Track Test. MINI Cooper S vs Sobi go-kart (2014)
Features | EVO Middle East | crankandpiston
James puts the “typical go-kart feel” of the new MINI Cooper S to the test with a one-on-one shootout at the Dubai Kartdrome against a Sodi go-kart. But who will be victorious?
Originally posted – 18 August, 2014 | crankandpiston.com
It’s not often, as some of my wordier pieces in evo magazine will attest, that I’m left speechless. But as I stand here, the stopwatch on my iPhone paused and bearing a lap time I can barely comprehend, it’s about the closest I’ve ever come.
Rewind the clock a few months. evo Middle East had just flown to Puerto Rico to test the brand new MINI, an event that brought with it a sense of déjà vu. With a heritage dating back to 1959, BMW Group’s MINI made its first tentative steps onto hallowed ground in 2001 with a sea of criticism just waiting in the wings. As well as being as nimble and appealing as its 44-year old ancestors, the new MINI had to be much more than ‘just a small BMW.’ It needed ‘character’.
A flood of orders confirmed that the first of BMW’s hurdles had been triumphantly cleared.
Ironically, some 13 years later, BMW found itself in the same position. This time though, the pressure for commercial success with ‘the new MINI’ was considerably greater.
With six new model lines established in the intervening years – including SUVs, cabriolets and estate cars, all to mixed reviews – MINI was no longer ‘just’ a quirky city car but a burgeoning business model. To redesign the Hatch – the centre of that growing empire – and produce a clanger would spell disaster for consumer confidence in the brand.
Once again though, BMW delivered, as the new Cooper proved more practical and technical than ever before whilst losing none of its nimbleness and character. Thanks in part to “its typical go-kart feeling,” as emphasised by both MINI’s official press material and pretty much every article written on the model across the globe. And this got us thinking.
Just how accurate is this clichéd expression? Does the brand new MINI actually feel like a go-kart to drive? And if not, what is missing from the formula? We decided to find out once and for all by pitting the brand-new Cooper S to a one-lap shootout around our local outdoor go-kart circuit. Against an opponent.
You join us early morning in the pitlane at the Dubai Kartdrome, where our two contenders for the day are busy being prepped for their hot laps. The main source of interest is our Cooper S test model, a bizarre yet formidable sight squeezed into one of the Kartdrome’s six-foot wide pit garages. Indeed, so narrow is the gap between the door paint and the concrete wall that Ryan Trutch – Dubai Kartdrome Manager and our designated driver for the day – has difficulty sliding into the sports seat, much to my childish amusement. I do occasionally remember to be professional though, paying attention to the new MINI’s looks.
At a glance, you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference between the third generation Cooper S and its predecessor, and given that the outgoing model was a rather handsome brute, that’s no bad thing. The ‘hallmark emotional design’ of the Cooper S though comes with a re-designed front bumper and bonnet scoop for a more dynamic look, plus the time-honoured ‘S’ on the hexagonal front grille.
It’s a similar situation at the back where a new rear slip adds new energy to an otherwise familiar appearance. In-between laughing at Ryan, who’s now struggling to get out, I pay particular attention to the centre-mounted twin tailpipes (a very cheeky addition) and the bespoke 18-inch alloy wheels, an inch bigger than those on the standard Cooper.
I’m also pleased to see that MINI hasn’t toned down the exterior as it has done on the inside: Volcanic Orange and go faster stripes across the bonnet are a more characterful addition to the ‘MINI’ brood than fine leather upholstery and – gasp! – more legroom on the inside.
Yes! Let’s not forget that the new Cooper S now comes with an all-new platform and longer wheelbase. Turns out that 7mm extra height, 98mm extra length and 44mm extra width makes a difference to the passengers in the back.
That’s not to say the cabin isn’t a striking place to be, quoth Ryan through the windscreen, having abandoned his efforts to clamber out. Retro features like the half-spherical door handles, floating speedometer and flickswitches remain, and I’m particularly keen on the ‘panic button red’ stop/start switch. I feel like I’m about to open fire on Red Dawn every time I use it.
