“Hey, I know, how about we take our small crossover and get rid of two doors?”
You can imagine in the case of the 2013 Mini Paceman Cooper S, this conversation took place in a bar instead of a boardroom. Or maybe an English pub.
Using the Mini Countryman crossover as its the starting point, BMW’s cheeky Anglo-Teutonic brand lowered and stretched the Countryman to turn it into the Paceman coupe. What’s so different about it? Besides the doors, it boasts more athletic styling, comes standard with the Sport suspension that Mini charges $500 for in the Countryman, and has two buckets in back instead of a bench.
Looking like a larger Mini Cooper hatchback that hung out with Lance Armstrong for a few years–but not 2004 or 2005, allegedly–the all-new Paceman is an answer to a question nobody asked. Or is it? Never destined to be the top-seller of the Mini range, the automaker says there’s definitely a place for it. That’s up to its marketing guys to figure out, though, not us.
Our question: Is it any good? Mini invited us to Puerto Rico, heavily leaning on its “Not Normal” brand philosophy, to drive the Paceman Cooper S. Not only does the crossover fall well into the brand mission, but so did the scenery, traversing backroads that make Detroit’s look well-kempt and highways that had us weaving in and out of local traffic that was moving at a pace well under the speed limit.
Not normal, definitely. But in a good way. Follow the link here to read our First Drive of the 2013 Mini Paceman Cooper S.
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