THERE are many cars that I enjoy driving - and they aren't always the ultra-quick sportsters.

Those can often be far too teeth rattling in the ride department to live with every day, even though they are huge fun.

But the latest MINI Cooper is just about perfect - a cracking little car in almost every way, with a willing and tuneful engine and a whole range of other strengths in its arsenal.

The standard car rides on 15-inch wheels and tyres, which look good and give tremendous grip and road holding.

But the optional 17-inch wheels have ultra low profile tyres that spoil the ride comfort quite considerably, without any marked improvement in looks or in the fantastic road holding.

The Cooper is now powered by MINI's latest 1.5 turbo petrol or diesel three cylinder engines, both of which are excellent.

I drove the petrol, which is smooth and tuneful and pulls hard from very low revs, giving huge urge from standstill or for overtaking when on the move.

It drives the front wheels through a lovely six-speed manual gearbox, with a change that's a delight.

Acceleration from almost any speed is electrifying - in fact, it's so good I could wonder why anyone would buy the Cooper S.

The handling is brilliant, with joystick point and shoot steering giving pretty good feel on the move.

And it grips the road like wrestler's handshake, never even feeling as though it might slide.

Economy is superb driven carefully, and emissions are very low - approaching those of diesel cars.

Inside, there's only really room for three with a normal sized driver because there's no legroom behind him or her.

Speedo and tacho are viewed through the steering wheel and the big centre dial, that mimicked the speedo in the first Minis, is now used for the stereo and no doubt the sat-nav when fitted.

The boot has a false floor making it a decent size and the hip and back hugging seats are just about perfect for me.

Equipment is good, but some items that should be standard at this level, like climate control, cruise and rear parking sensors, are extra.

There is a bewildering myriad of extras available to personalize, but they add considerably to the price.