MINI has however abandoned the centre speedometer in favour of a more traditional digital readout in front of the driver (plus head-up display as part of the updated driver assistance systems) and a centre-mounted satnav. The fiddly infotainment rotary dial by the gear lever is now bigger and mounted closer to the driver for ease of use, and another new rotary dial around the gear lever makes swapping from ‘Sport’ to ‘Green’ driving modes much easier.
Select Sport mode and you are told, via the centre-mounted 8.8-inch infotainment screen, to expect ‘maximum go-kart feel’.
Time to put that to the test.
As our contenders line up on the starting grid and our video and photography crew leaps in for detail shots, we are joined by Kartdrome Assistant Manager David Bright, who will be piloting the go-kart on its hot lap. He’s mad keen to show what the Honda-engined Sodi – among the venue’s most respected models – can really do on-track, even if he’s a little worried about the spiralling heat.
“With cold slick tyres, hot weather and dusty conditions, it’s almost like driving on a circuit after a thunder storm,” he explains, noting that a typical lap time – 1m 11s (ish) around the Kartdrome’s 1.2km National configuration – could go up quickly. Nerves though seem a little misguided when we consider the equipment at David’s disposal.
Started by a pull handle by the driver’s seat, the 390cc engine chucks out 13.5hp and is capable, given a straight enough piece of tarmac, of hitting 85kph. Whilst that may not seem much compared with the 192bhp MINI, the weight difference between the two is herculean, as the Sodi’s sprightly 160kg gives it an enormous advantage over the MINI’s comparatively portly 1160kg.
Also unlike the MINI, the go-kart comes without ABS and power steering (for the purposes of weight and ‘true driving connection’), and the heavier steering and left-foot braking required means David will have to work much harder through the turns.
The go-kart’s tighter turning circle however means that David will be able to flick the go-kart into the corners much quicker and at tighter angles, allowing him to get the power down much faster than the MINI. It’s through the corners that the shootout will be won.
Realistically though, none of us are expecting the MINI to beat the go-kart. Even despite its 178.5hp advantage, the MINI’s 1000kg weight deficit, plus its comparatively high centre of gravity, makes the Cooper S a sitting duck around the Kartdrome’s tight and twisting technical layout. In fact, based on David’s experience, he estimates the MINI will be 8-9 seconds slower per lap than the go-kart. Anything under that should demonstrate the new Cooper’s ‘go-kart like’ precision.
Before their respective hot laps, David and Ryan line up on the starting line for a few practice starts. Insurance reasons regrettably mean that evo has not been given permission to drive the MINI on-track: barriers built to withstand the impact of a 160kg go-kart wouldn’t stand much of a chance against a MINI that weighs seven-times more should we get our braking wrong.
I’m certainly not worried though. Both Ryan and David have worked at the Kartdrome for many years and know every corner, every chicane and every braking point like the back of their respective hands. Until relocating to Dubai, David even enjoyed a burgeoning Formula Ford single seater career in his native UK until the sponsorship money ran out (the ‘Pamela Stephenson’ stickers still adorn his helmet today). More importantly, both men, though they try to hide it during the build-up, are very competitive. This may not be the most traditional of races they have undertaken at the Kartdrome, but neither of them wants to lose.
Ryan in the MINI sets off first. His first lap is spent warming up his tyres and brakes, and as he enters the final left-right-left chicane before the start-finish straight, he guns the MINI’s 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine to give himself as much speed onto the straight as possible. Barrelling past us and already up to 30kph, Ryan hurtles past the starting gantry and the stopwatch begins its count.
Into the sweeping right hander at turn one, the MINI is utilising all 192hp at its disposal, Ryan staying tight to the inside of the corner to keep the speed up and give him a better braking point into the righthand hairpin at turn two. Standing on the brakes, progressive deceleration means the MINI is quickly through the hairpin, Ryan flicking from first to second with the paddle shift six-speed automatic gearbox as he sweeps into the following tight left hander and across the bridge.
