I Bought An R53 Mini Cooper S Because There's No Better Small, Fast Car For £2k

The supercharged first-generation Mini Cooper S is unbeatable as far as small fast cars go in this price bracket
I Bought An R53 Mini Cooper S Because There's No Better Small, Fast Car For £2k

Having spent several years telling people what cool cars I’ve found in the classifieds they should buy, I’ve done the honourable thing and actually bought one myself. I’ve somehow gone nearly six years without changing my own car, but with a mounting list of issues on the family MkV VW Golf GTI I simply don’t have the time/inclination/knowhow to fix, 2020 seemed like a good year to switch things up.

The remit was fairly straightforward: under £2000, small (it’ll be parked up in a narrow garage where bikes and other stuff are also stored), relatively powerful and interesting. Quickly, I came to a conclusion: an R53 Mini Cooper S nails the remit better than any other car. And so, after several frustrating weeks and eight different examples later (more on that another time), I shook hands on the 2006 Pepper White Cooper S you see here.

I Bought An R53 Mini Cooper S Because There's No Better Small, Fast Car For £2k

To explain why I’m adamant this is by far the best choice, we’ll have a look at the alternatives. Some sort of hot Renault Clio might have worked, but 197s haven’t depreciated enough yet. Meanwhile, the supply of sub-£2000 182s has dried up, with rust, crashes and other maladies killing off much of the UK population.

Contemporary options from Peugeot and Ford aren’t much good in stock form - the celebrated 208 GTI and sixth-gen Fiesta ST came much later than the R53 and as such are both way over-budget. EP3 Honda Civic Type Rs are small enough to be considered, but again, not for under £2000.

I Bought An R53 Mini Cooper S Because There's No Better Small, Fast Car For £2k

The closest possible alternative I can think of is a Suzuki Swift Sport. But if we bring my ‘interesting’ stipulation into the equation, the R53 bests it on every level. A supercharged 1.6-litre inline-four is more exotic than a naturally-aspirated one of the same configuration, not to mention considerably more powerful. While Swift’s interior is horribly dull, the Mini’s is a mood-lightening retro-fest with a comedy value giant speedometer and cool toggle switches. It’s the better-looking car from the outside too.

In fact, I think it’s aged brilliantly, thanks in part to the modern Mini not changing a whole lot since its introduction way back in 2002. The changes that have been made to the hatch over the two subsequent generations were arguably backwards steps anyway, leaving the R53 looking fresh and unfussy. Most importantly, estate agents have long since moved onto the newer models. Thank god.

The R53 Mini Cooper S has an Eaton Roots-type supercharger, so yes, it whines!
The R53 Mini Cooper S has an Eaton Roots-type supercharger, so yes, it…

But the R53 is more than just a cute, retro-styled hatch with a bit of straight-line performance. The steering, unlike the setups in most modern hot hatches, actually offers genuine feedback. Traction is excellent even on non-LSD-equipped cars, and body roll is minimal. It even has a proper independent rear suspension setup, a configuration shared by - as it happens - the Swift Sport, but few other small performance cars.

It’s not all good news, of course. The ride - even with run-flat tyres ditched - is pretty shocking, and it’s a noisy thing at motorway speeds. There’s also a surprisingly long list of common faults (we’ll be going through these for our incoming buyer’s guide), and although a lot of issues were ironed out for the 2004-on facelift, there are still lots of potential problems you may run into.

I Bought An R53 Mini Cooper S Because There's No Better Small, Fast Car For £2k

None of that should put you off. The R53 Mini Cooper S is quick, involving, good to look at and has an interior that’ll make you smile. But most importantly, it’s easy to love - I’m already besotted with mine.

Comments

Olivier (CT's grammar commie)

Phil is going to seem like a reliable car with no history when compared to the R53 lol

02/11/2020 - 18:14 |
44 | 0

Thanks for the positive note 😂

02/11/2020 - 18:28 |
8 | 0
Rotary Fanboy

The toyota corolla ts is pretty cheap too

02/11/2020 - 19:15 |
0 | 0

C-segment though - too big. I wanted to drop a size down from the Golf

02/11/2020 - 19:17 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

2006 is a very good year for R50/52/53. Congrats and take good care of it!

02/11/2020 - 19:43 |
0 | 0
Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Thanks! Why is 2006 a good year specifically? I did target an 04-on given all the issues that were sorted in the facelift

02/11/2020 - 19:55 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Enjoy Matt. Obviously the best thing about the R53 is how individual it can be and how easy it is to modify with lots of parts available in the UK. Try the R53 Owners Club on Facebook - really great community that will help out with advice if you ever need it. Also highly recomend MiniTorque.com

02/12/2020 - 08:22 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Thanks for the shout out man

02/13/2020 - 06:41 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

Still the best looking “new” Mini. Had 2 of them. The subsequent ones have go uglier and uglier. Current generation is gopping!

02/12/2020 - 09:51 |
0 | 0
Giulio Verdiraimo

I own a 2006 Cooper S Park Lane (that’s essentially a normal S with more upscaled leather seats and chrome bits and pieces EVERYWHERE) that my dad bought from new, and it’s been almost flawless in the last 14 years.
I had only one “major” problem with it - the crankshaft pulley broke just less than a mile from my mechanic, so 300 euros after I was ready to whine again! You’ll never regret the purchase, that little whiney thing is an endless fun machine, even in the darkest of days you simply drop a couple of gears and the smile is immediate. Great car Matt, that obviously has its own cons, like the same brakes of the R50 Cooper and One and the atrocious fuel consumption (my overall medium consumption is 11 l/100km), but I can’t wait to read more about your R53 experience 😍

02/12/2020 - 12:30 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

In Italy would cost 6k Euro :(

02/12/2020 - 15:04 |
0 | 0
Cam Kennedy

I’m a few months out from buying a new car after crashing my Xterra and ironically the two choices were a GTI and Cooper S. I’d love to hear which you prefer and why!

02/12/2020 - 18:26 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Brought an R53 over 3 years ago, with preventative maintenece and then modifications its never let me down and I love it, started R53 Owners club 2 years ago with my mate Kris and haven’t looked back, its a great community with loads of advice and good laughs :)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/about/

02/13/2020 - 06:40 |
0 | 0

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