MINI USA has begun informing dealers that the R60 Countryman Cooper S will see it’s speed be artificially limited to 128 mph with March builds. Previously the Countryman Cooper S could eek out 134 mph before wind resistance halted progress.

It’s a minor tweak but still one that obviously had to be made. Which if course begs the question – why? MINI hasn’t said but we suspect that the combination of a short wheel-base and a higher center of gravity necessitated the change.

It may not be the WRC but MINI has recorded it’s first FIA sanctioned rally win in over four decades with a win at the Qatar International Rally this past weekend. Adbulaziz Al-Kuwari piloted the MINI John Cooper Works Countryman S2000 to a outright victory by over two minutes. A huge MotoringFile congrats to the team!

Official Release: Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari left the opposition in his wake on his first outing with his new MINI John Cooper Works S2000. The man from Qatar claimed overall victory at the Qatar International Rally.

Even with the opposition breathing down their necks, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and his co-driving brother Nasser Al-Kuwari never lost sight of their goal at the first round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) and refused to be knocked off course for victory. Driving his new MINI John Cooper Works S2000, Al-Kuwari eventually finished an emphatic 2:24.9 minutes ahead of runner-up Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in Doha’s desert.

“It is a fantastic feeling to win this rally,” said Al-Kuwari. “I have achieved success in national rallies in Qatar, but this was the big one. This was the rally I wanted to win. The new car was fantastic. This is the biggest win of my career.”

Al-Kuwari started the second day of the rally with a lead of almost five and a half minutes, but Al-Attiyah – winner of the 2011 Rally Dakar – produced two good special stages early on, which propelled him from fifth to second place overall. That brought Al-Attiyah to within striking distance of Al-Kuwari’s MINI. However, Al-Kuwari launched a brilliant counter in his new MINI S2000 on the tricky final stage to secure overall victory. Third place went to the Lebanese driver Nick Georgiou.

Al-Kuwari, who drives as a privateer for the Turkish Tok Sport team, only received his MINI S2000 in December. He is currently the only MINI representative in the MERC, in which a further six rounds are scheduled before the end of November. The next event is the Kuwait International Rally on 22nd March, where Al-Kuwari will be keen to show that his victory at the opening race was more than just a flash in the pan.

Stephane Peterhansel clinched his 10th Dakar Rally win today and the first for Mini as a brand in the car category. Peterhansel lead much the event in the category.

The Frenchman battled American Robby Gordon’s Hummer team for most of the way. However a combination of car issues and possible sanctions over a tire inflation system dropped the American back to 5th.

The X-raid team had entered five MINI ALL4 Racings at the Dakar. The fact that all five cars reached the finish shows the great reliability of the MINI ALL4 Racing as well as the quality of the X-raid team. Quandt: “I would like to say thank you very much to all the driver crews and the whole X-raid team for their superb efforts. They have made the first Dakar victory in the histrory of the X-raid team come true.”

The overall result is indeed an impressive one. All MINI ALL4 Racing drivers finished in the overall top ten. Nani Roma was second and Leonid Novitskiy fourth, while Ricardo Leal dos Santos and Krzystof Holowczyc claimed eighth and tenth places overall. Throughout the whole event, one of the X-raid team’s MINIs has always been sitting pretty on top of the overall standings.

(Updated with detailed information) In perhaps the largest recall ever announced, MINI USA is recalling every Cooper S and JCW model sold from 2007 to 2011. The recall effects almost all 2007 – 2011 R55, R56, R57 and R60 models with the turbocharged Cooper S engine. For a full list of the cars affected and the specifics behind the problem, read on…

The Issue

The issue involves the electric auxiliary water pump on models that are equipped with the N14 turbo engine. The auxiliary pump is controlled electronically by an engine control unit. After switching off the engine, the electric auxiliary water pump conducts heat away from the turbocharger.

Under certain conditions, the pump’s electronic circuit board can malfunction. The malfunction can occur as a result of certain design features in combination with high operating temperatures.