The next sequence is a little trickier, as a tight left-right is followed by a left-handed hairpin that really tests the front tyres. There’s barely a trace of understeer though, despite MINI’s traditional front-wheel drive setup, and the back wheels similarly refrain from twitching even over the slippery kerbs. The Cooper S is soon into and out of the left-handed chicane.
Though not a straight, the long sweeping left hander under the bridge allows Ryan to get the MINI up into third gear and well on the way to 40kph thanks to linear acceleration before he throws the anchor out into the left-right chicane and the long, slow right hander that follows. Once again, the MINI has to stay on the apex for the quickest line, and once again, the weighty steering and solid grip means Ryan has no problem keeping the Cooper S out of the barrier.
Through another tight right hander and onto the back straight, Ryan has just enough time to flick into second gear before braking hard into the final complex, giving the MINI enough rein to dance through the tight left-right-left chicane and take a little kerb on the outside onto the main straight.
Ryan has done all he can do. Now it’s David’s turn in the Sodi go-kart.
Like the MINI, the go-kart takes a warm-up lap before firing onto the main straight for its ‘qualifying run’ as the crew has now dubbed it.
Aware that the MINI has the legs on the main straight, David hunkers down in his seat and tips his helmet forward to reduce wind resistance in the hope of gaining just a few extra kph (like I say, both guys are pretty competitive). Into the tight second corner the MINI is still ahead, but the go-kart’s nimbleness through the following right-left-left-right-left means the Sodi has hauled in the gap as David heads underneath the bridge. On the starting gantry I have the stopwatch running, and am amazed how much the MINI is keeping the go-kart in its sights.
Barely a second covers the pair as David breaks from underneath the bridge into the uphill off-cambered chicane, the back end breaking out slightly as David leaps back on the power again out of the corner. But the first half of the lap includes two long acceleration zones. Through the final twisting section of the Kartdrome, the go-kart must surely pull ahead…
Back end out once again as David exits the final corner, he hunkers down behind the wheel one final time down the start-finish straight, Ryan – off-track and enjoying the MINI’s Bluetooth – can’t help but smile. Nor for that matter can I as I turn to look at the stopwatch.
Around the Kartdrome’s 1.2km National circuit, the MINI Cooper S managed a 1m 18.36s laptime. The Sodi go-kart has managed… a 1m 18.41s.
Incredibly, albeit by just 0.05s of a second, the MINI has won!
Now before claims of cheating start flooding in, there are a few mitigating circumstances we should mention.
Firstly, the Cooper S was brought to the track with limited fuel for the (naïve) purposes of weight saving. The sweltering temperatures – well on the way to the mid-50s – have also affected the durability of the go-kart’s tyres: so hot was the track surface, the go-kart spent most of its run skating and spinning for grip, unlike the much heavier MINI which offered better traction.
Perhaps the key reason behind the upset though was the go-kart itself. With David sweltering in a full flame-proof race suit and helmet, sending him out for lap after lap to warm up the tyres would be uncomfortable at best and potentially dangerous at worse.David is confident though that given another few warm-up laps, the go-kart would easily have been six seconds faster than the MINI, a point he proves by heading out and immediately setting a time almost two full seconds faster.
You may think then that this test is ultimately pointless. And you’d be wrong. The MINI’s all-too brief ‘victory’ up against the go-kart offered us a delightfully Hollywood end to the feature. But don’t forget, the point was not for the Cooper S to beat the go-kart, just to demonstrate that ‘go-kart feeling’. Few could deny, given its weighty steering, responsive throttle, superb poise and frankly amazing nimbleness on both the straights and through the corners, that the new MINI Cooper S demonstrated just that at the Dubai Kartdrome.
Images | Awesome Group and Harisanker S
Features | EVO Middle East | crankandpiston | James Gent