips the scales as 3,014 pounds, which is heavy for a Mini.

Interior: New Era Of Funky Design

Mini has always punched upmarket with premium interiors, but the 2025 Cooper takes it to the most luxurious level yet. Heated sport seats come standard, wrapped in a recycled vegan material called Vescin that feels like real leather. If you opt for the classic style, the sport seats are replaced by JCW sport seats that come in a Grey/Blue or Black/Blue combination with cloth bolstering, while the Favoured gets all Vescin in either Beige or black (Mini calls it Nightshade Blue). Power seats are available, as is a massage function for the driver’s side, cementing the Cooper as a more luxurious ride.

The dashboard is now covered in a knit textile that feels like cloth, but is actually made from recycled bottles. We think it looks great, but owners on Mini Takes the States expressed concerns that the dash could easily get dirty. Mini promises that the recycled material is easy to clean and stain resistant. Peering through the chunky steering wheel, there is no traditional gauge cluster; in its place, a pop-up head-up display shows speed, navigation prompts, and more. It’s a nice solution that retains the minimalism but keeps the function.

We already have a love-hate relationship with Mini’s new Operating System 9, which lives on a gorgeous 9.4-inch circular display, the first of its kind in a vehicle. The screen looks great, and can be customized with different experience modes, such as Go-Kart, Core, Vivid, Green, and Timeless. These modes change colors and other elements of the display, including the speedometer, which can now be shown centrally on the screen like older Mini vehicles.

While the screen looks great, it’s far from perfect. The system can feel laggy at times and there are some odd quirks, like CarPlay and Android Auto (both available wirelessly) only taking up a small square in the middle. Over-the-air updates should improve this system over time. Mini’s new virtual assistant can take the form of a car or an English bulldog named Spike, both of which change colors with the drive modes. You can ask it to change the climate, adjust settings, or even tell you a joke. We asked, “what do you think of Fiat?” It replied, “we like passing them.”

Practicality: Road-Trip Ready?

The Cooper’s larger size leads to increased practicality, if only slightly. Trunk space grows to 8.9 cubic feet, up modestly from 8.7 cubes in the outgoing model. The rear seats fold in a 60-40 split, opening up 34.4 cubes, up from 34 in the old Cooper. Passengers in the rear have a tight squeeze with 30.8 inches of legroom, up just 0.1 over the previous Cooper. Front head and legroom remain identical to last year’s model.

Buyers who want more space should wait for the Cooper S four-door, which arrives later this year. The five-door is 6.3 inches longer, yielding an inch and a half more legroom in the rear. Cargo capacity grows to 13.1 cubic feet, or 40 cubes with the seats folded.

Performance: More Pep, Less Control

The previous Cooper used a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine on the base model. That engine is now gone, replaced by a larger 2.0-liter turbocharged four-pot. Output jumps from 134 horsepower in the old car to 161 hp. The Cooper S now delivers 201 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque, up from 189 and 206 lb-ft in the outgoing model. A John Cooper Works model is likely in the works, but has not been announced yet.

Power is routed to the front wheels via a new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Sadly, the manual transmission has been retired. Mini says the base Cooper can hit 60 mph in 7.4 seconds, while the S does it over a second quicker, in 6.3 seconds. These times are 0.2 and 0.1 second improvements, respectively. Fuel economy remains strong at 28/39/32 MPG city/highway/combined, one MPG better in the city and highway compared to the outgoing car.

Driving Impressions: More Livable

We spent some time with the Cooper S on mountain roads connecting New Mexico to Colorado to gather our first impressions. Some of the rougher roads upset the ride a bit, but the Mini isn’t too punishing to be used every day. The smaller 17-inch wheels would likely improve ride comfort compared to our tester’s 18s. This new Mini might be larger than its predecessor, but it still feels agile and easy to park compared to most new vehicles.

There’s some initial turbo lag off the line, but the additional power of this new Cooper S makes itself apparent with swift acceleration during passing maneuvers. The seven-speed gearbox shifts smoothly and quickly, though we wish Mini included paddle shifters on this model (they will likely be reserved for the JCW). There is no way to manually shift the transmission, which becomes annoying on two-lane roads when trying to overtake slower cars.

Mini kept the heavy steering, though it feels lighter than the previous generation. There’s also less feedback from the wheel – a blow to drivers who like to feel more connected to the road. As a trade-off, this new Cooper squirms around less under acceleration, whereas the old one felt less refined. As a daily driver, this new model trades some rawness for livability, a change you will either love or reluctantly accept.

Pricing & Verdict: Tiny Luxury

The 2025 Mini Cooper Hardtop is more expensive than last year’s model, but it comes with more power, standard features, and technology to justify that price. You can get a base Cooper Signature for $28,950, not including a $995 destination fee. The Cooper S brings the price to $32,200, which feels worth it for the upgrade in performance. Even the base Signature trim includes dual zone climate control, rear parking distance control, heated seats and steering wheel, panoramic roof, automatic high beams, navigation, and more.

The Signature Plus bundles larger wheels, the optional Favoured Style with nicer seats, an optional contrast roof, experience modes, active driving assistant, a wireless charger, remote engine start, comfort access, and more for $2,400, while the Iconic is only $300 more for power seats, an interior camera, driving assistant plus, Harmon Kardon Audio, augmented reality navigation, and parking assistant plus. Loaded up, our tester rang up at $37,295.

Mini is competing in premium territory here, with the Cooper S priced closely with the Volkswagen Golf GTI. As it has always been, the VW is larger and more powerful, so the Mini looks like a poor bargain on paper. However, the Cooper feels more premium than the GTI inside and comes with more standard features. The Mini Cooper Hardtop will continue to appeal to a niche audience, but that group is now larger thanks to all of this year’s quality improvements.