If the water pump can fails, there’s a slight chance that the circuit board can overheat. And in an extreme case, overheating of the circuit board can lead to smoldering of the water pump. If smoldering occurs, this may also lead to an engine compartment or vehicle fire.

Models Affected

Here’s the full list of Cooper S models affected:

2007-11 / Cooper S (Dec 2006 – Oct 2010)

2008-11 / Cooper S Clubman (Dec 2007 – Oct 2010)

2009-11 / Cooper S Convertible (Dec 2008 – Oct 2010)

2009-11 / John Cooper Works (JCW) (Jun 2008 – Oct 2010)

2009-11 / John Cooper Works (JCW) Clubman (Jun 2008 – Oct 2010)

2009-11 / John Cooper Works (JCW) Convertible (Apr 2009 – Oct 2010)

2011 / Cooper S Countryman (Nov 2010 – Jan 2011)

How can you tell if this is happening to your MINI? The first tip-off will be a plastic burning smell, or burning and/or smoke from the front of the vehicle may be noticed.

What Should I Do While I Wait for MINI to Notify me of a Fix?

First you can continue to drive your car. However MINI recommends parking your vehicle outdoors until repairs have been performed. Those who own affected cars will receive a letter asking them to have this service performed by their authorized MINI dealer, do so as soon as possible.

What’s Next?

At this point MINI is fixing all cars in its inventory and will be announcing a formal recall shortly. Any new or pre-owned MINI in dealers inventory will be held until the recall can be completed, but customer cars are not yet being held and the recall repair will not be happening until the service bulletin is released.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the cars after 12 engine fires had been reported including five that destroyed the cars entirely. In eight of the 12 cases, the fires occurred when the cars were parked and turned off.

We’ll have more as we get it…

Exclusive: Thanks to our partners over at BimmerFile we have the first viable rumor regarding a diesel powered MINI coming to the US. Since the moment the first MINI diesel was released in Europe, US MINI enthusiasts have been wondering when they could share in the diesel love. It would now appear that the answer is 2013. However, before we get to the details of the engine and the model, let’s take a look at how MINI was able to avoid the huge costs of certifying a new diesel engine in the US.

The folks at BimmerFile have long held the belief that BMW missed the mark with its current diesel offerings in the US. While the 335d and the X5 35d are incredibly powerful and fast, they were only about 20% more efficient than their petrol counterparts. On the other end of the spectrum, BMW had what is likely the best four cylinder diesel in the world being offered outside the US market – an engine dramatically more effecient. As you can imagine given the times, the pendulum has been slowly swinging from the large and powerful 35d engine to the smaller and fuel-thrifty 2.0L.

The limiting factor all along for US introduction has been certification cost. So how did MINI finally get over that investment hurdle? By partnering with BMW and sharing costs across the X1 and the Countryman, the unit cost of a proposed Countryman Cooper SD finally got down to a level where MINI USA might be able to make a viable business case for diesel on our shores. But make no mistake, this will be priced higher than the Countryman Cooper S. In fact it’ll likely be positioned between the Cooper S Countryman and the upcoming JCW Countryman. Power figures should be basically identical to the current Cooper SD power plant at 143 hp and 225 lb-ft. of torque.

What about the chances of other MINI models receiving the engine? While costs wouldn’t be as considerable once the engine is certified in the US market, re-engineering the body-shell of a car well into it’s life-cycle simply doesn’t make sense financially. Because of that we don’t expect any MINIs other than the Countryman and its derivatives to receive the diesel treatment in the US – at least for the time being.

But this isn’t just MINI USA dropping the current 2.0L engine into US specification R60s. Instead we’ll see a unique, tweaked version of the engine specific for the North American market. BimmerFile’s sources have told them that BMW and MINI’s US market diesel engines will be offered with a new and improved system to meet US emissions standards, including a revised Exhaust Gas Recirculation and Diesel Emissions Fluid (AdBlue urea injection) dosing system.

