Despite being 33 years old, I’m still wildly immature and I’m perfectly aware of it. I’m not always proud of it but I can’t help what makes me laugh, ya know? Which is why I’m here to admit that my first thought upon seeing this next-gen MINI Cooper S doing some hot laps around the Nürburgring was that its single, center-mounted exhaust pipe looks like a butthole. (We don’t own the spy photos but they can be seen here)
In some recent spy photos, the MINI Cooper S was seen lapping the ‘Ring while wearing MINI’s now-signature yellow camouflage. Since all MINI hatchbacks look the same, you’d be forgiven for not realizing which MINI it was. However, there are a few things that give its ‘S’ nature away. One of which is the wheel design. This specific test car sports some snazzy shoes that don’t look like they belong to a base model MINI. The other is its roof spoiler, which looks almost MINI GP-like. So it’s clearly a sportier model.
We admittedly don’t need to be looking into its camouflaged design too much, as MINI already revealed the electric Cooper SE and it looks rather good. Interestingly, this test mule has different taillights than the fully-revealed electric car we saw. So either the electric one will have different taillights or MINI made fake ones for this test mule. However, this is the first time we’re seeing the poo-shoot exhaust design for the Cooper S and it’s just funny.
Admittedly, this MINI is far from the only car to ever have a single, center exhaust pipe. Plenty of other cars have had such designs in the past, classics from the ’60s and ’70s. But this is the first I can recall seeing such a design on a modern car.
If this is indeed the MINI Cooper S (who knows, maybe it’s a standard Cooper with a JCW package), then it will have a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and will pair with either an seven-speed dual-clutch auto or (hopefully) a six-speed manual. It’s unclear if the MINI Cooper S will the same 48-volt mild-hybrid tech as other four-pot Bimmers but that seems likely. Either way, it should be a punchy little thing and the last bastion of small, internal combustion MINI Cooper fun. As excited for the electric version as many of us are, I think we can all say that we’ll miss the gas-powered version when it’s gone.
[Source: Motor1]
