The Detroit News is reporting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the ’07-’08 R56 Cooper S after 12 complaints were filed, including five vehicle fires. At this point we can only speculate as to the cause of these incidents (as to whether or not they’re turbo-related), but it’s important to keep in mind that we’re talking about five cars in approximately 36,000 vehicles, with no injuries or crashes reported. So we’re pretty sure it’s safe to go ahead and drive your Cooper S to the office this morning. While only preliminary at this point, we’ll keep you posted on any findings this investigation turns up. Full story excerpt after the break. continued →
The MINI Countryman just knocked it out of the park with a Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This is the highest score a car can get. Here’s a direct quote from the IIHS’ site:
The Mini Cooper Countryman, a 4-door small car, earns the Institute’s top safety accolade after achieving good ratings for front, side, rollover, and rear impact protection. It is the first Mini to win, and the second model from BMW to achieve top results since the Institute tightened the criteria to include good performance for roof strength in rollover crashes [the other is the 2011 BMW 5 series]. The roof of the Countryman withstood a force equal to nearly 5 times the car’s weight. By comparison, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight. continued →
Interesting news today out of EURO ENCAP, a vehicle safety testing organization similar to the IIHS here in the states. They did some rather unpleasant things to a MINI Countryman to test its crash worthiness and the results were fantastic. The R60 received an overall score of five stars, with a front seat (adult) occupant score of 84%. More details and full results PDF after the break. continued →
We broke this story earlier in the week with an exclusive look at the application and the ideas behind it. Today it is being officially introduced to the public.
Official Release: MINI USA announced today the introduction of a free app to MINI owners that allows access to roadside assistance with the touch of an icon. The new MINI Road Assist mobile application was developed by Allstate Roadside Services and is available for iPhone and select BlackBerry users. The app connects users to roadside assistance while automatically supplying the service provider with all relevant information about the vehicle, most importantly, its exact location.
“MINI owners appreciate technological innovation and will welcome the additional peace of mind that comes from having fast, easy access to the free roadside services provided during their warranty period,†said Jim McDowell, Vice President MINI USA. continued →
To help ease the complexity of dealing with roadside assistance MINI USA is releasing a smartphone application this Thursday. With the roadside assistance program being free (and a great selling point for the car) MINI USA is looking to leverage the application to help get word out and make life easier should make the process easier.
Here’s how it works:
The App will allow you to set up a profile via registering your VIN on the Application. This profile will store your VIN, Model & Model Year. You can also upload a picture of your MINI, give it a nickname & select the color MINI that you have.
You can select a service such as; jump start, tire change, fuel, lock out assistance, tow for mechanical reason, or accident.
Once you’ve selected a service you can hit the call button and you will be connected with Roadside.
The App will then push all of the above data to the roadside rep on the other end of the phone as well as (with your permission by selecting “allow current locationâ€) the latitude and longitude of your current location. continued →
According to the IIHS you’ll want to be extra careful to avoid low speed accidents if your a MINI driver. A recent study gave the car a “poor” grade in low speed impacts due to the repair costs. Here’s an excerpt from their report:
Pricey styling decisions: The Mini Cooper is the only car the Institute has tested with a hood that buckled in the front corner test. This is a pricey styling design on the manufacturer’s part, Nolan points out. The minicar’s hood wraps around the front of the car like a fender, so instead of replacing just a fender, the car needed an $810 new hood. Repairs total $2,637 in this test.
The IIHS recently finished its side-impact crash testing of the 2008-2009 MINI Cooper. Below is an extensive look at the testing with both exterior and interior mounted video cameras. Overall the car got an “A” or acceptable rating – not bad for a small car. However when you look closer at the ratings you’ll see the MINI got pretty much all “G” ratings (as high as it gets) except for two categories: rear passenger torso and driver leg categories.
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Sections: Faults & Fixes, Recalls/Campaigns, Safety Oct 17th, 2011 14 Comments 
