Feb 11th, 2013
Exclusive: Over the past year we’ve given you an in-depth look at the 2014 F56 MINI through a series of articles detailing the high-level technology, engineering and design behind the car. With that now behind us it’s time to start getting into the details.
What we have for you today is a detailed glimpse at a car that won’t launch in the US for another 13 months.
We’ve pieced together data from various international sources to create a detailed preview at the what options are coming on F56. continued →
Feb 9th, 2013
We’ve been getting closer and closer to all the details behind the body cladding of the 3rd generation MINI (the F56). Now we have some independent corroboration of a few key details. And the good news is that this information lines perfectly up with what we’ve heard through a couple well informed sources over the past 18 months. Let’s start with launch models and the highly anticipated engine outputs. continued →
Feb 7th, 2013
The secret has been out for years now that MINI and BMW will be introducing a new family if 1.5L three cylinder engines destined for small front wheel drive cars. But would MINI be replacing all four cylinders with equivalent 3 bangers? Our sources are now telling us that the three cylinders are just part of the story. According to people internal at MINI familiar with the matter, the next generation of Cooper S and JCW models will be powered by the entirely new 2.0L four cylinder that will be shared across all front wheel drive BMWs and MINIs. Power and MPG are expected to be up as well as potential for tuning. And while both engines represent big leaps for MINI, we believe it’s the the massively more capable 2.0L that will get enthusiasts salivating.
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Feb 5th, 2013
The preceding was discussed almost in its entirety last year when we walked you through what we knew (and what we could tell you) about the next generation MINI’s interior. However given some hints of new info and the constant questions we get for readers about details we’ve previously reported, we wanted to re-examine some of what we know around the technology of the next generation MINIs.
Beyond the basic details, the interior will boast a more straight-forward approach to interfacing with the car and its entertainment options. And the window into that world is about to get much larger. As we’ve reported, the next MINI will adopt a BMW-sized widescreen for displaying content. However, it’s what that screen will display, and what MINI positions around it, that’s interesting to us. continued →
Feb 5th, 2013
Sources familiar with the new interior have called the final form a huge step forward for MINI and likely one of the selling points of the new car. While these photos don’t fully show that new form, they do show a radically altered design brimming with new technology.
First let’s focus on the image itself and break-down the details of what many of you have been pouring over. What we see here is the cheapest spec interior (there will be four total) with the top finished in rough prototype plastic. The higher spec interiors will actually feature different and improved soft dash materials similar to the new 1 Series BMW. continued →
Feb 4th, 2013
today starts the beginning of an entire week here at MF centered around the upcoming and completely new 2014 MINI.
The Cladding is coming off and the next generation MINI is taking shape. As these exclusive spy-shots (via MF reader Øyvind Repvik) show, the three door F56 hatch will will feature a very similar silhouette to the outgoing R56 and the R50 before it. But don’t let the overall shape fool you, this is an entirely new car. From the drivetrain to the design in and out the F56 is the biggest re-think of the MINI since the 2001 R50.
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Jan 23rd, 2013
If you want to know the current and future state of MINI, you go to the top. And that’s what we did at NAIAS in talking with Dr. Kay Segler. We spoke to Dr. Segler about everything – there was no subject off limits. We started with JCW and the proliferation of the brand throughout the MINI range. As it stands now there’s a JCW model for every MINI model. But Dr. Segler was quick to point out that that won’t always be the case and they want to build a strong sub-brand by keeping it perhaps a little more exclusive moving forward. Yet they also want to broaden the sales of the JCW style packages across the range – much like M has done so successfully for BMW. There’s also a hint of something interesting to come if you listen carefully.
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