We’ve seen this rumor floating around for the past couple days and held off on reporting it until it seemed completely viable. However with both sides now specifically not denying the claims, it appears true. The story originally the German newspaper Wirtschaftswoche but has since spread throughout the web. According to the report GM and BMW would collaborate on hydrogen fuel-cell technology. The interesting thing there is that BMW recently slowed it’s Hydrogen program down to a crawl after switching gears to focus on the electric BMWi sub-brand (which was previewed by the MINI E). With this agreement BMW will be leveraging GM’s work in the field by simple contributing towards the research costs. continued →
Official Release: The X-raid Team is well prepared for the toughest rally in the world as it lines up with five crews at the 2012 Dakar. The ten men are all old hands who have already proven themselves at this level.
Left to right: Nani Roma, Stéphane Peterhansel, Krzysztof Holowczyc, Leonid Novitskiy and Ricardo Leal dos Santos
The time on the clock ultimately determines who wins the Rally Dakar. However, speed is not the only thing that counts on the individual stages leading up to the final time check. Teamwork between the driver and his co-driver is required on the difficult stages that make up the 8000 kilometers plus route – and experience. The ability to read the diverse route and to react to any obstacles without losing time is just as important as speed itself. continued →
Just in time for MotoringFile’s JCW month, MINI has taken some of the wraps off of it’s 2013 MINI JCW Countryman in Austria today. Rest assured we’re going to have plenty of hand-on details about the car shortly. But we wanted to get you some of the facts as they seem to have leaked out a little earlier this morning.
Ever since MINI Connected debuted in 2010 for the iOS, people have been asking about Android. We’ve reported previously that the sheer number of different device types and hardware has made it very difficult to create a unified MINI Connected app for Android devices. Now we have the details.
With the exception of the BMW Android Remote app that will launch before the end of the year there will be no future offerings for the current crop of BMWs or MINIs. That specifically means no support for MINI’s in-car App platform MINI Connected. We learned this hard truth about the number one smartphone operating system from one of the BMW and MINI Connected Drive engineers during a recent trip to the FIZ (R&D center) in Munich.
First we gave you another look at our full review of the JCW GP. Then we took you back to our last drive in the R53 JCW. Today, for MF’s month long celebration of JCW, we give you one of our most memorable drives in the GP – from St Louis to Indy during MTTS. We pick up the story just as our bags hit the ground at home after the trip.
I had just one day – St Louis to Indy. And I was dedicated to making it one to remember. So early this morning Todd and I (up way too early) shook off the cobwebs and headed out to the official MTTS meeting point – the St Louis Arch. At this point the GP was starting to sink in as a real live car and I must say that it was getting better looking the more I saw it.
After our Arch photo opp was over I was handed the keys to a GP courtesy of MINI USA. I might add that this particular car was broken in by none other than Fireball Tim and Hubie (the men responsible for the fastest MINI drag-car in the world). So I got some quality time to the tune of about four hours with the GP. First impressions: better than wow. This car is a complete package like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It’s not the fastest MINI out there, just the most complete MINI I’ve ever drive. MINI and BMW did a great job inside and out with the small details. The look of the car really makes sense in the real world as compared to the 2D world as seen on this site or countless magazines. In other words, don’t make your mind on this car’s looks until you’ve seen it in the flesh.
Without a doubt, MINI has made a huge splash its first year back racing in rally racing. Team MINI was in the chase for several podiums and found themselves standing on more than one. A great car, great drivers and a great support team has made year one a season for the history books. Well the readers of Autosport agree, naming the Countryman WRC Rally Car of the Year. David Richards of Prodrive had this to say: continued →
1st Gen MINI R50: One & MC Hatch R52: All 1st Gen MINI Convt. R53: MCS Hatch 2nd Gen MINI R55: Clubman R56: Hatch R57: Convertible R58: Coupe R59: Roadster R60: MINI Crossover R61: MINI Crossover Coupe 3rd Gen MINI F55: Clubman F56: Hatch F57: Convertible F60: MINI Crossover F62: Traveller
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Sections: Technology Dec 15th, 2011 2 Comments 
