Will an All-Wheel Drive MINI Ever See the Light of Day? With the recent Getrag testing of an AWD drive system for the MCS, we seem to get this questions asked every couple of weeks. And while there’s been quite a bit of excitement in some circles over the prospect recently, an All-wheel drive MINI may be further away than many of us would like to believe according to some exclusive information we’ve recently recieved.

First off there’s the issue of the MINI brand. As we all know the MINI was one of the first cars to bring front wheel drive to the masses in a way that endeared itself to both the enthusiast and the commuter. There are some within MINI that believe that an AWD MINI will run contrary to this principle.

Secondly there’s the price issue. At what point does the base price of a MINI move into a different realm entirely. While people in the US may look at the MINI as a small premium car, many in other parts of the world look at it as smart, fun, basic transportation. An AWD MINI would move the base price into uncharted territory when fully loaded.

Finally there’s the question of who would actually buy an AWD MINI? While it’s a safe bet that an option like AWD will interest the die-hard enthusiasts, what about the masses? On the face of it it, the vast majority of those buying the MINI would most likely not be interested in such an option. And even if there is strong enthusiast support, is this group large enough to justify the engineering costs to bring AWD to market?

These are all questions MINI is considering as it looks at the idea of AWD in the MINI line for the years ahead. And from what I’m hearing… we may be waiting for some time.

If you would like to see an AWD MINI in the years ahead, I urge you to let MINI know in the comment section below.

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