Mini Car Blog

The UK arm of the MINI confirmed recently that they will be introducing two models to the market. Yes, two more Mini’s to crave for and love by the brand fanatics. A model that still has to be named will be one of the reveals going side by side with the MINI Coupe. The first public unveiling will be done during the 2009 motor show in Frankfurt and will roll out to dealers in a few years time.

BMW UK executives welcome the developments and sees them as good sign for their business There are also news that confirm 1000 more workers will be hired to help out with the production of the new models. It is still not clear if the other release will be the MINI roadster which has been creating some buzz the past few weeks online or the almost ready MNI Crossover.

The Coupe concept of MINI really lives up to its name. Mini as it is, there are no back seats giving it an even smaller size that comes with the smooth lines of the small car.

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Even if the rest of the world is undergoing a financial crisis and even if the car industry’s top brands are barely selling, Mini USA is expanding with new dealerships all across America. Despite BMW’s disapproval, Mini’s 17 new outlets will add up to a total of a hundred.

Mini’s new recruits include markets and cities new to the car company. Their main focus will be on Mini’s expansion and new sales. According to Jim McDowell, Mini USA’s Vice President, their goal is to increase the company’s sales to “double-digit” percentage. The expansion will also broaden Mini’s network.

It is important to note that Mini’s goal does not necessarily disclose that the demand for cars is that high. It simply denotes that the company hopes to substantially raise the demand to “double-digit” increase starting 2011. It’s definitely a big risk for Mini.

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The Mini Cooper is not really the top choice if you are looking for a sporty car with an aggressive stance. It is rather cute and that is how it is. Some people aren’t just satisfied with the Mini having that sweet appeal image so AC Schnitzer came out with a new kit to make the R57 Cooper Cabrio a cooler car.

The German tuning team modified the car’s aerodynamics, styling, suspension, and engine.

AC Schnitzer toyed with the Mini Cooper S Cabrio’s engine which normally gives out 175 horsepower and boosted it to an exciting 208 hp. The R57 also gets a limited-slip differential putting it in the same line with the variant from John Cooper Works and the Cooper S. The car is also enhanced with a chrome tailpipe sports silencer custom made by AC Schnitzer

The R57 Cooper Cabrio gets a suspension treatment with a spring kt and a suspension set-up that is height adjustable. The suspension set up makes the mini more agile in addition to the added aluminum strut brace.

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The Mini Crossover which will most likely be called Crossman was seen on a winter test run. It is evident that designers of the mini ‘ute are still working on a lot of aspects of the car after unveiling the concept in the Paris Motor Show last 2008.

The car manufacturer claims to be built on a unique platform but it still looks like the other family members of the range. The structure of the Crossman was designed to make the ride height higher and accommodate the all-wheel drive set up of the Crossman. The body of the Crossman will get its traits from the BMW X1 but the models will not look similar.

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Now being coined to as the world’s most speedy small cabriolet, the 2010 MINI John Cooper Works Convertible is now aiming to take the spotlight at the next month’s Geneva Motor Show. The ultra high-performing convertible of the John Cooper edition is powered by an engine configuration of 1.6-liter, four –cylinder unit that is made complete with turbocharger that looks like a twin scroll. It is also revved up with direct fuel injection. The convertible also produces a generous amount of 208 horsepower smoothly from 1,850 to 5,600 rpm. It can also reach a torque with its peak of 192 pound-feet that can elevate shortly while at the Overboost mode to 207 pound-feet. It has a record of an amazing 146 miles per hour, as to its top speed. The Works cars have elite speedometers that can run up to 160 miles per hour.

Alloy wheels are incorporated in this convertible that measures 17 inches. The body is molded with a Works’ aero unit and the latest Brembo calipers and plus-size discs are utilized for the braking system. Along the launch of this MINI John Cooper Works Convertible, the car manufacturer also released car accessories that are all available for the three models of “John Cooper Works”, that includes the Clubman and the hardtop Cooper. [Read more →]

The bigger Mini released to the market will have a soft top convertible version scheduled to debut during the Detroit Auto Show this January.

