Mar 2nd, 2015
Official Release: Bold athletic flair and supreme versatility define the character of the MINI Countryman. As the first MINI with four doors, a large tailgate, five seats and optional all-wheel drive, it took on the role of an irresistible front-line force from the very outset – both in the conquest of additional target groups for the British premium brand and in the area of off-road driving. Its irrepressible forward thrust and flexibility are now expressed even more strikingly in an exclusive edition model. The MINI Countryman Park Lane sees its world premiere at the Geneva International Motor Show in March 2015. continued →
Dec 14th, 2014
DriveNow is a car-sharing joint venture from the BMW Group and the car rental company Sixt. Through this partnership BMW contributes the vehicles and automotive technology, while Sixt provides the services, the car rental know-how, the IT systems, and an extensive network of stations for customer registration. The program is now available in Munich, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Hamburg, Vienna, and San Francisco with already has 360,000 registered customers.
Last week however, BMW annouced the availabilty of the service across three Londong boroughs: Islington, Hackney & Haringey. 210 1 Series and MINI Countryman will be available at launch, but the fleet will add 30 all-electric i3 cars in spring 2015, expanding it to a total of 300 vehicles during the course of next year.
This initiative is part of the BMW Group’s strategy to remain relevant in space imapcted by growth in urban living and shared owership. Unfortunately we haven’t had a chance to try it, but we’d love to hear you feedback if you have.
Thanks to an iOS and Android app the service seems fairly easy to use, but read on to learn all the details. continued →
Oct 10th, 2014
Official Press Release:
Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (QT/FR) in their MINI ALL4 Racing car have won the prestigious Rally Morocco, the ninth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. The X-raid drivers have shown a dominant performance over six legs, on which the participants covered a total of 1991 kilometres. 1441 of them in special stages. Al-Attiyah/Baumel won three stages and crossed the finish line in the capital of Marrakesh ahead of Monster Energy X-raid driver Orlando Terranova/Rolando Graue (AR/AR).
“It’s a great feeling to win here in Morocco,” Al-Attiyah said at the finish in the capital of Marrakesh. “It was a tough challenge, a lot of difficult sandy parts in the desert, where you could get stuck easily. Some sections were a lot trickier than I expected. But my co-driver Mathieu did a great job as always, he’s a great navigator, who always finds the best route. The MINI ALL4 Racing was again very reliable and nice to drive. I love it and I’m now looking forward to the next big challenge, the 2015 Dakar Rally.”
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Oct 1st, 2014
Well, not really but kind of. According to a study released by insurance.com the MINI Countryman S ranks #16 among the most ticketed cars in the US, with 27.5% of R60 S drivers recently receiving a traffic citation. Insurance.com says results are based on insurance quote requests from 550,000 drivers a month. continued →
Aug 29th, 2014
Official Release: No rest for the Monster Energy X-raid Team in the 2014 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies as the reigning champion is sending no fewer than four MINI ALL4 Racing cars to compete in the 2014 Baja Poland (28-30 August) barely two weeks after finishing second and third at the Hungarian Baja. With Vladimir Vasilyev/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RU/RU) spearheading the overall standings in their MINI ALL4 Racing and two Polish drivers Krzysztof Holowczyc and Martin Kaczmarski competing in front of their home crowds in two other MINI ALL4 Racing, the Baja Poland promises to become a special World Cup round for the X-raid Team. The German duo Stephan Schott/Holm Schmidt completes the team’s four-car line-up in Poland.
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Aug 1st, 2014
The Countryman is now the only car to achieve a good grade among the latest group of 12 cars subjected to the IIHS small overlap front crash test.
The test is more difficult than either the head-on crashes conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the IIHS moderate overlap test. In the small overlap test, the main structures of the vehicle’s front-end crush zone are bypassed, making it hard for the vehicle to manage crash energy. The occupant compartment can collapse as a result.
Read on for the full details and to see it all go down on video. continued →
Jul 6th, 2014
The MINI Countryman has been a massive success for BMW and MINI since its release in 2011. For it’s forth year of production MINI is giving it the typical visual and mechanical refresh. However unlike MINI’s past refreshes, the Countryman has received what has to be the subtlest nip and tuck imaginable.
We’ve detailed the revised Countryman previously on MF (both in the official release and hands-on) but it’s worth revisiting here. continued →
