Eric's Autos: 2025 Mini Cooper

If you are looking for a small car, there are just a few left to choose among -- and only one that's instantly recognizable and like none of the rest.

It's the Mini.

What It Is

The Mini is the iconically British three-door hatchback made by BMW. The modern -- BMW-built -- iteration is actually a larger car than the original Mini Cooper of the '60s, but the new one's still very small relative to other new cars. To give you some idea, the 2025 Mini three-door hatchback is about 3 feet shorter, end to end, than a current compact sedan like the 2025 Honda Civic.

Even so, the Mini is comparatively practical because it is hatchback and because -- unlike many sporty coupes -- it has a comparatively tall roofline, which provides decent backseat headroom, such that adults can sit upright back there rather than hunched forward.

It is also, of course, a unique-looking car -- and that is no small thing in today's market.

Prices start at $28,950 for the base Signature trim, which comes standard with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. A top-of-the-line S Iconic comes with a more powerful version of the same engine, paired with the same transmission, contrast color exterior paint, a Harman Kardon premium audio system and an interior camera system that can be used to take photos/videos of you while you're driving.

It lists for $36,300.

There is also a four-door version of the Mini that's not as mini and also offers a high-performance John Cooper Works trim centered on a high-performance iteration of the 2.0-liter engine.

What's New For 2025

The Mini gets a major makeover -- but you'll need to look inside (and under the hood) to notice the changes. There's an all-new interior that's more minimalist than before, with most of the secondary systems that used to be controlled by toggles and switches now controlled via a single, centrally mounted 9.4-inch touch screen display.

There's also a new -- and larger -- standard four-cylinder engine that replaces last year's standard three-cylinder engine.

And there's no more manual transmission. All 2025 Minis are -- at least for now -- automatic only.

What's Good

-- No more three-cylinder engine.

-- More personality than most.

-- More practical than you might expect.

What's Not So Good

-- No more manual transmission.

-- Interior layout is more Spartan-looking.

-- No JCW option for the three-door.

Under the Hood

Last year's Mini had a very mini engine -- in that there wasn't much of one. Just three cylinders, 1.5 liters and 134 horses -- which isn't much to move a car that's as surprisingly heavy (about 2,700 pound) as the Mini is. For perspective, a '70s-era Beetle -- which was about the same overall size -- weighed about 1,800 pounds and had a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine!

For 2025, the Mini gets a more appropriately sized -- and powerful -- engine. It's a 2.0-liter four -- turbocharged -- that makes 161 horsepower. The new engine is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic that shifts faster than a conventional automatic.

On the downside, the new engine -- as well as the optional engine -- comes only with the seven-speed automatic. Last year's Mini was available with a six-speed manual.

The 2025 Mini's optional engine is a 201-horsepower version of the same 2.0-liter four, also paired with the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Interestingly, there is no gas mileage difference between these engines -- despite the significant horsepower (and performance) difference. The standard Mini -- with the 161-horsepower version of the 2.0-liter four -- touts an EPA rating of 28 mpg city, 39 mpg highway; Minis with the 201-horsepower iteration of the same basic engine rate exactly the same mileage.

Also of interest is that last year's much smaller -- and much less powerful -- 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine only delivered 27 mpg city, 38 mpg highway.

On the Road

The smallness of the Mini is a big part of what makes this little car such fun to drive. And so easy to park. It fits in spots too small for a truck or an SUV -- probably because there's another truck or SUV parked in the adjacent spot. You might be able to fit your truck or SUV beside it -- but good luck getting out (or back into) your truck or SUV.

No such problems with the Mini.

Out on the road, it's even more fun because the Mini is small enough to make use of openings in traffic that aren't big enough for a truck or SUV or even a compact sedan to exploit. But the Mini zips in -- and around -- those lumbering slow-movers.

Speaking of slow-moving ...

Equipped with its new (larger/stronger) 2.0-liter base engine, the '25 Mini gets to 60 mph in about 7.4 seconds, which is about a second quicker than the '24 Mini with the smaller, much less potent three-cylinder. Put another way, it is no longer a near-necessity to pay extra for the optional engine to get a Mini that moves. It is now a matter of how much more quickly you'd like to move.

Equipped with its optional engine, the '25 Mini gets to 60 mph in about six seconds. The turbo'd engine is both punchy and revvy -- and in Sport mode, it sounds almost like a V8. You can alter the sound via selecting the Experience, of which there are several. It's not just the sound that changes, either. The look of the center-mounted display changes too. Colors, fonts and readouts to suit.

At the Curb

As already mentioned, the Mini is just that. But for such a little car, it is impressively roomy -- for people and for cargo. There's 30.8 inches of backseat legroom as one measure of this and to put that in perspective, a Ford Mustang coupe has 29 inches of backseat legroom and just 34.8 inches of headroom due to the sloping roofline.

The Mini has 36.3 inches of headroom back there. It also has 34.4 cubic feet of cargo capacity (with its backseats folded down) -- more than twice the space available in the Mustang's 13.5-cubic-foot trunk. The Mini's available space is also more accessible -- and usable -- because of the box shape of the Mini and the wide-opening hatchback.

Those are some of the objectively positive things about the Mini.

The new interior is another thing.

More finely, the new dash/instrument cluster and secondary controls are different things.

The Mini used to have a dash/instrument cluster that cleverly blended '60s retro looks with modern controls. For example, there were old-school style (and very Brit-feeling) chromed toggle switches to turn various things on or off and -- in front of the driver -- a traditional-looking (and British car-looking) round analog speedo and meters with a big round LCD display to the right that was also modern but retro-looking too.

Now there is just a big round disc -- the 9.3-inch LCD touch screen -- and nothing much else. Almost all the secondary controls (and all of the readouts) are in that single glowing LCD disc. There is nothing ahead of the driver except the dashboard -- unless you count the virtual/holographic heads-up display that project speed and a few other things in the driver's line of sight.

The Rest

The Mini has gotten pricey -- even the base trim, which is now priced just shy of $29,000. As recently as five years ago, a new Mini cost just $23,400 to start. Some of the uptick is of course due to inflation, but a lot of it is also due to the 2025 Mini coming standard with more near-luxury equipment -- e.g., heated seats and steering wheel, panorama sunroof, LED headlights and that seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Regardless, the higher base price makes it harder for the young people who are this car's natural buyer demographic to buy a new Mini, which is something BMW might want to consider.

The Bottom Line

It's still very cute -- and surprisingly practical. But it's less Mini in some ways -- and that includes what it costs.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.