MINI Straightline Archives

Mni's get a bad rap in some of the less-accepting corners of the car world. They're not big or powerful or visually impressive, but they are fun and tossable and, in the hands of the right driver on the right road, fast. And while most of the Minis sold fall into the hands of appearance-obsessed city slickers, every so often you'd see someone driving a John Cooper Works with a Nurburgring sticker and painters tape around the grille and you just knew this guy was serious. Part of this seriousness was because the JCW was only available with a manual transmission. Great for exclusivity, bad for sales in places like LA.

Which is why, starting in July of 2012, you can now get a John Cooper Works Mini with a six-speed automatic. But wait, there's more!

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Categories: Convertibles,Coupes,Crossovers,MINI

In early May, Mini released sketches of the Editor-of-Vogue-designed, floral-print, purple Mini Roadster that looked like the prize in a Lakers giveaway.

Mini has now released official photos of the Life Ball (an AIDS charity) Roadster and, honestly, it's cooler than the photos suggested. The floral paint isn't our style per-se, but the neon colors pop and we're into the wheels for some reason. Alas, neither will be in our garage any time soon as the Mini sold at the Life Ball Auction for 54,000 euro.

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Categories: Celebrities,Convertibles,MINI

First the bad news: The new Mini Coupe will not be called the Paceman as it was when it debuted as a concept at the 2011 Detoir Auto Show. The good news is that the production version -- dubbed Countryman Coupe -- is well into the development stages and should be set for an official reveal in the next year.

Our spy photographers caught this Countryman Coupe testing in near production-ready guise that looks exactly like a two-door countryman on slightly lower suspension. The Countryman coupe will be available with a 121-horsepower inline-four or a turbocharged I4 making 181 horses. When the inevitable JCW version comes out, it will make 211 hp.

We liked the Paceman and we like the idea of a lower, sportier Countryman, but is anyone looking for a larger two-door Mini?

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Categories: Coupes,MINI,Spy Photos

Certain manufacturers love the idea of getting cozy with the youth market. They chase teens and twenty-somethings by turning out models with trick sound systems and loads of customization options, with the thinking being that the younger buyer can be defined by his love for a great stereo and a highly personalized ride. 

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Categories: Dodge,Honda,Jeep,Kia,MINI,Mazda,Mitsubishi,Nissan,Subaru,Volkswagen

Mini has been sponsoring the Life Ball since 2001 and has created 11 unique vehicles specifically for the event. Mini has paired with such international designers as Joseph Corre for Agent Provocatuer, Donatella Versace and Missoni. No doubt you'll remember last year's D-Squared Red Mudder. It was as cool as the designers were super annoying.

For this year's Life Ball event, Mini has partnered with Franca Sozzani (chief editor of Italian Vogue and UN Goodwill Ambassador for Fashion 4 Development -- as if I had to remind you) to create...this. A purple and yellow Mini Roadster than would look at home in any Lakers fan's home. "I thought at MINI as a beautiful woman who put a scarf on her head when she drivers a Roadster," she said of her sketch. The real car will be on display along with previous Life Ball cars at the Hall of Ceremonies at Vienna's Hofburg Palace where this one will later be auctioned off.

If this sketch doesn't satisfy your lust for Life Ball Minis, follow the jump for an assortment of past cars. In only of the highest res, of course.

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Categories: MINI,Tuners and Modifications

The last couple of days people have been talking a lot about this new giant lottery jackpot and what they'd do with the winnings. This is my new personal favorite: being towed behind a car in a wingsuit!

This particular stunt was performed by Mini to highlight the capabilities of the all new John Cooper Works Countryman. Here's the question though: Is it real?

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Categories: MINI,Miscellaneous,Videos

The owners of all the stylish cupcake bakeries in Los Angeles are looking at their next vehicle: the Mini Clubvan. It really doesn't matter how small or large the market is for this panel-van version of the Clubman -- this thing will be so easy and relatively cheap for Mini to build, it only makes sense to forge ahead.

And indeed, the production version will go on sale in the second half of 2012, BMW's Ian Robertson told the crowd assembled at Mini's stand at the Geneva auto show yesterday. We expect the Clubvan to find its way to the United States in early 2013.

In addition to its polycarbonate panels (in lieu of rear side glass), the Clubvan concept has a nearly 4-inch-longer wheelbase than a Clubman (100.3), and if that carries to the production car/van, it would have the longest wheelbase of any current Mini (the Countryman's wheelbase is 102.2).

The Clubvan also has no rear seats. It still has a rear-access door on the passenger side, though, so it wouldn't surprise us to see a rear bench on the options list. The partition in the concept has an aluminum base with steel grating; no doubt something like this will be an extra-cost accessory in the production Clubvan.

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Categories: Geneva Motor Show,MINI,Minivans,Wagons

We've yet to find a color scheme for the Countryman that we find truly attractive, but this 2013 Mini John Cooper Works Countryman is at least the most purposeful-looking version of the crossover that we've seen to date (short of the WRC Mini).

