Sep 18th, 2008
Whoa, what’s this? Looks like MINI is testing their own battery-powered MINI out in Munich.
It’s understood that BMW boss Norbert Reithofer will unveil the battery Mini at the 2008 Los Angeles motor show in November – the perfect location for the car’s public debut.
Hybrid technologies has been building an electric MINI for quite some time. Pricing for that car starts just north of US$50,000. Let’s hope BMW and MINI can bring this one to driveways for quite a bit less. This also jives with our production update posted in July.
[ Mini goes electric! Spy photos of battery-powered Mini ] continued →
Sep 18th, 2008
We’ve heard rumors that Fiat is planning to bring the 500 to the United States in the next couple of years. And, recently, in the Bay Area of California, Fiat held a research study about small cars that included the Smart, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and the 500.
WRR listener Jason managed to get an invitation to this event, the idea of which was to do some driving in the cars under normal driving conditions. And his take on it is very interesting.
After that I was a little more pleased with the car’s overall performance. (him being there also hinted that this was put on by Fiat). I felt the car was underpowered too, coming from driving a modified R53 for so long, but he assured me there would be a “JCW like†kit for the Fiat 500 soon, so thats a plus for the little Fiat.
And, he hated the Smart!
Great write-up Jason! Thanks for sharing
[ The Fiat 500 Test Drive ] twothirtyam.com
Sep 17th, 2008
This one showed up on my radar last week. It’s a great analysis of the R60 Concept by frequent MF commenter Nathaniel Salzman. He took the time to reasearch and post a great analysis of not only the R60, but the MINI brand in general.
I don’t think anybody who’s paying attention can say that a car with MINI’s premium outlook on features, safety, design, and economy, in a 4-door package, with AWD wouldn’t just sell like crazy in the US. It probably won’t be a big hit in Europe, but they’ll probably be lined up around the block to buy them here. This has led to accusations within the MINI enthusiast community that MINI is only making this car to pander to the poor tastes of American car buyers who’ve been brainwashed into this notion that they need off-road capability in their daily commute up the freeway. continued →
Sep 17th, 2008
Michael joins us again from The Mail Buoy podcast. Starting out with a short rant before we dive right into some R60 concept talk.
The three of us going into some great detail about the R60 concept with a new format that worked very very well. It did result in a longer-than-normal show, but for this topic, I think it worked fantastic and you should enjoy it. Running time is close to an hour for those of you that listen along at MF or WRR.
Twitter? I’m @dbwilldo, Todd is @toddsmods and Michael is @radiationman.
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Sep 16th, 2008
From Autoblog green and something we have been expecting for a while now.
This entire time, BMW was to decide on the fate of the city EV by the end of the year, and it seems that they have. BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has confirmed that the Bavarian automaker will indeed go smaller, though we are not so sure it will wear the blue and white badge. Rather, the new vehicle could wear the Isetta badge made popular on microcars from the past. “It’ll be a car with a completely new look, with two engines available. One will be a very efficient combustion engine and the other will be a purely electric model,” says Reithofer.
This will be interesting to see and to see how well it performs against the MINI.
*The image above isn’t an official rendering. The final version of the car will surely look much more different. However you can see more information about it on it’s Flickr page.
[ BMW CEO Confirms City Car with Electric Option ] Autobloggreen.com
Sep 16th, 2008
This has to be the craziest comparo yet. From AOL Autos via Car and Driver, in search of cars that will give an Audi R8 a run for it’s money.
Of course, both get their grunt from powerplants that are as antithetical as the wrappers they arrive in. The Cooper S’s high-tech, 1.6-liter engine uses a turbocharger to put a “bang” in “four-banger,” whereas the Escalade employs a brutal, old-school 403-hp, 6.2-liter V-8 that sucks down more than twice the fuel. Furthermore, if anything remotely resembling a curve turns up in the middle of that quarter-mile run, David will eat Goliath for lunch.
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Sep 15th, 2008
Buyer beware. From ABC news, a story about a MINI that was damaged during Katrina, ended up in Kansas City then sold to an unsuspecting buyer in South America.
Sight unseen, Vargas bought the car over the Internet through a dealer in Bolivia for $7,000. He then spent $5,000 shipping the car of his dreams to Los Angeles, down the Pacific Coast to Chile, and over the Andes Mountains to Cochabamba, Bolivia.
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