Mini News

The team of 28 gym members squashed and squeezed their way into a 2012 Mini Hatch yesterday in London, UK, to make it into the Guinness World Records.Getting four people just into the boot space of the Min, they went on to use every available pocket of room in the car, including folding bodies into the footwells and across the dashboard.The successful bid broke the record they set last year with 27 people, but that wasn’t enough for the women.After unfolding from the Mini Hatch – and gulping a few mouthfuls of fresher air – they hightailed it for a television studio, where 23 of them set a second record for the number of people in a much smaller classic Mini from the 1960s.The stunts were part of the eighth annual Guinness World Records Day, which saw 4000 people around the world try to make it into the record book.Australia was represented by 15-year-old Lachlan Phelps from Scone, NSW, who set the record for the longest note blown on a didgeridoo -- without using the continuous circular breathing technique – blasting past the previous 60 second record with a 65.66-sec note. 

This car, caught by Carparazzi, is regular Mini but with extra rear doors to make it more family friendly. European sources say it is part of the third-generation Mini family and should be ready for showrooms in the second half of next year at around $50,000. 

The once staunch rear-wheel drive car maker says it will use its new front-drive platform for future BMW models - including the Concept Active Tourer on display at this week's Paris motor show - and for the new Mini. The new Mini Cooper, expected in early 2014, will be the first to use the shared platform that is called UKL. Speaking at the Paris show, BMW board member Ian Robertson indicated a range of front-drive models with the BMW badge that could arrive together in 2014. “One of the big advantages of UKL is that we are able to launch a lot of products almost simultaneously because we are doing the engineering at once,” Robertson says. In reference to the Concept Active Tourer, he says: “This is the first car that we are showing.” BMW is on record as saying the premium small car market will become the fastest growing segment because it offered flexibility in design, spaciousness and a compact footprint. “We will attract a broad profile of customers, from young families to people entering the later phase of life,” Robertson says. “You get a lot of flexibility.”

The JCW Countryman is the first performance model of the range to come with Mini ALL4 all-wheel drive. Power comes from a newly developed four-cylinder, turbocharged 1.6-litre engine with 160 kW/280Nm (300Nm with overboost).It's the most powerful drive unit in the Mini range, featuring construction principles and materials adapted specially from race-trim cars. There's a combination of twin-scroll turbocharger, petrol direct injection and fully variable valve management based on the BMW Group's Valvetronic technology.It gives the JCW Countryman acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.0 seconds and stand-out efficiency in this output class. Mini also uses plenty of its ‘Minimalism’ fuel saving technology including brake energy regeneration, gear shift indicator, auto start-stop function and electric power steering. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard with a six-speed auto optional. It has steering wheel shift paddles. Other standard kit includes a sports exhaust that produces a stirring soundtrack and a Sport button that tweaks the engine's responses and vocal character, the power assistance provided by the steering and the shift dynamics of the optional automatic gearbox. Power distribution is varied seamlessly between the front and rear axles by an electromagnetic centre differential positioned directly on the final drive. A range of electronic dynamic controls is fitted. The JCW model has a sports suspension with firmly tuned springs and dampers, strengthened anti-roll bars and a 10-millimetre drop in ride height; powerful brakes with red calipers and extra-lightweight 18-inch twin spoke alloy wheels optional to 19s. Inside it gets a JCW cockpit with sports seats, sports steering wheel, interior trim strips in piano black, anthracite-coloured roof liner, dark speedometer and rev counter dials and John Cooper Works door sills. 

The Mini marque is adding entry-level models to its new Coupe and Roadster ranges - launched in March this year - that will be in showrooms from November. The two-seater models were originally launched in Cooper S and John Cooper Works guises but the BMW-owned badge is looking to broaden its appeal with naturally-aspirated petrol entry-level models but don't hold your breath for any diesel models. The 1.6-litre Cooper models sans turbo represents almost a third of the hatch volume for Mini - so far this year, 28 per cent of the hard-top range wears a Cooper badge. Coupe variants will be starting from $34,900 and the Roadster will carry a $37,500 price tag when the S is lopped from the Cooper badge, which lowers the entry-point for new Mini sports cars by more than $8000 and below the $40,000 psychological barrier. Mini Australia general manager Kai Bruesewitz said the new Cooper variants will be in hot demand. “The Mini Cooper engine is extremely popular in other body styles in the MINI range offering punchy performance and frugal economy at a great price.” “With the addition of this engine variant, the striking new Mini Coupe and Roadster are now even more attractive and more attainable to the young and the young at heart,” he says. The two-seater sporties will lose a yard of pace in the bid to grab more buyers - the Cooper models are powered by a naturally-aspirated variable-valve 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine producing 90kW at 6000rpm and 160Nm of torque at 4250 rpm - down 45kW and 80Nm over the S but enough, says Mini, to hit 100km/h in 9 seconds. The payoff comes at the petrol pump, where the Cooper's fuel use drops 0.6 to 5.8 l/100km with emissions of 136 g/km of CO2. The Mini Cooper Roadster covers the sprint to 100km/h in 9.2 seconds - about two seconds slower - with a slightly reduced fuel use figure of 6.1l/100km. Both models will be offered with the new engine hooked up to either a six-speed manual or an optional six-speed auto. Standard fare for both of new models includes 16in alloy wheels, sport seats, cruise control, climate control, Bluetooth phone link, a USB sound system input, rain sensing wipers and automatic headlights.  

The Paceman, which was only a motor show concept at Detroit in 2010, hits Australian showrooms early next year. It follows the Countryman, Clubman van, and a long string of other teases including the Mini Coupe and Roadster from the spotlights to the stop lights.The production Paceman is based on the biggest of the existing Mini models, the all-wheel drive Countryman, and is likely to be the last addition to the Mini lineup before BMW Group - which owns the iconic British brand - gives it a total renewal.The production Paceman continues almost unchanged from the styling of the concept car, with the emphasis on performance including a Cooper S model that will sprint to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds. “It's the seventh body shape in the mini range,” the spokesman for Mini in Australia, Piers Scott, confirms to Carsguide.“It's March next year for Australia. We're pretty solid on that. The cars are being built in Austria in November.” He will not discuss prices or equipment but confirms the Paceman's position at the top of the local lineup, and a likely price tag of more than $55,000.“It will sit above the countryman. It's the flagship,” says Scott. “It will have a small premium over the Countryman.” The body of the Paceman is a three-door hatch but it is much bigger than the basic Mini that opens the action, and its interior is focussed on a luxury four-seater cabin that provides individual chairs for two people in the back. These include armrests for back-seat passengers, extra leg and knee room, and a central storage system.Mini confirms a sporty focus for the Paceman chassis, but also reveals a luggage capacity of up to 1080 litres. “It's the largest platform and the sportiest iteration of what the Mini brand currently offers. This is the furtherest extrapolation of the Countryman,” says Scott. The large central speedometer continues as a Mini signature, although it could be the last model with this emphasis as the upcoming replacement for the Mini Cooper is believed to have a more-conventional dashboard design.European sources point to a preview of the car at the Frankfurt Motor Show in almost exactly a year's time. “Yes, there is a replacement for the Mini hatch to come. That will, no doubt, bring new design elements,” confirms Scott. “There are certain elements that every Mini must have, so I wouldn't expect anything too radical for the new hatch. We should get a look at it next year. I believe it will be later in the year.” 

The front-wheel drive Paceman - due to go on sale early to mid-2013 and likely come here following that - is claimed by Mini to be the world’s first small premium “Sports Activity Coupe”. It’s based on the Mini Countryman SUV, but with two less doors, a sleeker roofline and lowered suspension.Fans of Mini styling will find nothing to shock in the cabin, with the biggest change the window switchgear migrating from the centre dash to the doors. And in signature Mini practice, there’ll be a host of colours combinations to pick for body, roof and side mirrors.The Paceman shares the same four-cylinder engine line-up we get here in the Countryman: a 105kW/305Nm turbodiesel and 90kW/160Nm, 82kW/270Nm and 135kW/240Nm petrol units - the last of those in the Cooper S that Mini says gets to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds and hits a top speed of 217km/h.Transmission choices are six-speed manual and six-speed automatic, with all-wheel drive as an option. A John Cooper Works version is also reportedly on the plan, and is bound to take the performance promise above the opening top-spec Cooper S. 

