More Next Generation MINI Details

Sections: MF Feature | R56 (Hatch) Apr 11th, 2004 12 Comments

Here is some news I recently picked up while in Oxford regarding the next generation MINI (aka R56) due out in 2006-7.

The model range will expand to four petrol engines for the next iteration of the MINI. Further with the angle of the engine will be changing and the front frame will have to be redesigned in order for the engine to sit lower in the car. As you can see the in photos of a couple recent (one & two) test mules the new engine doesn't fit very well in the current frame configuration. Because of that engineers have had to create a rather unsightly bulge to attain the proper engine clearance with the hood. It's assumed the redesigned frame will allow for the engine to sit lower in the car and avoid this rather awkward look.

The MCS will drop the supercharger, add a turbo and will have around 180hp on tap from, what looks to possibly be a 1.8L engine. This was the first time I had heard about the 1.8L engine being used for the MCS – before I had understood it would again be using the same 1.6L engine as found in the Cooper but with the added turbo.

I wasn't able to confirm how MINI will break up the rest of the range but we do know that MINI has listed a 1.6L for all the other petrol models. All we have to go on is this list of the engine specs that was leaked last winter. If correct it looks like the R56 Cooper will be around the same HP figures (in both CVT and manual guise) and there will be a sport model of some kind at around 140hp. It looks like all petrol engines will be DOHC. It's also worth noting that these numbers could vary and seem to be only initial targets.

Cooper/One could be released first in late 2005 or early 2006. The MCS will probably follow that with a late 2006 or early 2007 launch. This isn't 100% confirmed but when I asked someone in the know about these time frames they simply smiled and seem to nod approvingly.

Written By: MF Staff

Humourless

Stretching to 1.8 litres: good Going to turbo: bad

The throttle response of an MCS is a little soggy to begin with. I can't see a turbo improving matters much.
Pipe

Not a turbo… that's so depressing. yay, turbo lag!
Humourless

I was just thinking how great a naturally aspirated aluminum block 1.8L would be in a Cooper. 140-150 hp and perhaps 150 lbs lighter than the current MCS because of the switch from an iron block to alloy, without all the extra SC, intercooler and plumbing weight.

Voila! A car that can keep up with a current spec MCS in a straight line while teaching it a few lessons when the curves arrive. Where do I sign?
mini58

Hmmm, interesting. I wish they would keep the supercharger instead of going to a turbo. Timing should be good though. I just got my '04 MCS. It'll probably be late '06 for the launch of the 2007 model year MCS-T (MCT?), give 'em a year or two to tweak it and work out bugs and I'll be ready to trade mine in after 5 years of happy motoring!
Josh

It will probably still be called the MCS because the old Austin and Rover Mini Cooper S's did not have a supercharger and that is where the current MCS gets its name.
kyriian

What's with the hood bulge in place of the scoop?? the bulge makes it look so unnatural. I rather keep the scoop and ditch the bulge

as for turbo, im one of those that are skeptical.. afterall, will the mini inherit the trait found also on the Focus RS? the torque steer?
http://mini.uglydoris.com Sean Bartnik

Torque steer shouldn't really be a problem any more than it is now, assuming the front suspension design remains similar w/ the equal length driveshafts. About 20 more hp and probably a bit more torque due to the increase in engine size to 1.8L, shouldn't be a big jump. I haven't heard any of the JCW folks with 200 hp complaining of torque steer :-)

I think we'll have to withhold judgment on turbo lag, if they use a sufficiently small light-pressure turbo as seems to be more and more common nowadays (and which would make sense on such a small engine) then it shouldn't be bad at all. I remember test-driving a Passat 1.8T back in the day and was quite impressed with its lack of discernable turbo lag — a lightweight turbo that spins up quickly and gives a nice flat torque curve as opposed to huge old-school turbos that took forever to spin up and created ridiculously peaky power.

So I guess we'll have to wait for the test drive, which I look forward to wholeheartedly :-)

I'll be interested to see how the new engines compare with the current ones.
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabriel Bridger

As stated in the article the hood bulge is only temporary due to testing in the old chassis. The new chassis will most likely be redesigned so the new, taller engine sits lower in the car – thus eliminating the hood bulge.
Benjamin

Turbo lag? Not necessarily. VW's 1.8 liter turbo engine (one used in MK4 platform) has very little to no noticeable lag. And in VW's case, very easy to mod.
JiminVirginia

I for one like hood bulges.

Mixed feelings about a turbo. But one thing for sure is that there will be a much wider set of upgrade options, starting with a boost controller, to add horsepower. If the bottom end is strong enough to take it, I can envision getting almost 300 hp total for less than $2K in hardware. This is what happened on the Supra, where people routinely added 130 hp to a 3.0 liter engine for very little money. Forget about needing JCW.
R

What's the point to these power increases? My stock MCS goes faster than 125 and that's jail time here in USA. I thought that was one of the points of the MINI, less is more. Let the after market JCW's deal with all that kind of stuff and keep the car as it is. Maybe MINI should be more involved in better fit and finish than adding pony's! My thoughts……….R
http://users.adelphia.net/~rocketboy/index.html Rocketboy

R… Good question. My MCS already has no problem burning out tires, and needs dedicated snows to keep the tires from spinning in the snow needlessly. Do we really need more power?

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