More importantly, there is a renewed sense of purpose under the hood: This isn't the same not-quite-powerful-enough, turbocharged, direct-injected 1.6-liter you find in every Works car. Now it has Valvetronic variable intake-valve lift, so it's making more power and torque than the last JCW Coupe we tested. BMW rates it at 160 kW and 280 Nm, which works out to 215 hp at 6,000 rpm (although Mini USA claims 211 hp) and 207 pound-feet from 2,100-5,200 rpm, plus a 221-lb-ft shot on the overboost.

Note that this is the first John Cooper Works vehicle to be available with an automatic transmission (a six-speed); it's optional. Don't worry, the six-speed manual remains standard for grocery-getter die-hards like, um, me. Of course, the auto will drag down your 0-60-mph runs. Mini estimates it will take you around 7.5 seconds, while a nice, hard launch in a manual-shift JCW Countryman should deliver you to 60 closer to 7 flat. This is also the first JCW car with all-wheel drive; it's standard.

Sales start this fall -- likely earlier in the fall for Europe and toward the end of the year for the U.S. Brief unveil video after the jump, plus more photos.

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Categories: Crossovers,Future Vehicles,Geneva Motor Show,MINI

Mini has finally answered the question that's been on everyone's mind since they first showed us the Mini Roadster. No, they didn't explain why it is in any way better than the Mini Cooper Convertible, they released pricing information! When the 2012 Mini Roadster goes on sale, it will carry a base price of $25,050. For that you get a 121 horsepower 1.6-liter I4 that makes 114 pound-feet of torque. The EPA fuel economy figures are 27/35. The Mini Roadster is available in two other trim levels, S and JCW. The S retails for $28,050 while the JCW will run $35,700.

For a base 2012 Mini Cooper convertible you can expect to pay $25,650 including destination/delivery. It seems $600 better to me, but if you really want one, the 2012 Mini Roadster goes on sale in late February.

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Categories: Convertibles,MINI

I think it's going to be a long long time before the Mini Rocketman shows up ... as in never. Car Magazine is reporting that Mini has pulled the plug on its mini Mini, the tiny city car previewed by the Rocketman concept at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

According to Car, it was determined that the investment needed to engineer such a tiny car that satisfied "current regulations" was prohibitive. Correcting problems with stability, handling and crash performance was apparently not worth it. For comparison purposes, the Rocketman concept is a foot shorter than the current Mini Cooper and 4 inches shorter than a Fiat 500.

The Rocketman would've been a 2016 model. Now have fun with that Elton John song stuck in your head all day. I know I will.

(Car Magazine) 

Categories: MINI

 In 2014 Mini is expected to launch the next generation of Mini Cooper. The new hatchback will, no doubt, feature retro Mini style in a package that some will describe as "cute." We don't have a ton to work with from this batch of spy photos, but we do get a shot of the interior which is very, very BMW-like. As in, they yanked the interior out of a 1-series and put it in here. The gauges, stalks, radio and dash layout are so boringly efficient they can only be from a BMW. We're not fans of the giant central gauge in the current Minis, but we dig the toggle switches and the quirkiness. Can Mini get away with being this...bland?

The other possibility here is that this is the interior of the BMW 1 Series GT wearing Mini skin to throw us off the trail / to test on a more developed platform. BMW is relatively mum on the issue, but will certainly be bringing a front-drive sub-1 Series hatchback/wagon thing to market in the next few years. We've heard plans of 13 new FWD BMWs in the next five years and have seen spy photos of a front-drive MPV as well. This interior (see it after the jump) makes sense in a BMW, not so much in a Mini.

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Categories: Hatchbacks,MINI,Spy Photos

The Mini Coupe is one of those cars we just can't figure out. On the one hand it's a small, sporty, 2,700-pound toy with cool looks and decent power. On the other hand, it's more expensive and, at least in John Cooper Works trim, marginally heavier than a Mini Cooper, which offers significantly more functionality.

In our First Drive of the 2012 Mini Coupe John Cooper Works, we said "...none of these things explains why the 2012 Mini Coupe disappoints. It's not about what it does, right or wrong. It's about what it does not do, namely provide you with a single serious reason to choose one over the standard hatchback."

But we weren't ready to give up on it then. We had to get it in our hands and on our track to see if the sporty looks carried over when this thing was really pushed and if it would be enough to warm us to the little coupe. Follow the jump for the full details on the Mini Coupe John Cooper Works.

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Categories: Coupes,IL Track Tested,MINI

 Recently, Mini asked its fans "what six words would sum up the best test drive ever?" for the Mini  The winner of the contest would get to live that fantasy drive. What six words did they pick?

Stewardess, Salt Flats, Paratroopers, sushi, Falconer. Yawn. Three aren't even car related! 

I would've picked: Cobblestones, Mulholland, Monaco Road Course, Nurburgring.