This new, highly efficient four cylinder diesel, built with this technology, will be shown at Geneva this March and will be destined for both the MINI Countryman Cooper SD and the BMW X128d. This engine was described by the source as the former BMW North America CEO Jim O’Donnell’s “personal mission” — a four cylinder diesel for the US in the X1. His determination may end up as MINI’s gain.

All the German manufacturers are rumored to be planning a major push for more diesels in the US market. All of these power plants will make their true debut in New York later this year but the precursors (aka the EU versions) will be shown at the Geneva Motor Show.

While this information comes to BimmerFile from a very reliable source, it’s not been corroborated by a second source. Because of that we’re are classifying this strictly as a rumor for the time being. However, based on the above and what we’ve heard in whispered tones over the past year, this is the first time we’ve ever felt confident that the US market could soon see a diesel powered MINI. Fingers crossed.

The cars of MINI’s John Cooper Works sub-brand are often described as halo models. They are intended to be each MINI in its purest, most sporting form. While perhaps not as aggressively separate as BMW’s M division, the JCW cars have always been a good balance of power and performance without sacrificing reliability. For those willing to pay the premium, the JCW cars offer that little bit extra on already brilliant cars. Since the Countryman’s introduction, many have wondered (myself included) if the R60 would also come in a JCW flavor.

Wonder no more because, as the photo above suggests, we now know the answer to that question.

The JCW Countryman All4 will be introduced at Geneva early next year and it will make its way here in the second half of 2012. More significant, however, are the particulars. As we’ve previously reported here on MotoringFile, the JCW Countryman will feature a newly refreshed version of MINI’s highly tuned 1.6L turbo Prince engine, featuring Valvetronic variable valve timing. As with the 2011 engine refresh for the standard Cooper S power plant, the addition of Valvetronic will stretch the engine’s power output and likely up its efficiency by significant percentage points.

This week in Innsbruck, Austria, I got to experience the JCW Countryman prototype first-hand with what I’m very confident was an early version of this new engine.

Our preview of the JCW Countryman actually began with a different JCW MINI: the Coupé. I was given the fob to one of three JCW Coupés shod in fresh, sticky Blizzaks, and told to follow the JCW Countryman prototype driven by Heinz Krusche, the head engineer for BMW’s Driving Dynamics division. (Driving Dynamics is the group responsible for the DSC, DTC, xDrive and All4 systems for both BMW and MINI.) Our task was to try to keep up with the JCW Countryman All4 on the snowy alpine roads of central Austria. The contrast would prove very interesting.

Even with snow tires, the JCW Coupé was a little bit of a handful in the snow. As MINI’s most tail-happy car to date, navigating the windy mountain roads with any speed at all was difficult. It was easy to make progress, and the JCW Coupé had great traction at slow, conservative speeds. But go any faster and I was pushing my luck. Absolute concentration was required to carry any speed into a slippery alpine turn — paying very special attention to the car’s balance. Let off the throttle to late or too hard into a turn and I’d risk bringing the rear end around. If I gave it too much throttle, even up in 3rd gear, the torquey JCW motor would break the front wheels loose and the car would twitch hard and understeer. Even if the grip held, there was the snow induced torque-steer to contend with as well.

The car was perfectly capable of navigating the steep, slick roads, but not in a way that was any fun. After a quick ten minute run down the mountain and back up again, it was time to shuffle seats.

