Whoops! Haven’t left much to the imagination there, I suppose. But as a fanatical admirer of personable, relatively affordable small cars, there wasn’t really any question about whether I would generally get on with the Cooper.
What I need to know is if it still makes sense to be hurtling around town in something this small while burning petrol – and, probably more importantly, whether I needed to have spent nearly £30,000 for the privilege. Could a £15,000 Dacia Sandero (or, whisper it, a £15,000 Dacia Spring EV) do much the same job?
Update 2: Recall notice doesn’t stop play
A recall notice has arrived. My Mini is one of 1.5 million BMW Group cars with a potentially faulty Integrated Braking System, which regulates pedal feel and feedback.
I can keep it but have been advised that “in the unlikely event” of a failure, I “may need to apply additional force when braking” and I should look out for a brake warning light. Which I am now doing. Constantly. No further updates on this, I hope.
Update 3: But can you park it anywhere?
Unlike many enthusiasts, I don’t harbour much resentment for SUVs: people buy a car to fulfil a role in their life, and if the criteria for that role include capaciousness, visibility and ease of access, then surely a tall hatchback makes the most sense.
But I do wonder if many prospective buyers could be talked down a size or two into something a little more manoeuvrable but barely any less useful in the real world.
On a recent trip to the supermarket, I came across a car parking space so tiny, so infinitesimally narrow and so tricky to access that my fellow shoppers weren’t even slowing down to consider it as a viable option.
The Ford Kuga next door was hanging over the line and the entry ramp was on the other side, so the angles were all off, too. There was a massive queue for spaces but nobody could bring themselves to have a crack at this intimidatingly inaccessible bay. It was no less than Sutton town centre’s take on the sword in the stone. But I knew that I could do it.
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