More Mini, But Not Maxi: The 2015 Mini Cooper S Hardtop 4 Door

The 2015 Mini Cooper S Hardtop 4 Door.

Four wheels and fun is a tough combination to beat.  What happens when you add four doors to that equation?  That's been a difficult issue for Mini, which added larger models (Clubman, Countryman) that haven't exactly burned up the sales charts and have even (or maybe especially) the faithful deriding them as big and ugly.  So for 2015, Mini tries a smaller big...stretching the Mini from two-doors to four without trying to make it a wagon, crossover or whatever.

New Car Review: 2013 Mini John Cooper Works Roadster

Two of the things we focus on rather regularly here at TireKicker are practicality and value.

But when a vehicle starts out with limited practicality to begin with, why not go all the way?  That appears to be the thinking at Mini, which is expanding its lineup with an ever-increasing number of variants on the basic Mini Cooper.

Mini hasn't sent many our way, so as much as I'd love to tell you about the Clubman, Paceman and Countryman, I can't.  I can, however tell you about the latest, the John Cooper Works Roadster, close cousin to the John Cooper Works Coupe and a more distant relative of the John Cooper Works Convertible.

New Car Review: 2012 Mini John Cooper Works Cooper Coupe

The 2012 Mini John Cooper Works Cooper Coupe.

What do you do when you're a decade or so along selling a not terribly practical (as in daily use by a family of four) car?

Well, after making some more practical variants (Clubman, Countryman), you can always make one that's even less practical. Of course, it helps if it's also even more fun than the original. And any time you see the name "John Cooper Works" attached to a Mini, you know the fun quotient has been attended to.




Rear view of the 2012 Mini John Cooper Works Cooper Coupe.

The Cooper Coupe dispenses with the back seat, giving the Mini a trunk instead of a hatch, a seriously racy roofline, and an ability to start conversations in parking lots. Even though you can get a Cooper Coupe three different ways (base, S and John Cooper Works), they're still rare enough that most people think you've had your Mini customized.