Kicking the snow off my boots, I climbed into the co-driver seat of the JCW Countryman with Herr Krusche. The drive down the mountain was more of a presentation of the car and the All4 system. At the bottom, we would switch seats and I’d drive the car back up to the staging area. He described the All4 system in detail, actually correcting some of our previous information from other sources from MINI at the original R60 launch. He’d definitely be the man to ask, as one of the primary developers of the system. More on that here. While he wouldn’t answer specifics about the new engine, I did learn some other interesting key facts. The JCW Countryman will come standard with the otherwise optional Sport Suspension. The car gets 10mm lower, the front sway bar grows 2mm over standard and the rear sway bar grows by 1mm. Also standard will be 17″ wheels. Additionally, the rear wheel base has been widened by a few millimeters to take advantage of the JCW’s increased torque output. Dampening and rebound rates are the same as the Sport Suspension you can get on the Countryman today. And before you ask, no, there will not be a JCW-labeled specific suspension kit for the Countryman that goes beyond the settings of Sport Suspension. After driving the car, I agree with Heinz that it just isn’t necessary. The Countryman simply isn’t meant to the a race car, but it can be driven very, very aggressively on the Sport Suspension with good results.

My drive was brief, but informative. Tearing up the mountain I was relieved to find the clutch engagement point in this JCW Countryman prototype was not at the high, bothersome place it is in the MF Countryman Cooper S All4. The clutch was nice and light too, and made for smooth shifting. The otherwise untouched All4 system tore through the snowy alpine roads with absolutely no trouble. There was no torque steer, no drama, just grip and power. The 17″ wheels mated to the Sport Suspension made for both a comfortable ride and sporting handling. Nothing new there. I had the exact same experience in the Cooper S and Cooper SD Countryman All4s I’d been driving earlier in the day. The difference in the JCW Countryman, obviously, was the power.

I couldn’t get official confirmation that the engine in this JCW Countryman prototype was in fact the new Valvetronic refresh. But driving it back-to-back with the JCW Coupé, I’d be extremely surprised if it wasn’t. There was more power there, I’m guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of 220hp. The power band was also smoother, very reminiscent of the before and after for the Cooper S engine refresh for MY 2011. The JCW Countryman positively galloped up that Austrian mountain road. While the Cooper S Countryman All4 is no dog, the JCW Countryman is properly quick. Some rumored numbers have the 0-60 times well under seven seconds. I can believe it. Even on snow the JCW Countryman had plenty of power to spare, and thanks to All4, could put all of it to good use.

I hope to conduct a longer, more exhaustive evaluation on the JCW Countryman in the future, but in what brief time I got to spend with the prototype, I can say this: the JCW version of the R60 finally feels right. The car feels like it has all the power it needs to not simply get out of its own way (which the Cooper S Countryman does very well), but to finally be driven in anger. It’s got the horsepower and more importantly the torque to make the Countryman All4 a properly aggressive car to drive, even in the snow. With Sport Mode on, the sharper throttle response didn’t make the car unruly, it simply made aggressive snow driving that much more fun — which is a testament to just how good the All4 system really is on these kinds of roads. Bottom line, the extra power made the JCW Countryman finally feel like it had the power the R60 deserves. On dry pavement, it ought to be even better.

I say that with one caveat, however. Keep in mind what the JCW Countryman is intended to be. This is not an STi killer. It’s not a street version of the WRC rally car. Prodrive had nothing to do with this. The JCW Countryman is simply the most powerful, most refined, most holistically high-performance version of the Countryman that MINI intends to build for the masses. It’s the school run on steroids. While that sounds a little watered down, I can tell you that, from behind the wheel, it isn’t. Like the rest of the JCW lineup, it’s that little bit more. It’s that extra injection of performance that places it not in the stratosphere, but definitely on another level above its Cooper and Cooper S siblings. In fact, the closest performance analog in the current MINI family would be the Countryman SD, which isn’t available here in The States. The torque, as well as the horsepower coming out of that MINI Challenge-bred JCW mill gives the car the kind of grunt I think it’s needed all along. In a word, the car is finally correct.

