^^ funny you say that because in an article i was reading today (in the Carlisle Custom Compact Nationals program), they said that the cooper is the first REAL "pocket rocket" since the MKII GTi's.

speaking of that article though....

they put an SVT Focus up against the Cooper S. they put them to work on a road course. drove each for 30 minutes straight, looking for the best lap time. the Cooper S was fine for the first 15 minutes, then it started to get pretty soft feeling. tires weren't grabbing as they were, brakes were getting softer, etc, etc. so they let it cool down for a few minutes, to give it one last bang... still didn't improve much. the SVT on the other hand held out all 30 minutes, never really gave up too much. after all was said and done, the SVT came out as the victor, but not by much. i was actually kinda shocked. when i first saw the article, i expected the S to win the matchup. hmm... go figure.