Car Magazine Covers the MINI SUV
Car magazine (one of the best out there in our humble opinion) has some new photos and relatively old info on the forthcoming MINI SUV. Here’s an excerpt:
>People who’ve seen the car in the metal confirm that the Mini is indeed going four-wheel drive, and this shot does show a different rear suspension set-up to the front-wheel drive Clubman and Mini hatch. Engineering sources have told CAR that the front module is essentially the same as in current Minis, but the rear section is completely re-engineered to provide the 4×4 hardware.
>Don’t expect to tackle muddy hillsides and mountain trails in the go-anywhere Mini, though. This is very much pitched at the lifestyle 4×4 end of the market.
>Is this Mini marketing gone mad? Some will say so, but the Mini 4×4 could be ideally positioned to appeal to those wanting the off-roader look in a smaller, more environmentally friendly package. And with its range of small-capacity 1.4 and 1.6 petrol and diesel engines all equipped with stop-start and fuel-supping cleverness, Mini is well positioned to take advantage of that demand.
While there’s nothing really new that hasn’t been reported on MF, it’s still well worth a read:
[ Secret New MINI SUV ] Car Magazine
<blockquote>…will be given a raft of butch 4×4 styling cues…</blockquote>
Oh no!!! Please say it won’t be so…<em>[sobbing…in a girly-way]</em>
Is that a club door on the left side ???
As long as it can legitimately seat three in the back, I’m sold.
Holy cow, Car’s GBU is back online!
And I agree with Theo, it sounds like a Mini in a lumberjack costume.
as long as the styling and handling stays on brand, an all wheel drive mini could be a welcomed thing for those of us who live, well, in Colorado… It was impossible to drive my R50 in the 40 inches of snow we had last december through january. Buit if it ends up looking like a Dodge, ugh!
Which part of those pictures look like a Dodge?
that was a comment on “butch 4X4 styling clues.”
looks like a clubman to me…
But most importantly, will it come in a flat BRG?
MINI WRC? 😛
How many times do you have to say it – its just a mule.
Yes, just a mule, the final version will have plastic cladding on the fenders. 🙂
It’s nice to see it’s less of a mule than more like a wee burro…or dare I say it, a ‘Moke’. 😉
Just like the story, nothing new on my personal view either. This is still one of the biggest blunders to date from Mini. I will be leaving the brand the day this hits the streets. Anything said about the brand afterwards by me will be prefaced with the idiocy of BMW in this matter.
I think some people make posts like Jon’s above because they think that people from Mini that read here will second guess their decisions, that they may think they are driving people away. I have to say watching from the sidelines, somebody who does not care one way or the other, that it does not come across that way. You sound like a zealot and if anything the reader is more likely to discount your opinion because of it.
Word up Jon! I remember when Baskin Robbins had only TWO flavors, vanilla and chocolate. Then the came out with strawberry. What the @#$!#???? Strawberry would totally dilute their whole brand. NOW they have 32 flavors. I never returned after that and refused to give BR any future business… just because they wanted customers more flavors.
Bye Bye Jon. We may or may not miss you and your fair-weather attitude toward the brand. To each his own. An SAV/SUV, or whatever it is called, is a useful vehicle to many of us. If you love the MINI brand and need an AWD vehicle that has room to haul a couple of good size kids and a dog, this could be the vehicle for you. If MINI releasing such a vehicle alienates you from the brand and the segment of the community that purchases said vehicle, you have issues bigger than we can address on this enthusiast’s site.
Bye Bye.
>You sound like a zealot and if anything the reader is more likely to discount your opinion because of it.
Actually it sounds like he has some principle and believes in something with passion. While I don’t agree 100% with his opinion, I do find it refreshing.
No reason for pistols-at-dawn language on either side. I’m not sure throwing around verbiage like “zealot”, “fair-weather” and “idiocy” is going to be conducive to civilized discourse on so surprisingly fractious a topic, altho I do fail to see the reason for such absolutes on those disenchanted with the direction this particular model is going: it’s not the end of MINI by any measure – it’s not another Mustang II, fer crissakes.
Unfortunately, I’ve been down this road before, and there are those that will get off the bus at every minor bump in the road before the destination, and there are those that will get on when there is more room. Been traveling a long time on this particular Blue Bird, and haven’t seen anything that’s gonna make me leap from the window yet, and this particular variation has not even approached that level – I have confidence it won’t.
Anyway, can’t see a large or even medium vehicle being built on this mule’s chassis, or the other split-window they’re flogging around the track, for that matter. I can’t really believe that any AWD or 4WD MINI coupe wouldn’t have been hot-rodded into a slightly larger home-made SAV, anyway – are we not individualistic MINI owners?
I’m with Jon on this one.
For me, Mini is more a design philosophy than a brand.
Quote: ‘Expect the original Mini’s rallying heritage to be plundered mercilessly, then.’
If the Monte Carlo Rally or Go Kart handing is mentioned in the press release then it’s just a bunch of words designed to appeal to people who have to carry stuff around but want to appear trendy.
Um, Jon and cze33r, where will you go if the SAVwhatever is made? That’s like cutting of your own arm, because you don’t like a wart on your foot. What I’d like to hear is how Mini will continue to grow (remeber, the parent company has committed to a 2x or some other rediculous sales unit increase by some very early year) to actually keep it’s doors open?