Beyond the performance gains, expect the normal JCW touches such as the red roof, subtly more aggressive body styling details, and interior touches like dark gray gauge faces to make their way into the production JCW Countryman. They were all there (minus the red roof), albeit barely camouflaged on the prototype. More importantly though, if you’re looking for that extra burst of power over the Cooper S Countryman All4, you’ll find it in the JCW. It feels the most “MINI”, the most aggressive and as high-performance as the Countryman really should feel. The prototype was rather grin-inducing, just like a MINI ought to be. Look for the final production version to debut at Geneva, with the car going on sale in the second half of 2012.

Side note: After experiencing what was likely the new JCW engine and how handily it propelled the relative bulk of the Countryman, I cannot wait to experience that power in the smaller, lighter R5x MINIs.

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.

Consider this car as the next generation of JCW. That means that MINI has taken the criticism we and other media outlets have leveled against it and created something that is a bit more well rounded out of the box than previous JCWs.That means the JCW Countryman will come standard with a more aggressive suspension than the stock set-up on the Countryman Cooper S. Expect the car to sit 10 mm lower with stiffer spring rates and larger anti-rollbars. Additionally the engine will be the variable valve timing of the current JCW engine pumping the power up well over the 210 currently on tap.

Did Prodrive have any involvement in the Countryman JCW? As best we can tell the answer is no. We’ve also learned through sources that that winged Countryman spotted recently outside of Prodrive’s UK offices was simply Team Principle David Richards private car and not anything meant for public consumption. That means if you’ve been waiting for a hot Countryman, get your name on the list for the JCW. It should arrive during the summer of 2012.

Look for a full report on the car on MotoringFile shortly.

There is something elementally fun about mud. Rally drives and off-roaders have known about it for years. But few of us have ever had a chance to some go all out down muddy trails. Recently I had an opportunity to take the MF Countryman long-term tester out to the muddy trails and dirt roads of rural Indiana. The goal was to test the All4 system. But somehow I ended up with me, an hour later, drifting around muddy corners steering the R60 with the throttle.

We’ve told you about the control the All4 system gives the Countryman. However in the dirt and mud, control leads to a car that feels surprisingly neutral and balanced. The reason starts with All4 itself. The system control unit is fully integrated into the DSC unit and thus transfers data much faster than a typical system. In the real world (in the mud and snow) this allows the system to react to changing traction much faster. This is what gives it the seamless, balanced feel. It’s also what allowed me to concentrate on the car control rather than worrying about putting the power down.

All4 engages a small clutch in the front detecting wheel slip when engaging the rear driveshaft. Unlike BMW’s xDrive, it’s a simple (but very effective) system that doesn’t use complex electronics. It’s not quite the center differential locking system in a car like the WRX STI, but it is a simple, lightweight system that works quickly and effectively in sending up to 50% of the available power to the rear wheels.

Whether it’s mud or snow, the Countryman All4 does away with MINI’s typical understeering characteristics and gives the driver the ability to steer with the wheel and the throttle. The results are pure joy.

First off our readers. Secondly that our Countryman has ALL4. How about you?

Download | 16.7MB | 34:36

Last week Todd and I sat down virtually with Vinnie Kung, MINI USA Product Manager on the occasion of the LA Autoshow. As usual when we sit down with Vinnie, we talked about everything MINI. From the new Roadster to the B Spec race car to clutch feel in the Countryman. And even why some Americans want MINI’s largest vehicle even bigger. As usual Vinnie was candid and eager to answer almost everything we threw at him. You can see a quick list of what we discussed after the break.

Topics:

• 2011 and Countryman sales
• Paceman
• Roadster specifics
• Roadster top and head room
• Recaros
• Coupe sales
• New B Spec Race car
• MINI Yours
• Colors (Laguna Green)
• JCW Countryman
• MINI USA and the WRC

According to research MINI USA has just received, the number one complaint from US about the MINI Countryman is that it’s too small. Yep, the largest MINI ever made, the one that has caused a huge uproar within the MINI community is apparently not large enough for some within the American market. Sound familiar? It was the same complaint that the US market had about the R50, R53 and R56 hatch. As you can guess, MINI USA finds it all a bit ridiculous.

