COOPER DUPER; Big changes to a little treasure.

Byline: RICHARD HAMMOND

THE New Mini is about to be replaced, which makes this the New, New Mini. It might be instantly recognisable, but every single external panel is fresh for this model.

As a result, it does have a different, meaner look - sort of longer and lower. This has been achieved, rather cleverly, by making it slightly longer and lower.

But the main visual change has been done by raising the line where the bottom edges of the windows meet the car - what designer types call the car's "waistline".

This model has had the full Simon Cowell treatment and its trousers have been hitched up until its armpits squeak. That is what makes it look beefier.

It feels subtly different inside, too. The leather is thicker and more supple, and there's an upper class atmosphere despite the funky looking layout.

Car makers are always banging on about large car luxury in a small car package, but BMW may well have actually pulled it off with this one.

But enough about the seats and the waistline. I've got my licence back from the doctors, so I can actually drive the thing. There's a fiddly key-fob arrangement which you slot into the dash by the steering wheel and then press a starter button. That fires up a new 1.6-litre engine which, in this Cooper S form, promises a thumping 175bhp along with improved fuel consumption and lower emissions.

One satisfying thing about the old New Mini was that it always drove as it looked like it should. The go-kart-like feel and nippy-around-town qualities that you expected were there in spadefuls.

This New New Mini delivers just as satisfyingly. The suspension is comfy enough not to trouble elderly passengers, while still giving plenty of feedback through the steering wheel and the seat of your pants.

It may look cutesy, but this is a proper little sports car. Perhaps that's why BMW has fitted a speedo so big you can see it from space. The last New Mini had a dial the size of a dinner plate. This one is like sitting an inch from Big Ben's face. My six-year-old daughter, who was fixated with the huge dial, read out my speed as a sort of rolling reminder of how fast I was going.

Of course, she just wanted the numbers to go higher, but I knew better, miserable old spoil-sport that I am. Had I not been such a spoilsport, it could dash from 0-60mph in 7.1 seconds and on to a top speed of more than 130mph.

The "S" in "Cooper S", used to stand for super-charger. Well, now it should be called the "Cooper T", because the supercharger has been swapped for a turbo. But it still makes the same low-level whine it did when it had a supercharger under the bonnet. As for worries about turbo-lag, they've fitted a twin-scroll turbo set-up, so you get a pretty even power delivery across the rev range.

It does many clever things, the new New Mini, but it will never be cheap.

The basic Cooper S starts at just under 16k. Bung on a few gizmos and you'll see no change from 20 grand.

But being cheap is not one of the things it promises to do, so you can't hold that against it.

THE RIVALS

RENAULT CLIO 197 No turbo, but lots of power. It is more spacious than the Mini - and just as much fun to drive.

pounds 15,995

SEAT LEON FR It also has 197bhp. Interesting styling and entertaining to drive. Lots of equipment and roomy inside.

pounds 16,995

ALFA ROMEO 147 2.0TS LUSSO Only 150bhp so it can't keep up with these rivals. But it has plenty of Italian style to make up for it.

pounds 16,650

THE FACTS

MINI COOPER S

Four-seat hatchback

Price: pounds 15,995

Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo, 173bhp

0-62mph: 7.1sec

Fuel consumption: 40.9mpg

CAPTION(S):

BEEFIER: The revamped Mini Cooper S and (right) its huge speedometer