Mini Cooper S

Price as tested: $36,250

2.0 Liter Turbo 4 Cylinder

189 HP / 207 TQ

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Quickly think of sporty and yet affordable small cars and you will probably come up with the following:

— Civic Si/Type R

— GTI/Golf R

—Veloster N/Elantra N

What is missing from this list is the granddaddy of them all…the Mini Cooper S. The original proveyor of all things hot and hatch, the Mini Cooper original formula of a box o’fun on wheels is something that has withstood the test of time. Sure the German, Japanese and Korean rivals score points on affordability, scootability and reliability but there is a playfulness in the Cooper that none of them can match.

That playfullness can be further translated into this:

Let’s go ahead and break it down: