Official Release: Gearing up for an ideal start: The MINI One D. New entry-level model combines pulling power with enhanced economy. Market launch scheduled for September 2009.
The MINI model family is set to welcome another new arrival. A new entry-level diesel model will be launched in September 2009 and promises to deliver exceptionally economical driving fun. The MINI One D showcases the qualities of its state-of-the-art diesel engine as part of an attractive entry-level package. The drive system is based on the 1.6-litre diesel engine from the MINI Cooper D. Featuring a turbocharger and common rail direct injection, the new version of this four-cylinder unit develops peak output of 66 kW/90 hp and maximum torque of 215 Nm. Like the petrol-driven MINI One, the new MINI One D provides a particularly economical entry point into the world of the MINI brand, which is defined by driving fun and premium quality. continued →
Official Release: MINI USA reported sales of 4,105 automobiles, down 21.2 percent from the 5,211 cars sold in June 2008. Year-to-date, MINI USA also reported sales of 20,885 automobiles, a decrease of 20.9 percent, compared to the 26,400 cars reported after the first six months of 2008.
“This month, we saw consumers coming back into dealerships in some metro areas like Boston, New York and Los Angeles and that’s encouraging,” said Jim McDowell, Vice President of MINI USA. “The positive results in those three areas have helped to decouple MINI somewhat from the industry decline and we continue to outperform the market by a wide margin.”
German coach-builder Arden has released it’s latest bespoke creation, the MINI Cooper S AM1. With all this talk about $50,000 Rolls Royce MINIs, the Arden is a good example of bespoke coach-building done right.
We’ve done Google maps, we’ve done Flickr and we’ve done Facebook. Now it’s Twitter’s turn. Yes MotoringFile is officially on Twitter as of today. Look for updates when stories post as well as rumors, opinions and generally things that we can’t quite mention on MF (for one reason or another).
About six months ago we published a scoop about an internal test JCW going down the Oxford assembly line that had no rear seats and several sound-system components missing. At the time our sources were adamant that this was MINI’s very first prototype of a next generation GP type vehicle. The car was then shipped to Munich where it’s been hand assembled in anticipation for several key internal meetings.
Now we’re told by other sources that the two seater has indeed been shown to several internal groups and is poised to get the official approval for production. However the question that remains? Is this an R56 based GP type of vehicle or is this actually the rumored Coupe that is based on the upcoming MINI speedster?
And the question we have to our readers? What do you hope it is?
Todd, Michael and myself got together last week and put a great show down for you this week. And, at just at an hour long, quite a bit as well.
Starting off with Michael’s gas woes driving from California to Ohio, then right into news of the week from Motoringfile.com.
For the content portion of the show, we spend some time on the JD Power Survey Results. Why we think the MINI scored so low to why we think you should still buy a MINI. Bonus, if you listen close, you can hear Todd make the squealing clutch sound. Finishing talking about stuff we do now that we would have not done before because we are MINI Owners. Also, interestingly enough, most of us have been presidents of our respective MINI Clubs. continued →
Yet more MINI competition… this time specific to the US market. Fiat has officially approved four variants of the 500 to be built in Mexico and release starting in 2011. Reportedly we should expect the standard hatchback in both standard and Abarth trim, newly released convertible and a wagon variant. While it may not quite live up to the MINI’s dynamic abilities, there’s little question that the little Fiat has plenty of charm and potentially even an edge on the cute factor – seemingly important in the US market these days.
For those of our readers in the US, would this tempt you out of a MINI? Or for those readers elsewhere, has the 500 already tempted you?
In a shocking move Aston Martin has revealed that they are partnering with Toyota to produce an Aston version of the iQ micro car. The car will retail for around £20,000 (likely over $30,000 if it comes to the US) and will retain all the mechanicals and technical layout (including the unique 3+1 seating arrangement) of the iQ. It’s worth noting that Toyota plans to introduce the iQ in the US as a Scion in the next year.