So here are our thoughts; It’s a MINI. That means, if it’s in the crossover segment, it will be the smallest one available. Yes it’s tight with four people and luggage. But it’s doable. And that’s the key with the Countryman. It makes things possible that weren’t when owning a MINI previously while staying true to the brand’s ideology. Does it handle 100% like the hatch? No. Does it out-handle anything else (by a wide margin) within the small cross-over segment? In our experience, yes (the only thing close being the Nissan Juke – if you can get past the pretty much everything else wrong with it)

But enough of what we think. Let’s hear your thoughts. Should MINI care that the #1 complaint from the American market is that the Countryman is too small? Should the next generation be larger to accommodate more storage space? Or should MINI stand their ground and be MINI?

This news comes from our recent interview with Vinnie Kung at the LA show (which you can hear in it’s entirety tomorrow).

With the release of the Coupe and the introduction of the Roadster, it’s a great time to step back and look at the MINI family. And with that, we can’t help but wonder which we’d have if given the chance. While we love the Countryman All4 in our driveway, a Coupe or even a roadster would look great in the MF garage. Then there’s the incredible utility of the Clubman or even the classic hatch. But enough about what we think. What’s your favorite MINI of the moment?

Gallery after the break.

Gallery

It’s not the much rumors JCW Countryman or even the recently uncovered Prodrive version. But it is an homage to the current WRC Countryman rally car complete with the full set of questionable go-fast stickers and finished in Chili Red – normally unavailable on the Countryman. Inside it is laden with MINI’s typical carbon fiber goodies including steering wheel, shift knob etc. Beyond that the only thing we can tell is exclusive to this car are the white JCW 19″ wheels that normally are only available in black or sliver.

Reportedly 100 of them are coming the UK dealers but there’s nothing that we can find that indicates any wider distribution (or even confirms that figure). Either way we’d pass. We’ll happily bide our time for the real JCW Countryman coming in late 2012.

Hat tip to @Rakey via Twitter.

For 2011 MINI USA has introduced a handful of options for the MINI Countryman. While most readers attention has been focused on the rear bench seating (a no cost option that deletes the rear rail) we’re much more excited about a couple other additions.

For 2010 MINI introduced a long awaited black headlight option for the Hatch, Convertible, Clubman and Coupe. Yet the Countryman was left with the standard chrome trim. However MINI applied the black magic to the R60 and we now have optional black headlight housing for the Countryman for only $100. Likely one of the best $100 you’ll spend on the options sheet in our opinion.

Another nice addition is the rear armrest available on the standard seat configuration. Having done a number of long trips with four people in the Countryman, I can tell you it will be appreciated by back seat passengers.

Also now standard on the Countryman is the rear bike rack prep meant (as you may have guessed) for the MINI Bike rack.

Back to the bench. Would we have opted for it over the two seats/rail combo? While it gives you more utility I’d have to say no. The two rear seats plus the full rail is such a unique set-up that it just begs to be tested and lived with. And in that regard so far we love it.

First it was the hatch. Then the convertible. Fast-forward ten years and we have what you see above; an entire family of MINI options. With the launch of the last R56 variant MINI thought it was appropriate to get them all together for one big family photo. We can’t blame them. But we also thought it was time to celebrate just a bit. So we’re offering you an ultra hi-res version of the photo above as the ultimate MINI desktop wallpaper. Now the real question: which is your favorite MINI?

Check it out (along with more photos) after the break

Wallpaper

Hi-res JPG Download (1mb – right click and choose save file as or save link as)

Gallery

Great news for fans of the MINI “Dakar” racing team. Not only did a Team X-raid MINI Countryman take the checkered flag at the Baja Portalegre 500, but among more than 500 other race entires, MINIs took two other spots in the top ten. As if that weren’t enough, this victory secured the defense of Team X-raid’s FIA World Cup title. With just two months until Dakar — the Superbowl of off-road races — MINI is looking good to make a major run at victory. Official details after the break.

