Compare the2023 Honda Civic Type RVS 2023 MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door

Safety
Warranty
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Honda Civic Type R are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Civic Type R deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Civic Type R’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

The Civic Type R’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Civic Type R’s standard Cross Traffic Monitor uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.

Both the Civic Type R and the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Honda Civic Type R is safer than the MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door:

	Civic Type R	Cooper Hardtop 2 Door
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	30%	36%
Neck Stress	241 lbs.	318 lbs.
Neck Compression	23 lbs.	60 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	189/372 lbs.	261/454 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Honda Civic Type R is safer than the MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door:

	Civic Type R	Cooper Hardtop 2 Door
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	195	293
Chest Movement	.7 inches	1.1 inches
Hip Force	286 lbs.	352 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	3 Stars
HIC	268	704
Spine Acceleration	79 G’s	80 G’s
Hip Force	516 lbs.	935 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	12 inches
HIC	260	315
Hip Force	805 lbs.	912 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

Honda’s powertrain warranty covers the Civic Type R 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than MINI covers the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 10 times as many Honda dealers as there are MINI dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Civic Type R’s warranty.

Engine

The Civic Type R’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 181 more horsepower (315 vs. 134) and 148 lbs.-ft. more torque (310 vs. 162) than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder. The Civic Type R’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 126 more horsepower (315 vs. 189) and 104 lbs.-ft. more torque (310 vs. 206) than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door S’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder. The Civic Type R’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 87 more horsepower (315 vs. 228) and 75 lbs.-ft. more torque (310 vs. 235) than the John Cooper Works Hardtop’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Honda Civic Type R is faster than the MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door (manual transmissions tested):

	Civic Type R	Cooper Hardtop 2 Door turbo 3 cyl.	Cooper Hardtop 2 Door S
Zero to 60 MPH	4.9 sec	7.3 sec	6.8 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	12.1 sec	20.7 sec	16.8 sec
Quarter Mile	13.5 sec	15.8 sec	15.1 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	106 MPH	89 MPH	95 MPH
Top Speed	169 MPH	132 MPH	146 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Civic Type R uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended for maximum performance). The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Civic Type R has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Civic Type R’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door:

	Civic Type R	Cooper Hardtop 2 Door	John Cooper Works Hardtop
Front Rotors	13.8 inches	11 inches	13.2 inches
Rear Rotors	12 inches	10.2 inches	10.2 inches

The Civic Type R stops much shorter than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door:

	Civic Type R	Cooper Hardtop 2 Door
70 to 0 MPH	151 feet	191 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	104 feet	113 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Civic Type R has larger tires than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door (265/30R19 vs. 195/55R16). The Civic Type R’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door (265/30R19 vs. 205/40R18).

The Civic Type R’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 30 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door’s standard 55 series tires. The Civic Type R’s tires are lower profile than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door’s optional 40 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Civic Type R has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Civic Type R’s wheelbase is 9.5 inches longer than on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door (107.7 inches vs. 98.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Civic Type R is 5.2 inches wider in the front and 4.7 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door.

The Civic Type R Touring handles at 1.04 G’s, while the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door S pulls only .84 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

Passenger Space

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Civic Type R a Large car, while the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door is rated a Subcompact.

The Civic Type R has standard seating for 5 passengers; the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door can only carry 4.

The Civic Type R has 18.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door (99 vs. 80.3).

The Civic Type R has .9 inches more front legroom, .9 inches more front hip room, 6.4 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, 6.6 inches more rear legroom and 8.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door.

Ergonomics

The Civic Type R’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door John Cooper Works does not have a temperature gauge.

The Civic Type R’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

The Civic Type R’s standard power windows have a locking feature to keep children from operating them. MINI does not offer a locking feature on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door’s standard power windows.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Civic Type R has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The Civic Type R Sedan has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

The Civic Type R has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning costs extra on the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door.

For greater rear passenger comfort, the Civic Type R has standard rear heat vents to keep rear occupants more comfortable. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door doesn’t offer rear vents.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Honda Civic Type R has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) for the front seat. Only the Cooper Hardtop 2 Door Iconic offers wireless charging.

Recommendations

The Civic was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2023 and 8 more times in the last 39 years. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Civic as the 2022 North American Car of the Year. The Cooper Hardtop 2 Door has never been chosen.

The Honda Civic outsold the MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door by over 13 to one during 2022.

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