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Categories: MINI,Videos

 Mini and the Monster Energy X-raid Team are sending (at least) 5 Mini All4 Racing cars to compete in the 8,000+ KM 2012 Dakar race. These are the trailers they've built to tease the event, prove the capability of the Minis and generally entertain those of us who like watching cars do goofy things off road.

The first video is a fairly straight, but still impressive look at the cars and their capabilities. The second one, however, is a bit more fun. It's got X-raid driver / freeskier Guerlain Chicherit racing around the slopes of Tignes in France.

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Categories: MINI,Motorsports,Tuners and Modifications

Any reasonable person would have seen this coming: Honda and Mazda created the B-spec race class when they built racecars based on the Fit and 2, respectively, while Ford and Kia showed B-spec versions of the Fiesta and Rio at SEMA earlier this month. Now Mini has announced it will enter B-spec competition in 2012.

Per class rules, the starting point is a base Mini Cooper hardtop -- no turbo -- making the factory-tuned 121 horsepower. This particular B-spec Mini will be part of a "factory team" and driven by Brad and Robbie Davis.

You can buy a conversion kit with the requisite coil-overs, cage, braided steel brake lines and 15-inch Kosei K1 wheels and lack of seating/carpeting for any 2007-'12 Mini Cooper hatch. Or, you can pay quite a bit more and Mini will build a whole racecar for you. And if you're any good, a contingency program might help you recoup some of the initial cost.

Inside Line: Testing the 2011 Mazda 2 and 2010 Honda Fit B-Spec Racecars

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Categories: Hatchbacks,LA Auto Show,MINI,Motorsports

We've posted quite a few videos and photos of the Prodrive-built Minis that race in WRC, but there's another team of Minis (set up not at all unlike our long-term Raptor) that compete in equally obscure baja-type off-road rallies in Europe and Africa. The team, X-Raid, is based in Germany, clothed in Monster energy drink livery and factory-supported by BMW.

X-Raid will enter five brightly painted Minis (plus three BMW X3s) in the 2012 Dakar rally, which starts January 1, 2012 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, and finishes up two weeks later in Lima, Peru. Video of a really angry sounding Mini after the jump.

(X-Raid)

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Categories: MINI,Motorsports,SUVs

It feels like we already saw the 2012 Mini Roadster this summer, but those images were in fact the work of Mark Takahashi. Turns out they were incredibly close to the real thing, as the official images of the production car released this week bear a striking resemblance. The Roadster is a cloth-top version of the Mini Coupe, itself a two-seat version of the standard Mini Cooper hatchback. You'll be able to see this car in the metal if you go to the 2012 Detroit Auto Show in January.

Key points on the roadster include a manual-operated soft top that you're supposed to be able to toss over your shoulder a la Mazda Miata (the normal Mini Cooper convertible comes with a power top only) and 8.5 cubic feet of luggage space (measured to European standards) versus the 4.4 top-down/6.0 top-up you get when you're using all four seats in a normal Mini convertible. Although, folding down the Cooper convertible's seats theoretically nets you 23.3 cubic feet, so the utility argument for the Mini Roadster is... that you have to really like the idea of a two-seater with no top.

Sales start in the spring, and you can can count on all three engine options -- 121-hp base roadster, 181-hp S roadster and the 208-hp JCW roadster -- being available right at launch. The new brown interior is called Toffy, not Toffee.

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Categories: Convertibles,Detroit Auto Show,Future Vehicles,MINI

 
The steering wheel is one of the first things you see when you enter a car's cabin, and it's a part of the car that you constantly interface with during the driving experience. The best ones look great and feel even better, working in synergy with the car's themes and motifs to present a consistent message.

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Categories: Audi,BMW,Honda,Lamborghini,MINI,Mazda,McLaren,Mercedes-Benz,Volkswagen,Volvo

Marketing types know the power of a great logo. The best ones present an evocative invitation, one that perfectly reflects the brand's image.

Logos can be especially compelling in the automotive industry. 

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Categories: BMW,Ferrari,Fiat,Lamborghini,MINI,Maserati,Mercedes-Benz,Porsche

 The short list of finalists for the 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year were announced today with only a few surprises.

For NACOTY we have: Audi A6, Audi A7, Buick Verano, Chevy Sonic, Fiat 500, Chrysler 300/SRT-8, Ford Focus, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Veloster, Kia Rio/Rio5, Scion iQ, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Camry, Toyota Prius V, VW Beetle, VW Passat.

NATOTY isn't so simple and has the only surprise of the group with the addition of the Mini Countryman. Other entries in the truck field include the BMW X3, Honda CR-V, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Mini Countryman, Nissan Quest and the Saab 9-4X.

The top three in each field will be announced in December and the winners will be announced at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. I've got solid money in iQ / 9-4X, you?

Categories: Audi,BMW,Buick,Chevrolet,Ford,Honda,Hyundai,Kia,Land Rover,MINI,Mercedes-Benz,Nissan,Saab