[Official Release] Overall victory, title defence, plus two further MINI ALL4 Racing in the top ten: For the private X-raid Team the Baja Portalegre 500 proved to be a great success as the team prepares for the Dakar Rally.

“Our target is to defend our FIA World Cup title,” said Sven Quandt, team principal of the private X-raid Team, before the start of last weekend’s Baja Portalegre. Over 500 entries came under starter’s orders for the FIA World Cup finale in Portugal, yet none of the teams proved as successful as the X-raid Team.

All the top World Cup teams were present at the event in Portugal which is part of a series of long-distance rallies. Yet none could steal the limelight from the X-raid Team, which had arrived with no less than four MINI ALL4 Racing entries. They faced a single 5,52-kilometre Super Special on Friday, before the event proper, consisting of two timed stages totalling 426,54 kilometres, got under way on Saturday.

“Basically everything will be decided on only one day,” said Quandt. “Thus we need to focus on Saturday.” Which is precisely what all team members did. Filipe Campos and his co-driver Jaime Baptista took on all 95 teams in the car class, winning through to take overall honours in the Baja Portalegre 500.

Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy and his German co-driver Andreas Schulz finished fifth to successfully defend their overall World Cup title. After placing eighth in the short Super Special, Novitskiy and Schulz posted the best time on the second stage, thereafter driving consistently towards their title victory.

“This is a fantastic result and a sensational end to the season,” beamed Quandt at the finish, “although we had to fight right to the last stage. However, we have now won the World Cup for the fourth time in succession, which gives us a motivational boost during our final preparations for the Dakar Rally.” A number of MINI ALL4 Racing teams are scheduled to take the start of the Dakar, running from 1 to 15 January 2012.

Equally impressive was the performance of Ricardo Leal dos Santos and Paulo Fiuza: in their home event the Portuguese duo drove the third X-raid Team MINI ALL4 Racing to fourth place. The second Portuguese team, namely Bernardo Moniz da Maia and Joanna Sotto Mayor, finished in eighth place to seal an extremely successful weekend for the X-raid Team in Portugal.

Now MINI fans have the appearance of the X-raid Team in the Dakar Rally to look forward to. Less than 60 days remain to the start of arguably the world’s toughest rally…

[via MINI Motorsports]

Which would you have? All things (price) being equal, which would you prefer to have in your driveway? Find out more about the differences after the break.

The Roadster is MINI’s first open top with a completely manual mechanism. In addition there are no pop-up roll-bars as in the Convertible but instead fixed roll-hoops similar to BMW’s Z3 from the late 90′s. All this reduces weight and brings the center of gravity lower than in any MINI before it. However it also reduces the utility as compared with the four seat R57 convertible.

Full MINI Roadster Gallery

BMW and PSA have renewed their collaboration on the next generation of Prince engines and a new platform for electric hybrid drive. Referred to as BMW Peugeot Citroën Electrification, this continued partnership is expanding on their existing partnership to include the next generation of electric hybrid components for use in BMW and PSA Group automobiles. They’re not stopping there, however. The cooperation plans also include the development of a whole hybrid drive platform of components that other auto makers can use to add efficiency to their vehicles without having to go through the development process from scratch.

However while most of the automotive press will likely focus on the hybrid aspect of this story, we’re much more interested in what is otherwise the footnote of the original story regarding MINI’s range of petrol engines.

According to BMW, the pair will continue to develop the Prince engine going forward, with the first new engines finding their way into BMW/PSA vehicles in 2015.

For new readers, the current crop of MINI engines is known as the “Prince” line. Unlike the Chrysler-based, first generation MINI engines, the Prince was produced as a joint venture between BMW and PSA. BMW did the design and engineering and PSA (the parent company of Peugeot and Citroën) supported block production and added buying power. Both companies shared government compliance and development costs. All done, both companies then use the power plants in their vehicles such as the Citroën C3 and DS3, Peugeot’s 207 and 308 and the MINI Cooper line. To date, some 1,800,000 1.4L and 1.6L engines have been produced.