In another thread here, I commented in the similarity between the introduction of the Porsche SUV, and the whining of the 911 fenatics. Now that Porsche is raking in SUV dough, and still making more and more varients of 911, I don’t hear the complaining any more. And I really wonder how many of those that threatened to leave the brand with the introduction of the SUV really went out and bought a corvette! What other choices are there? If the Mini 2 door coop is what really floats your boat, go ahead and buy one and enjoy. Don’t worry that they will make other models for others that don’t want the 2 door coop, but instead want something else (I now have two girls that are car-seat age, and the extra room of the clubman or the SAV would really be welcome, let me tell you! As would the part time 4 wheel drive system, as we get snow about three times every two years! But I get some wicked hydroplaining on the freeways in heavy downpours.) And I’d still have my modded 02 MCS for spirited driving.
Frankly, I find the logic totally lacking. Show me any examples of small production cars that aren’t a botique item, or carried by sales of cars that appeal to the mass market more than the niche brand.
Sure it’s nice to say that you want to be “conceptually pure”, but it lacks any sort of realistic business plan that would lead to long term viability. Look at Lotus. Sheeze, you can still buy 05 Elises with practically no miles on them. Some may have never even really left a dealer lot. Is that what you want for Mini? Might as well shoot it in the head now.
Matt
Several good points Matt,
I personally have no use in my family life for a vehicle that is bigger. I certainly understand why/how others could be in a situation that demands more room.
I am still going to pick up a factory JCW, this should last me for quite a while, when it comes time to replace it I will be going for a recent but used 911 or a new Exige S.
I certainly agree that what Mini is doing if very simular to what Porsche did. I will point out though what this did to the Porsche community. This caused a huge fracture in their owner groups, while many don’t accept a SUV within their ranks there is little if any doubt to how most drivers feel about this. What has amazed me time and time again with the Mini community is the inclusiveness of the owners nd drivers. I wave at every color, model and type of driver in a Mini and enjoy seeing them. I don’t believe I am unique with this, a there are a great number of Mini fanatics out there that are just in love with the Mini. I personally believe this will drive a stake into that community feeling, it will survive but I wonder in what form.
Still believe building this car is a very predictable blunder. Just seems silly for Mini to spend so much money that while putting cash in their pocket will greatly impact their hard earned community.
Matt makes sense. And Jon, I do apologize for seeming harsh. We would miss you if you bail.
I have an ’05 Cooper S and love everything about it (except the factory runflats and cold nature of the engine). I dreamed of owning a Mini for decades and after BMW revived it as a MINI, I still stewed and fretted for 2 years, worrying that the brand would go away, before I could afford a new toy. I do not plan to ever sell this car. However, I do have a gas-slurping SUV and, gasp, a minivan. Our family needs these vehicles to carry the five of us and occaisonally, do it in inclimate weather. So, I just thought that a beefed up version of a car that I already love would be cool. Unlike a fair number of MINI enthusiasts, I am an SUV fanatic. I have owned several Suzuki Samurais, FJ 40 Land Cruisers, Land Rover Defenders, one Jeep and now have a grocery getter Nissan XTerra. They have all been extremely useful. That does not not mean that I don’t love my MINI. Diversity is what the world is all about. I just see the “Colorado”, or whatever they call it, as a way to potentially satisfy my needs and support the Brand at the same time. No crime in that is there?
I hope that you are wrong in your prophecy that such a vehicle will sever the community. I believe the MINI community, while passionate, is also liberal in their embrace of that which is different and progressive. After all, those are some of the attributes that define MINI.
I just don’t get why car makers think they all need an SUV in their line up – the US market I suppose!
I can understand MINI creating the Clubman for a bit more room, but an SUV???????? Why?
MINI is not just another brand like others that “need an SUV”
Can’t we just leave the SUV market to Toyota/Nissan et al, and leave MINI to do what it does best?
BMW’s claws seem to be getting deeper & deeper into MINI and turning into a circus…
Oh well, nothing I can do about it!! I do love my MINI to bits though, and it will be staying with me for quite a while yet.
I seriously hope that everyone understands my convictions are not from anything but absolute love of the Mini brand. I will not be selling my Mini’s but this will be a deal breaker to me for future purchases. I also sadly have to say this decision has already diminished my interest in the Mini community. I have already decided that Mini United will be my last Mini event (and even that is questionable if they focus it on the SUV)
Nothing would make me happier than seeing myself as one of a kind in the Mini community with my strong dislike for SUV’s and fear that its going to do horrible things totally unnecessary to the brand and its community.
I still have a great deal of respect for Mini and its managers. I just have to coldest chill up my spine over this development. I feel that this decision to develop this was done exclusively by bean counters at 16:45pm on a Friday. Its the easy choice, the obvious choice but I fear that nobody took even a minute to consider the Mini community reaction.
blargh.
To Jon,
I truly don’t understand your logic. How is it detrimental to a brand when they can offer the same products they have offered in the past, add more products that can appeal to a larger number of potential buyers which, in essence would create more sales and increase profit to the company which would lead to more research, improved technology and a better product line. I think for MINI to survive longterm they have to offer a product line that will appeal to the masses and they will still offer their niche product. I really like the Mini brand and if they can make an SUV/SAV with the styling and gas mileage of the Cooper and the roominess and utility of an SUV I believe they could sell all they could make. As far as damaging the brand, my thinking would be totally opposite. I would probably look at two: The SUV/SAV to replace my wife’s gas sucking Mazda SUV and a Cooper for me.