Exclusive: MINI vs Porsche (It’s Real & It’s On)
A few of you may have seen the MINI vs Porsche ad in yesterday’s New York times. We now have the exclusive first look at the official video from MINI USA. Yes MINI USA is calling out Porsche to meet them on the track at Road Atlanta with a Porsche Carrera S and a driver. MINI will bring a 2010 Cooper S and their own driver. We don’t know much about any of the other parameters or if Porsche will even show up. But we do know that MINI will win win lose or draw in just posing the challenge to a car costing (at least) three times as much.
The video above shows MINI USA head Jim McDowell (former Porsche exec) calling out Porsche and even throwing in a few bald guy Porsche jokes for good measure. Clearly the overall tone is cheeky and MINI is taking themselves too seriously with this. But can they win? If the track is tight and technical enough perhaps. However as much as we love MINIs, a Carrera S is fast car on any track (provided the driver is decent). For MINI to win it would need to be a combination of the right track and right driver.
The event will be closed to the public but we’ll be part of the exclusive group of journalists covering the event.
You can follow all the updates right here on MotoringFile and on MINI USA’s Facebook page.
We’ll have much more on this soon.
<p>I Love the shirt he’s wearing at about 43 seconds into this funny vid… ;-)</p>
<p>What a great promotion! It’s a win-win, whether they win or lose!</p>
<p>It would be more fun if it was McDowell and the Porsche exec driving.</p>
<p>Since the MINI is still arguably a british car, maybe we could get THE STIG!!!</p>
<p>Mini through the corners, long enough straights and displacement wins. That is unless we are talking stock cars. I think the MINI with the stock suspension would likely be challenged though the corners. Now only if MINI would produce a solid performance car where it can actually stand against the competition in its own market share.</p>
<p>Get the good Dr Fuh’s R53 out there… that WILL kick a Porsche’s ass & it’s already sponsored by MINIUSA ;)</p>
<p>Its on!
This battle has been fought before on tracks and auto-crosses everywhere. Its too bad this could not be durning MTTS 2010.</p>
<p>Look for maybe the BMW performance driving school guys to show up, maybe one of those will get picked. They are all a bunch of good drivers.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/83767992@N00/3257303258/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.flickr.com/photos/83767992@N00/3257303258/</a></p>
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<p>Let the games begin!!!!! Better yet get a Porsche 911 and we do it ourselves the hell with Porsche’s CEO he’s not going to do it. I beleive the only car that almost out SLALOM’s Porsche is the Mini, I beleive this issue was done many years ago in Germany, an underground info about this came out many years ago. I loved the video the best since the inception of the MINI in 02. Way to go hit them low and they will cry!!!! LOL</p>
<p>This will be interesting to see. Just wondering who the driver may be? I’m all for the Mini (or course…) but Porsche is a beast of it’s own…</p>
<p>Either way, I’d love to have that MINI > Porsche T-shirt! That’s awesome!</p>
<p>This is at Road Atlanta!?!? Any chance of getting to see this if we are close?</p>
<p>Super super cool… underdog status means MINI wins even when it loses. Love this kind of aggro-marketing!</p>
<p>Not a chance in hell a MINI is beating a Porsche on Road Atlanta, it would get killed on the straights, the esses it is a fast track- I would bet there would be at least a 10 second difference. Porsche will not even acknowledge this ploy, Audi might but Porsche has no reason to prove anything especially to MINIs.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that MINI thinks that Porsche will actually respond to this. Like goat said, the MINI “wins” even if it loses… and on the other hand, the Porsche can’t win. If it absolutely DEMOLISHED the MINI, then it would just be doing what everyone thinks it <em>should</em> do. If the two were close or the MINI won, it would be a HUGE loss for Porsche.</p>
<p>So, why would Porsche do it? I can’t think of any reasonable reason.</p>
<p>That said, it would be awesome if they did.</p>
<p>According to Jalopnik, Porsche is “supposedly” considering it:</p>
<p>“Porsche has the most racing victories of any manufacturer out there — 28,000 and counting — maybe we should go for 28,001,” Steve Janisse, Porsche’s Media Relations Manager, told Jalopnik. “We just need to see what they’re up to.”</p>
<p>Also, there is speculation that MINI may be saying generically “Road Atlanta” and plan to actually race on a “mini-course” that is located in the infield of the Full Course.</p>
<p>This is awesome!! Another reason to love Mini the company as well as the car.</p>
<p>Can anyone find a copy of the ad from the times online? I would like to see it but can’t find it.</p>
<p>against carrera S does seem to be pushing our luck at road atlanta. maybe w/ a jcw or something w/ less hp from porsche…</p>
<p>I want one of those “MINI > Porsche” T-Shirts!</p>
<p>Huh. Carrera S?! Base Cayman maybe. From my experience that car is a decent match to a well sorted JCW, given it’s extra 400lbs. But a Carrera S? Not on a real track.</p>
<p>Only way I see this working is if they lay out one of those lame little gymkhana courses and bring in a ringer specialist driver with insane parking brake skillz. In fact… I would wager that is <i>exactly</i> what they are going to do.</p>
<p>Huh. Carrera S?! Base Cayman maybe. From my experience that car is a decent match to a well sorted JCW, given it’s extra 400lbs. But a Carrera S? Not on a real track.</p>
