2025 Mini Cooper S Hardtop First Test: Does Mini Give a Shift?
The newest Cooper S handles well and is very refined, but it’s missing a key feature.
Pros
- Balanced handling
- Strong brakes
- Refined
Cons
- No manual transmission? In a Mini?
- Low-grip tires
- Could be sportier still
So it’s come to this: The latest Mini Cooper not only does not offer a manual transmission, but this two-door Cooper S Hardtop, ostensibly among the sportier Hardtop models, lacks any manual control function for its standard automatic transmission. Shift paddles are, for now, exclusive to the track-ready 2025 Cooper Hardtop John Cooper Works (JCW) trim and four-door with the Style package.
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A misstep? Our review of the Cooper S four-door suggested as much, and this two-door Hardtop only reinforces the notion that something is going awry at once-fun-loving Mini. The lack of any sort of manualized control (be they shift paddles or a lever) of the transmission hampers some of the driving fun and much of the performance on the two-door Hardtop S, too.
Be forewarned, your author owns an R56-generation Mini Cooper JCW and is enthusiastic about the brand. The Mini Cooper Hardtop—or hatchback, if you prefer—has always been billed as a performance machine for the people. Nimble handling and a decent power-to-weight ratio meant the Cooper was fun to drive around town and on the track, and especially around an autocross course; this applied to the entry-level model all the way to its highest-performance JCW and GP trims. For cars so engaging to drive, a manual transmission—or at least manual control over an automatic—is both natural and additive to the experience.
Gimme Control!
We’re not being hyperbolic when we say the 2025 Mini Cooper S Hardtop, without manual control, leaves the driver little say in how the car performs. Look at its performance on our figure-eight skidpad. The shorter wheelbase should bring more agility and quickness relative to the longer and heavier four-door on this combined evaluation of acceleration, braking, and grip. It does, with a 25.7-second and 0.72-g average performance edging ahead of the four-door’s numbers. But getting there is frustrating and inconsistent, mostly because the shifting behavior over which you have no control is inconsistent.
On one pass, the 2025 Cooper S would find the right gear but only for the left-hand turn. On another, it would find the right gear for both turns. Then on the next run it wouldn’t find the right gear until you stomped on the brakes or throttle to convince it to shift down, disrupting the car’s momentum. Every Mini Cooper—and any with an S badge or higher—should have some sort of manual transmission control, full stop. Instead, you select drive, neutral, reverse, and park via a small rocker-switch-type tab on the dashboard.
Sport Mode Should Be for All
A Sport drive mode surely cures all ills, right? It helps, adding the tighter steering and (automated) shift controls you want when driving hard; it enables launch control to function and allows you to adjust the stability control between Sport, Sport Plus, and off settings. It would help, though, if activating Sport mode and messing with the electronic aids were easier. Drivers must fiddle their way into the Go-Kart Experience mode on the central touchscreen.
Adjusting stability control isn’t as clear to anyone new to BMW or Mini products, requiring a touch to the central gauge screen just below the speedometer display where it says “DSC.” But that’s only after first entering the Go-Kart Experience menu, and it really kills the idea that you can experience some of that fun driving experience in any of the other Experience modes. Even just being able to put the stability control into Sport Plus in the standard modes would be helpful and really liven up the driving experience without bringing along the sportier mode’s heavier steering and harsher shifting.
Grip or Slip
The tires sap some sportiness from the Cooper S, too. Although ultimate grip is high at 0.95 g on our skidpad, there simply isn’t as much bite as we’re used to from a Mini, and when accelerating and using launch control, there is still too much wheelspin, which leads to inconsistent acceleration times. Our best was a 5.9-second rip to 60 mph, quicker than the last-gen Cooper S Hardtop, despite only a mild power upgrade over that car to 201 ponies. When coming to a stop, the brakes have strong feeling and short pedal travel, but the body will shimmy on those tires and lead you to feel less confident until you know that’s normal. At least this is one area of the Cooper S that you, as the owner, will be able to change if it bothers you enough.
There Is Some of that Cooper Magic in There …
Despite all of that, there’s still some fun to be found in the 2025 Mini Cooper S. The point between cornering grip and brake balance isn’t hard to find thanks to not overly grippy tires and the howling they let out as they approach their limits. Once you find those limits, balancing the Mini on them is also easy thanks to a decent power level, good throttle response, and a clever brake-based limited-slip function that keeps the inside front tire from spinning wildly. Just hope the transmission is in the gear it needs to be in during such maneuvers.
Away from our test facility and on many of our favorite roads, the 2025 Cooper S is still a blast to drive around the canyon and curvy spots we enjoy in more powerful cars. You notice the inconsistent transmission less out in the real world, where typically no two corners are similar enough to highlight the issues we saw on our symmetrical figure-eight course.
Driving around town, the 2025 Cooper S hardtop’s smaller size leads to a much more favorable city driving experience without compromising highway performance. Even long drives aren’t much of an issue for two large dudes and luggage as long as you’re comfortable piling stuff into the diminutive rear seats and footwells (if there’s room left). The engine doesn’t drone, there isn’t much in terms of wind and road noise, and the suspension is compliant enough to live with daily. It’s markedly more refined than Minis of yore.
If you’re unconcerned with the way the 2025 Mini Cooper S performs in racy environments, it’s a great commuter car with more features to enjoy over the base model. If you’re concerned about your lap times and autocross experience, you’ll want to wait for the John Cooper Works model. Or hope that Mini comes to its senses and offers the JCW Style package for the hardtop that includes the paddle shifters ...
Having experience in many forms of the automotive industry, Justin Banner has done more than just write about cars. For more than 15 years, he's had experience working as an automotive service technician—including a stint as a Virginia State Inspector—service advisor, parts sales, and aftermarket parts technical advisor (a fancy way of saying he helped you on the phone when you had trouble fitting your brakes over your aftermarket wheels and the like). Prior to his tenure as a full-time editor, Justin worked as a freelance writer and photographer for various publications and as an automotive content creator on YouTube. He’s also covered multiple forms of motorsports ranging from Formula Drift, drag racing, and time attack, to NASCAR, short course off-roading, and open desert racing. He's best known for breaking down complex technical concepts so a layperson can more easily understand why technologies, repairs, and parts should matter to them. At MotorTrend, Justin is part of the news team covering breaking news and topics while also working as a judge for MotorTrend Of the Year events and other major comparison tests.
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