The chassis of the Mini was revised to give it a sporty stance and a redesigned engine bay. The front end of the vehicle resembles its hatchback predecessor while the rear portion, starting from the A pillars, was modified to house the folding soft top.

German soft top specialist, Edscha, spearheaded the realization of the metal and fabric top that can be out of view in just 15 seconds while the car is smoothly cruising at 20 mph. It can also be partially retracted to serve as a sunroof.

Car designers disclosed that the new Mini is lighter than its older brother by 22 pounds. The Cooper S registers at 2712 pounds.

Considering the safety of the riders, a roll bar is deployed when the installed sensors detect impact. An openometer is also added near the tachometer of the vehicle. The openometer is quite an odd gauge measuring how long the car has been driven with its top rolled down.

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While most of the media about MINI these days has to do with the impending MINI E, which may well be the smallest green vehicle marketed by a conventional car company, there’s other news as well. For example, this year also saw the introduction of the first MINI convertible, and there’s a rumor that a diesel-powered MINI may come to the United States.

Also forthcoming from this very British subdivision of BMW is the carmaker’s first SUV. It’s called the MINI Crossover Concept, but don’t go rushing out in search of car loans just yet, because it won’t go into production before 2010, even though prototypes disguised in scary paint jobs have been spied on the streets of England.

Despite the SUV references, and the fact that this is the largest MINI yet designed, this 4×4 car is still only 4 meters (about 156 inches) long, putting it just a hair longer than the MINI Cooper Clubman that debuted earlier this year, but keeping it about 20 inches shorter than a Honda Civic sedan.

Aside from the size, other innovations in this new MINI, which was first seen at the 2008 Paris Auto Show this summer, will be the marque’s first for-wheel drive, making it a major selling point for aficionados in places where there’s actual winter. The concept pictures show single seats in the back, and most analysts believe that will change to a more conventional rear bench on the production models of the car. The concept version also has 3D touch displays.

Other details of the concept car that may be changed for production include the asymmetrical door configuration, which includes two short front-hinged doors on the right side of the car, and a longer front-hinged door plus a parallel-opening shorter door on the left (the latter at the rear of the car.) As well, the hatch is designed to open from the right, and incorporates a retractable window, to make hauling longer items more possible.

Neither platforms nor power-trains have been confirmed, but it’s generally assumed that this car will be a variation of the MINI Clubman’s design, though it features a modified MacPherson-strut front end and a tweaked multilink rear suspension that cause the body to sit higher than usual, though this is less obvious on the concept version because it was shown with 18-inch wheels. Experts are assuming that production models will ship with smaller wheels.

As to engines, again, it is expected that one of those used in the MINI Cooper Clubman will be used.
It should be noted that this car is being listed as a MINI Crossover Concept, at present, and does not have the Cooper name anywhere, which may be intentional, as a bid to the die-hard traditionalists who abhor the thought of MINI making an SUV.

There will be 500 Mini E’s cruising in daily traffic that will make BMW Group the first manufacturer to deploy premium cars for private driving. The Mini is looking for around 500 drivers from New Jersey, New York, and California to lease the car.

The price of the lease was not revealed but insiders say it will be more than $500 monthly inclusive of maintenance and parts replacement. The number of cars to be leased will be kept limited to assure proper maintenance and service by 16 dealers from the east and west coast.

So far almost 10000 people have signed up for the Mini E but applications are still being taken since delivery of the cars will start midway in January.

The Mini E is scheduled to debut in the forthcoming Los Angeles Auto Show. The Mini E will be featured as a concept car under the umbrella of BMW AG Project which aims to produce low-emission vehicles that may be developed as another brand. The company though has not made any declarations that the Mini E will be a production car.

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Fun video of a Mini Cooper S with oneball mod. That’s not a bad sound, is it?

The Mini isn’t known for being one of the largest or longest vehicles on the road. We know that, you know that. Still, this 20 feet Mini XXL Limo is one of the most extravagant Mini-mods I’ve ever seen, and part of the reason why it’s so amazing is that this Mini Limousine is pretty fast too…

It’s got the Works Mini Cooper S engine and tuning kit — which gives it the extra oompf it needs to drag its six meters of Mini-beauty around any city.

I like the extra axle and wheels.

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