Many of you will receive this information in an email from MINI over the next few hours, but we’ve got the word early thanks to MINI and White Roof Radio. This year’s installment of MINI’s epic road trip, MINI Takes The States, will take place over 11 days starting on Independence Day.

Celebrating 10 years of MINI, it’s an East-to-West road trip and while the exact start point, end point and way points are as yet unrevealed, expect the main route to run coast to coast. Along the way, MINI has lots planned. There will be sights to see, but more thrilling are the once-in-a-lifetime MINI motoring opportunities that MINI USA is likely to organize along the way. Previous MTTS trips have given people the chance to drive their cars on the Bonneville Salt Flats, and even around the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Attractions aside, expect MINI to throw a hell of a party from sea to shining sea. Registration starts in April with full route details expected sometime next month. Are you excited yet? You should be.

Go Forth. Go West. Go MINI.

Hot off the presses: While at the Detroit Auto Show Todd and Matt managed to tease out a few details about MTTS 2012. According to the best sources possible, we’ve confirmed that MINI Takes the States will begin July 4th and eventually end in Chicago. Route details, events and other information is not yet available.

MINI Takes the States is a giant, bi-annual, road trip put on by MINIUSA. It started in 2006 as a way to celebrate the MINI Cooper JCW GP. It was such a huge hit that it has been repeated in 2008 and 2010, both of which were great events.

Look for photos and interviews soon.

[CORRECTION] MINI has gotten in touch with us about MTTS and it looks like the trip will not be ending in Chicago as previously sourced. What we do know is that the cross-country trip will kick off on July 4 and the route will run east to west through cities as yet unannounced.

In an email this week, MINIUSA officially announced MINI Takes the States 2012.

Here’s a bold New Year’s resolution: attend the biggest MINI road rally in America. It’s called MINI TAKES THE STATES and it’s back again in 2012. More details will be available in late January, but we’ve been getting lots of questions about it so we wanted to let everyone know that we are indeed gearing up for another one of our epic cross-country road rallies. To get an idea of what MTTS is all about, picture a caravan of MINIs stretched as far as the eye can see, with food, music & miles of motoring fun. Or, just check out the highlights from 2010.

We are expecting to have more details, including the date, sometime in mid-January. Stay tuned!

A huge thank you to MINI USA (and specifically Ray and Gina) for putting on such a fantastic show across the entire country. We’d also like to thank all the MINI owners who came from all corners to come together and celebrate these little cars on such a big stage.

We’ll have much more in the come days (2011 MCS review, MINI Connected update etc) but until then you can see the entire gallery of 367 photos above.

Ok we admit that we didn’t actually do the Mt. Evans run in full. We decide to break away and do a few of the less travelled roads. And yes, we don’t actually have photos of the best parts. Why? Our camera man riding shotgun got sick. It was that epic.

Yesterday we told you about the epic road trip from Dodge City to Denver. Today we want to show you.

We’ll be leaving shortly to do the morning rally to Red Rocks and Mt. Evans so look for pictures and twitter updates from that and from MTTS central back in Denver.

To subscribe to our twitter feed simply to go twitter.com/motoringfile

The road trip portion of MTTS is officially over and the party is about to begin. Yes we are in Denver and about to get everything started. There are hundreds of MINIs here; everything from classics to MINI E’s are roaming around. And then there are the people from every corner of North America young and old here to celebrate the MINI brand.

But let’s take a moment and talk about what has to be called an epic road trip today. We covered over 600 miles with an average speed over 80 mph cross great stretches of nothing at all. It’s was jaw dropping in its beauty many times. Matt and I kept the JCW’s top down the entire time (without wind deflector I might add) and had an experience that was as close to a motorcycle as you’ll get in a modern car.

The JCW was flawless today. It was a relatively stock car with bluetooth, chrome-line in and out and black leather. Yes that means the standard suspension – something that didn’t go unappreciated while driving over the broken pavement of I70. But let’s talk about why this car is s special for a second. The engine is simply the best powerplant MINI has ever put in a car. I can’t stress enough how endearing the noises, the power and the ability to rev are. And it’s all made more satisfying with the top down. We’ll have more on the car in the coming days but suffice to say it was a fantastic day in a fantastic car.

We’ll have some incredible photos of today’s trip up within the next few hours. However now it’s time for a shower, a change of clothes and to start the real party.

Today was all about the Countryman. I drove the Cooper S FWD Countryman just under 500 miles today. I’ll have a full review shortly but for a sneak peak check out the MTTS gallery above.

There was a moment. A slight moment (as they say on the track) that made two things suddenly very clear. First off the Cooper Countryman I was driving had all seasons on it. Secondly (and more profound) is that no matter the spec, the Countryman is a MINI at heart. The moment? The slight rotation and four wheel drift around a corner of a country road just outside of Kansas City. That’s the moment they so many of us love driving our R50s, R53s R56s etc. And it’s moments like that that show that MINI engineered what has to be the most nimble small crossover in existence today.