With the next generation MINI hatch slated for a M.Y. 2013 debut, any talk of a “next generation Prince” would imply that some of MINI’s future power plants are likely to be Prince-based. But let’s break that down a bit further and remember how all of this cooperative stuff works. The current Prince engine, and any subsequent generations thereof, are engineered entirely by BMW, regardless of the PSA partnership. What this news does is shed some further light on the development roadmap for MINI engines. Are the three cylinder power plants we’ve been hearing about based on the Prince as well?

The answer to that is no. The 3 cylinder engine will be a powerplant shared within the BMW Group (at this time) and also found in the upcoming front wheel drive 1 Series BMWs destined for release (outside the US only) around 2013.

But let’s not forget the prospect of the hybrid powerplant. Based on our sources, we expect to see this drivetrain show-up in the Countryman and Paceman first. Who knows, that extra power you’ve been looking for in your Countryman All4 might come from an electric-assist AWD system that adds both torque and efficiency. And in time, the innovations happening at BMW could make cars around the world more efficient.

[Source: LeftLaneNews.com]

UK-based AutoCar has some spy shots of a particularly interesting MINI Countryman apparently in the hands of WRC specialists Prodrive. The rumored details are particularly interesting. It’s an All4, it’s got custom wheels and a hulking carbon fiber wing on the back. Under the hood, AutoCar’s sources are saying:

Performance upgrades include a Prodrive-branded Milltek exhaust and a Superchips-tuned version of the Cooper S’s turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine. Sources have indicated that the car had run 230bhp on the dyno, but Superchips is still hoping for even more power and a larger turbo was under consideration.

So what is it? Is it a one-off? Will this be a special edition available for sale? Details are still vague, but we’re actively reaching out to our sources for more information. No mention yet of suspension setup or whether the All4 system has been reprogrammed for a more performance-oriented focus. But let’s clarify a couple of things we do know. This is not the JCW Countryman. That’s a separate animal all together. In fact, this may simply be an aftermarket kit Prodrive would offer through UK MINI Specialists, similar to what they have done for Suburu, among others.

Generally, these special editions are produced in small numbers and restricted to UK markets, so we might not see the final car here in The States, if it ever saw production at all.

More photos over at AutoCar.co.uk

We can’t say it enough. BMW’s insistence on run-flats on their cars kills the ride. When an M5 rides better than a 6 Series something is wrong. In the Countryman it’s particularly a shame because MINI engineers have clearly done an admirable job in crafting the best riding MINI to date. When we’ve found (key word here is found) glass smooth roads, our sport suspension equipped Countryman exhibits an impressive balance between sport and comfort with minimal body roll yet a comfortable transitions over imperfect roads. But that’s only if you forget about the brittle quality of the ride thanks to the run-flats that wrap our R60′s 18″ wheels.

So why did MINI go with run flats in the first place?

It wasn’t for safety as some might assume. BMW decided long ago to ditch the spare tire to save weight in order to increase efficiency and of course save a little money in the process. At the time of the decision (dating back almost 15 years), the tire manufacturers promised dramatic cost and comfort increases for run flats, bringing them inline with normal tires. Alas that hasn’t happened and auto manufactures that have agreed to use the technology have been battling ride issues ever since.

Which brings us back to our All4 MINI Countryman. This is by far the best MINI to date in terms of soaking up road imperfections. Yet it trails some of the competition in ride comfort thanks solely to its expensive run flat tires. The fix? If you don’t need runflats, we suggest wear them down and contact one of our fine sponsors about getting non-runflats on your MINI. This is especially important for the R56 or R57 as the shorter wheelbase cars benefit even more from a flexible sidewall.

In our mind it’s an option that MINI should offer from the factory. Or in the case of markets outside the US, make runflats an option and offer regular tires for a few hundred less.