MINI’s latest effort, the Paceman Coupe, is set to be revealed in production form at this month’s Paris Auto Show. The automaker also featured the upcoming Countryman-based coupe in an online article on the London food scene, inadvertently releasing this particular cat from its bag earlier than intended.Motoringfile, a site dedicated to all things MINI, was the first to (unofficially) post the photos, which it believed were fair game after having been shown on MINI Space, an official MINI site. “Not so fast,” said MINI, requesting that Motoringfile remove the images until it was ready to release them. In turn, MINI Space pulled the article down as well.Since there are no secrets on the internet, the images are now in general distribution, prompting Motoringfile to post them up again. Expect to be flooded with more images as we get closer to the opening of the Paris Auto Show, as the Paceman represents a fairly significant departure from the ordinary for MINI.More than a few people have pointed out the design similarities between the Paceman and Range Rover’s uber-popular Evoque, and it’s easy to see the styling influences on MINI’s latest. The gently falling roof, coupled with a rising beltline and blacked-out A, B and C-pillars, convey a sense of motion on both vehicles, and both are offered in front or all-wheel-drive.We say that’s where the similarities end, especially when it comes to personalities, We (obviously) haven’t driven the Paceman yet, but we expect it will be a much different animal than the Range Rover Evoque.Motor Authority 

Being unveiled at Paris motor show, it is the fastest Mini ever. Just 30 of a limited production run of 2000 worldwide - the current car's swansong before an all-new Mini in 2014 - will roll off boats in Australia, wearing a sub-$60,000 price tag and promising serious performance. Mini product communications manager Scott Croaker says the JCW GP was the current Mini's last hurrah before the new car arrived. “This is the last hurrah of current Mini, given the new Mini is due to premiere next year this would be a similar thing - a limited edition of the R56 as we call it,” he says. Mr Croaker said just 30 out of limited production run of 2000 had been secured for Australian customers to arrive in Australia during the first quarter of next year, and many already had names on them - but if more became available the Australian arm would look to grab them. “There are quite a number with names on them already, there are not too many left at the moment. Getting any more depends on whether other markets take up their allocation.” The 1160kg six-speed manual two-seater wears a fully-functioning aerodynamic body kit and sits on specialist sports suspension and has upgraded brakes beneath 17in Mini Challenge alloy wheels. A Mini first will be adjustable coilover suspension, which will allow the ride height to be dropped by up to 20mm and give owners the ability to tune the suspension for racetrack work. Other track-related changes include the stability and traction control, which has a Sport mode function as well as a GP racing mode. The extra mode deletes any power reduction from the system and gives the GP the ability to brake the inside front wheel in corners to prevent wheelspin. The system loads up the outside wheel in corners to improve drive out of the corner, which is going to be a requirement given these outputs. The 1.6-litre four-cylinder twin-scroll turbo direct-injection powerplant has been upgraded and wound up to 160kW and 260Nm (with 280Nm on offer during overboost), enough to lay claim to a 6.3 second sprint to 100km/h, a 242km/h top speed and an 8m23s time around the northern loop of the Nurburgring - 18 seconds quicker than the previous JCW machine. The JCW GP also lays claim to EU fuel consumption figures around 7.1 litres per 100km. Race-bred brakes will bring it to an eye-watering halt - six-piston fixed-calipers gripping 330mm ventilated front and 280mm solid rear discs - as well as a features list will also include xenon headlights, foglights, air conditioning, Recaro sports seats, a cargo bay guard to keep luggage in place, a JCW thick-rimmed leather-wrapped sports steering wheel and gearshifter knob. Also on the cards for Australia is the Mini Countryman JCW - which will have the same engine outputs as the lighter GP but will be all-wheel drive and have an automatic available. “That will be similar in terms of timing, we'll see that at the start of next year, its performance won't be similar but it gets similar outputs and will be available with an automatic, which will flow through into other models in the JCW range,” Mr Croaker says.