First off this is a lightening review of a car that most here don’t care about. But MINI enthusiasts should take note. This is the car that is going to turn thousands of MINI owners into car and MINI enthusiasts.

The steering isn’t as immediate as the R56 and the ratio definitely feels slower but it adds up to the feel of stability that suits the car well. The suspension (non sport on this Cooper) clearly had more body roll than any MINI I’ve driven but it had more composure than any mainstream crossover I’ve ever driven. Or to put it another way there was body motion but it the R60 was always composed and predictable when pushed.

But it’s slow. If you thought a R56 Cooper auto was slow, add a three other grown men as passengers and you get an idea of what the R60 Cooper auto has to overcome. Steering paddles would be welcome because I had to work the hell out of the gears in the hills to keep up with Todd in the 2011 MCS and Matt in a 2010 JCW Convertible. But in the end I pretty much did if there were corners involved. This is a surprising car.

The transmission (as we’ve previously reported) is identical to the 2011 MINI models in that it’s been refreshed. However the auto only gets one change called neutral control. At idle (with your foot on the brake) the auto equipped Countryman (and any other revised 2011 MINI) will subtly de-couple from the previous engaged gear. Once you lift off the brake the transmission re-engages with the previous gear. The net result is a subtle gain in efficiency. In sport mode this system is off for optimized (and more immediate) acceleration.

The engine gets the same subtle makeover as the rest of the range for 2011. It’s nothing like the changes for the MCS (2011 LCI section of course has all the details) and is hardly noticeable.

Inside the cabin is very close to the 2011 LCI with a few exceptions in the HVAC control execution (I assume MINI Design had parallel work streams with the two projects). The R60 is a but more bulbous than the R56 and featuring shiny plastic on both sides of the center controls that lets down the rest of the car (which has the highest quality plastics I’ve ever seen in a MINI).

The exterior demands larger wheels. 18″s are what you want to fill-out the wheel wells and give the car better proportions. Of course there’s nothing new here, the R56 demands at least 17′s as the R53 did before it.

This will be the bread and butter of the MINI range. The car that sells so we can have our coupes, roadsters and JCW. But it’s more than that. It’s an introduction into the world for people who may not even like to drive. It’s the trojan horse that could do what the R50 and R53 did all those years ago.

Tomorrow we’ll be driving the R60 Cooper S manual and look for our 2011 Cooper S review in the next few days.

Related: MF Review: MINI Countryman S All4

Lots miles, MINI and people. Oh and pictures. Reviews and video to come but until then, take a look at our updates gallery.

It’s the dawn of day two for us; Indy to St. Louis. MINI is saying it’ll take 6 hours. We’re guessing it’ll be more like 3.5 with our Valentine Ones.

We’ll be updating the Flickr set above so check back throughout the week for new photos. Also check back for driving impressions of the MINI Countryman on US roads and maybe even a quick spin in the 2011 Cooper S.

Video from today driving from Chicago to Indy. The day’s highlight (so far) was driving on the Speedway with another couple hundred (at least) MINIs. Yes it was slow but it’s always a great to pass over the field of bricks on the main straight.

MTTS Indy Recap

The night is winding down and we’re talking about the Countryman, 19″ wheels and the very rare Bridger.us/MINI t-shirt. Oh and then Chad decides installing a Cravenspeed iPhone 4 mount on State St. in Chicago is a good idea. (Photos after the break)

(Updated Photo) I’m only showing you this angle because there is nothing else to see. What you are looking at is a bone stock Cooper S that MINI USA has graciously let MF borrow for MTTS. Ok, someone at the port did throw on the JCW aerokit, but other than that it’s a $23k Cooper S and nothing more. In the past we’ve reviewed JCWs, Convertibles and a navigation equipped $30,000 Cooper S so this is (to put it lightly) a departure. But I have to admit… I kind of like it.

It’s as light as you can get an MCS without removing doors and as comfortable on a 2,000 mile trip as any MINI could be. It also has a scrappy character with those little 16″ wheels and that aggressive looking aero-kit (kinda like a little bulldog with huge teeth).

So do I love it? No bluetooth, no nav, no anything makes it not necessarily my style. But you don’t get anymore pure MINI than this.

I’ll let you know in a week but it’s hard thinking it won’t be a great car for this trip.

For those have followed Whiteroofradio on twitter you’ll know that my coherts have had wide ranging results for their MTTS cars. DB is in the Cooper version of what you see above (yes that means 15″ wheels with the JCW aero kit) and somehow Todd ended up with a loaded JCW convertible. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure everyone knows how cool he is (Top Gear style). For those have followed Whiteroofradio on twitter you’ll know that my coherts have had wide ranging results for their MTTS cars. DB is in the Cooper version of what you see above (yes that means 15″ wheels with the JCW aero kit) and somehow Todd ended up with a loaded JCW convertible. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure everyone knows how cool he is (Top Gear style).