Look who's here: 2007 BMW Mini Cooper

The Mini Cooper is an e-ticket carnival ride that can dry out wet pavement with its outstanding handling. The shortest car on the road, it can be parked in the smallest of places. Yet it seats four, with unexpectedly roomy back seats, and it can carry a generous amount of cargo. Its bulldog stance still generates smiles, four years after its introduction as a 2002 model. Engineered by BMW, the Mini Cooper is a high-quality piece of equipment, as solid as any German sedan. And it brags a multitude of passive and active safety systems. While BMW has made some minor changes to the styling of its popular midget car, the big news for the next-generation Mini will be the complete overhaul of its engine range. BMW has designed a new series of all-aluminum twin-cam engines with French company Peugeot, at least two of which will appear in the "Mini 2."

While the capacity will remain the same at 1.6 liters, the engines themselves are expected to be vast improvements over the hastily designed Tritec engines that Chrysler originally provided for the vehicles. The Mini Cooper reaches its peak 120 horsepower output at 6,000 rpm and peak torque of 118 lb-ft at 4,250 rpm. It features Valvetronic technology for an added edge over the previous model. The turbocharged Cooper S makes 175 hp at 5,500 rpm, and peak torque of 177 lb-ft comes at just 1,600 rpm. BMW is considering retaining a 115-hp engine as an option for the standard Cooper. In addition to the above mentioned engines, other changes include a new and slightly longer body, new sheet metal, a revised grille and upgraded interior materials.