<p>Only way I see this working is if they lay out one of those lame little gymkhana courses and bring in a ringer specialist driver with insane parking brake skillz. In fact… I would wager that is exactly what they are going to do.</p>
<p>Classic Mini vs. New Mini vs. Porsche Carrera S –</p>
<p>Sabine Schmidt drives the Porsche</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaYaSWyrE2M" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaYaSWyrE2M</a></p>
<p>Correction – It’s Sabine Schmitz (not Schmidt) :-)</p>
<p>This is going to be awesome. win or lose.</p>
<p>this blows! I live 15mins from Road Atlanta and it’s closed to the public. Hey Motoring File dudes…WILL WORK FOR ACCESS!.</p>
<p>So cool! I want to work for MINI USA!!</p>
<p>Aww… I don’t know if I missed the “closed to the public” clause previously, but can’t we pull some strings to get access on request? I think the MINI should have a cheering section!!! :D</p>
<p>Just a reminder that Porsche and Mini are more alike than most think.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.germancarforum.com/mini-lounge/29671-porsche-ad-mini-50th-anniversary.html" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.germancarforum.com/mini-lounge/29671-porsche-ad-mini-50th-anniversary.html</a></p>
<p>I’m so glad to see that MINI hasn’t lost their sense of humor over the years. We’ve always been cheeky and fun, this is perfect for the spirit of the car. I can’t wait to see what happens!</p>
<p>Notice they didn’t say how many laps the race will be. Maybe MINI is hoping to out last them based on gas mileage.</p>
<p>Hahahahaha Tony, that’s a funny (but very valid) point!</p>
<p>What a wonderful promotion! This is right down MINI’s alley. It is about time they got the ball rollin’.</p>
<p>Very funny, but on a track, there’s about a zero chance of a MINI S beating a 911 S, especially with trained drivers. I’ve tracked Cayman S’ quite a bit and I know I’m quicker in those, especially equipped with PDK and LSD, than my tuned MINI. Even a base boxster would win!</p>
<p>Regardless, it’s good, fun press. For MINI at least.</p>
<p>I’m with Ron Lockwood; no public access does blow. WILL GOPHER FOR ACCESS.</p>
<p>Yeah, there’s no way Porsche shows up at the event ready to drive. But…the prospect of them rolling up in a 911 S with Hurley Haywood at the wheel would be mighty intimidating.</p>
<p>Walter Rohl in a 911S at LimeRock (a small tight course) vs say Sabine in the Mini S would indeed be entertaining.</p>
<p>There’s gotta be a catch. It may be a race of how many laps that each car could do with a full tank of gas, (in which case the MINI would win). It could be a smaller autocross course, (in which case the MINI could also win). My sense is there are crucial details about the race rules that Jim McDowell is not sharing with us; rules that would favor MINI winning, because on the full-sized road course, flat out, the Porsche will wipe the floor with our beloved MINI, as we all would suspect.</p>
<p>Funny. At least I hope it’s suposed to be. Ray Charles driving a 911 backwards will beat any Mini.</p>
<p>A completely modified car is a different animal on the track. Although a carerra S is very capable on the track it would all depend on the state of tune of the mini. The bottom line is that a front wheel drive car doesn’t even have the potential to be a race car, the physics are all wrong. It’d be like a midget wanting to play in the NFL. Just not possible.</p>
<p>Fun either way but I wouldn’t mess with Porsche. They have proven to be one of the most precise and carefully engineered automobiles and companies in the world. Expect an interesting response.</p>
<p>I have spent time on tracks with minis and even if they’re running slicks and race perepard the 997 beats it up pretty good.</p>
<p>BTW, the new DFI 997S with PDK will get 500 miles to a tank with relative ease at highway speeds. I would bet that on track a turbo mini drinks gas like nobodys business.</p>
<p>Curious that it’s an S and not a JCW…</p>
<p>Maybe the track that they are speaking of is one set up by MINIUSA, on the road, in downtown Atlanta. That just might spice things up a bit, just a thought!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Atr911, go suck it</p>
<p>Why a Mini Cooper S? Why not a Mini Cooper JCW? The price should still be good for this comparison.</p>
<p>Either way, as a BMW owner and a Mini fan (and possible Mini owner), I’m very interested in how this turns out!</p>
<blockquote>Atr911, go suck it</blockquote>
<p>+1</p>
<p>Have Ian Stewart drive the car, he has the track record in a MINI there at Road Atlanta in NASA Time trials.</p>
<p>Phil</p>
<p>this was a fun marketing exercise that was apparently not so fun to Porsche. yep you guessed it, Porsche shut it down.
the CEO posted a letter basically putting the kibash on “mini vs. porsche”.
I did see a petition on Mini’s FB page to try and convince them to do it so maybe they knew it all along.
seems fun enough. looks dead in the water though. unless there’s a porsche driver out there who’s up for it???</p>
<p>this is the story that won’t go away! imho Porsche needs to race. there, i said it!
sign me up, boss:
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-go-to-Road-Atlanta-and-shut-Mini-up/131010103593070?v=wall" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-go-to-Road-Atlanta-and-shut-Mini-up/131010103593070?v=wall</a></p>
<p>Gabe,
You need to revisit this now we HAVE beaten them big-time in IMSA. ( o yes, actual sanctioned racing )
Are we sure Jim wasn’t secretly backing Louis?</p>
<p>MINI > Porsche !</p>