The August 2007 edition of Car and Driver tests 13 street cars on the track. The 2007 MCS is one of the vehicles tested. Their comments on the MCS are as follows,

"With the least power and straight-line speed among the entries this time, it's not surprising that the Mini Cooper S turned in the slowest lap time of 3:22.9. But that's still a good bit faster than the times we extracted from the Volkswagen GTI (3:25.1), Honda Civic Si (3:26.5), and Mazda MX-5 (3:29.3) last year. Furthermore, the Cooper S turned its laps with style. The Mini's steering is on the heavy side, but the car turns in eagerly and accurately. It also has an exceptionally responsive degree of lift-throttle oversteer that helps position the car, providing a driver has a developed sufficient sensitivity in his right foot. A limited-slip differential to reduce wheel from the inside tire would help acceleration from slow-speed corners, but overall, the Mini is a willing and satisfying player on the track."

The Cooper S was not equipped with a limited-slip differential as noted in the review, which would have improved the Cooper's performance.

The Cooper S was matched against a MazdaSpeed 3 which turned in a time of (3:16.0) and a Pontiac Solstice GXP (3:15.7).

All in all Car and Driver's comments are much more positive than their previous review of the Cooper S. In my opinion, this latest review is a more accurate appraisal of the Cooper S.

Thoughts ...?

 

I think the tires were all seasons as well.

 

In the beginning of the article, they stated that they asked the manufacturers to supply them with their best wheel/tire & brake combinations....Is MINI USA telling us that the 16"' wheels & tires are the best for auto x?

 

I'm never quite sure how these tests actually relate to my little trips about town, but I do find them interesting nonetheless. Thanks for sharing!!

 

I can tell you from personal experience that MINI USA is so stretched for press cars right now that there is typically no choice available. What they have in the fleet is pretty much all you can get.