New Mini Cooper vs. old Mini Cooper: which is better?

Should you buy the 2024 Mini Cooper?

The new Mini Cooper C 3-Door might look like an evolution of the previous-generation car, but it's much more than that.

Outside, the 2024 Mini Cooper gets a revamped look (especially at the rear), while inside it's been positively transformed with a bespoke digital infotainment system and a new dashboard.

This F66 Cooper feels like a big departure from what's come before, which begs the question: Is it a true 21st-century Mini?

The best way to answer that question is to introduce the new 2024 Mini Cooper to the original BMW offering – the R50 Mini Cooper from 2001 (so it's a modern classic in its own right).

With a 1,075kg kerb weight and peppy 115hp 1.6-litre petrol engine, the manual gearbox R50 was - and still is - a real hoot to drive, even in an urban environment.

• Are Mini Coopers reliable?

The new automatic gearbox-only car might not be much bigger on the ground (its wheelbase is just 29mm longer than the R50's), but it is much heavier, tipping scales at 1,335kg, thanks in no small part to its more substantial front crash structure and the extra tech aboard this 2024 Mini.

It does at least have much more muscle, with 156hp produced by its turbocharged 1.5-litre engine.

That punch ensures power-to-weight is up in the F66 versus the much lighter R50, with the former producing 124hp-per-tonne, compared to the latter's 107hp-per-tonne.

That translates into a quicker 0-62mph time of 7.7 seconds for the 2024 Cooper, which easily beats the 2001-2006 model's 9.2 seconds.

Straight-line speed is only ever part of the equation when it comes to fun in a Cooper.

• Read our Mini Cooper review

That brings us to our video, where Sam Sheehan considers fun, engagement and usability in evaluating whether this new F66 Mini Cooper C looks, feels and drives like a proper BMW-era Mini.

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