The iQ has been praised for it’s engineering and efficiency but its driving dynamics leave a lot to be desired. It’s an interesting move to say the least – especially considering what the Aston Martin brand stands for in the world of luxury automakers. Full press release after the jump… continued →
MINI will be replacing Mellow Yellow for the 2010 model year with White Silver. Mellow Yellow was an R56 launch color and has been around sine September 2006 when the new car launched. Like Mellow Yellow, White Silver will be available across the MINI range. Additionally MINI will be introducing cloth/leather combo in Tech White and Leather Lounge in Toffy. Both are being introduced to coincide with the MINI Camden and Mayfair limited edition models. Apparently MINI will be spreading the costs of developing some of the new trim by making them available across the range in specific markets. Included in this will be a Toffee and White Tech interior color-line option as well. You can see both after the jump.
The R56 has been a commercial and critical success for MINI. Despite the loss of some steering feel and some of the brashful character of the R50 and R53, MINI clearly hit the mark with the car overall when it came to market in 2007. And in some ways it’s surprising how well the car has done. From a design standpoint it was evolution on the outside but revolution on the inside. The form and function of everything was rethought from the R50 to the R56 and along the way MINI seemed to have lost the plot in a couple of areas. Now they intend to fix it.
In the spring of 2010 MINI will be introducing the refreshed (or LCI – Life Cycle Impulse as it’s known in BMW speak) R56 and all its variants (ie the Clubman and Convertible). While the number of changes (major and minor) will be huge, there will be several key changes.
First and foremost, MINI intends to fix the interior. Yes, the radio controls and the heating and cooling interface will be refined and in some cases rethought. Additionally MINI will introduce some upgraded materials and subtle design changes meant to eliminate many of the complaints owners have had over the years. Or to put it another way, if you look at the top five complaints most MINI owners have, then you have an idea of what will be worked over in this refresh. continued →
Official News: BMW Group-led consortium is a winner in Technology Strategy Board £25m Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator competition
The British government body that exists to promote business innovation in technology announced yesterday that a consortium led by BMW Group will be supported by a proportion of a £25m fund, enabling the MINI E to be introduced and tested on British roads by a mixture of private, corporate and public sector drivers before the end of 2009. continued →
JD Power has released their latest initial quality survey and the MINI came in (drum roll) dead last. The survey asks owners about mechanical and design problems they experience in the first 90 days of ownership.
It’s a bit of a shock to us considering the perceived increasing quality we had seen in other surveys. Jim McDowell was on CNBC this morning talking both about the expanded dealership offerings as well as MINI’s very low initial quality.
German magazine Auto Sport recently tested the new JCW MINI at the famous Nurburgring (which must be nice to have in your backyard) and were impressed with the results. The JCW with sport suspension managed an 8:35 around the ‘Ring. To give you some perspective here are some other cars recently tested:
BMW 335: 8:26
Audi TTS (2.0 Turbo): 8:29
BMW Z4 3.0si Coupe: 8:32
Lotus Exige: 8:32
Honda Civic Type-R: 8:47
VW R32: 8:49
We can only imagine what the time would have been if the car was fitted wit the JCW suspension. You can read more (provided you can read German) here:
MINI USA has confirmed its intention to expand its 83-strong American dealer network by 20 percent during the next 18 months to a total of 100 outlets across the country.
Most of the additional 17 MINI dealerships will be located in cities or areas that will be new markets for the brand.
Speaking at a New York City meeting, MINI USA Vice President Jim McDowell revealed: “Starting in 2011, our aim is to raise MINI sales by a ‘double-digit’ percentage compared with last year’s total of 54,077 cars delivered and this will correspond with a substantial expansion of our network coverage. continued →
We’ve held off reporting about the new system at the request of our sources for awhile but MINI hinted at the new system in its recent Camden press release so all bets are off. Here’s what we know. There were quite a few at MINI who weren’t overly happy with the current optional hifi audio system that replaced the venerable H/K that was found in the previous generation MINIs. Both were made by Harmon (parent company to Harman) but some cost was taken out an the sound suffered for it. Make no mistake it was a nice upgrade to the stock system, but it just wasn’t as impressive as had been hoped.
So MINI went back to Harmon and asked them to design a system in the same vein as the (now almost mythical) DPSM system available on the R50 generation. However with one big change, this new version would be available from the factory as an option rather than a very expensive dealer installed accessory.
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Sections: Diesel | Official News | R56 (Coupe) Jul 3rd, 2009 10 Comments 
