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MINI Responds to F56 Leaks With Its Own Look At MINI’s Future (Video)
A few weeks ago MINI’s carefully planned launch for the 3rd generation MINI (aka the F56) was rudely taken off script. Over 25 photos were taken of the F56 in various states of undress during a marketing photoshoot. And the reaction to what was seen wasn’t good. Due to the angle, lighting and the fact that the photos we’re taken using extremely long zoom lenses from far away the F56 did not come out looking good.
From what we know of the car the photos didn’t do the overall shape and design justice. And apparently MINI agreed immediately releasing a rather cheeky PR response. But today MINI is giving us much more on not just the new F56 MINI but the entire future of MINI design. Make no mistake this is a concept car. But the overall shape and many of the design features here are lightly disguised versions of what we’ll see on the F56.
With Anders Warming now fully leading the design team there’s never been a better time to take a step back and look at the future of the brand. From what we see here and what we know, it looks pretty bright to us. But we’ll let you be the ultimate judge after seeing the gallery, reading the interview and watching video after the break.
Official Release: At today’s MINI Design@Home event Anders Warming, Head of MINI Design, previews a sampling of visionary design and innovative ideas. The MINI Vision, for example, showcases various elements of future MINI design. Here, MINI has developed a vehicle design laced with new creative impulses that advance the cause of premium quality in the compact class.
In customary MINI fashion, the MINI Vision seizes the limelight with creativity, individuality and a generous helping of versatility. Interactive gadgets such as the Driving Experience Control switch offer a glimpse of the future. This particular feature allows the whole of the car’s interior to be transformed into a variety of different colour and experience worlds in the blink of an eye.
The presentation of the MINI Vision is based around a virtual 3D hologram. This form of expression provides a window into how the MINI designers go about their business. Complementing their familiar toolset of sketches and 1:1 clay models, virtual reality allows them to test and fine-tune creative ideas quickly and under realistic conditions.
The exterior: a perfect balance between old and new.
The design of the MINI Vision reaches pointedly into the brand’s past and combines the underlying features and values of MINI with future-focused aesthetic and technical innovations. The hexagonal radiator grille is inspired by the classic Mini, for example, and the MINI Vision integrates both the bumper and auxiliary lights into the grille.
The traditional and unmistakable rounded MINI forms are reflected in the exterior through elements such as the elliptical full-LED headlights. Their outer ring emits a consistent light and fulfils a daytime driving light function.
Among the stand-out signature features of the MINI brand are the clear separation of the roof, glasshouse and body. The chrome strip wrapped around the top of the body, the distinctive side indicator element and the black band framing the lower edge of the car are all hallmark MINI styling elements.
The MINI Vision presents these three defining design elements as a flowing, interconnected unit – conjured from innovative and lightweight “organo metal”. This extremely mouldable but also very strong material is produced by pressing various fibres into a composite. Organo sheets have a unique texture comparable to that of fabrics.
Alongside lightweight construction techniques, aerodynamics also play a frontline role in the conceptual ideas behind the MINI Vision. The car’s body includes an aerodynamic air intake and outlet around each front wheel arch, airflow-optimised wheel rims and exterior mirrors, and an integral, air-channelling roof spoiler.
At the rear, muscular shoulders lend the MINI Vision extremely sporty and compact proportions. The finely drawn and clearly defined edging in the car’s bodywork is central to the exterior design language of the MINI Vision and underlines the concept’s precision and sporting intent.
The interior: originality and creativity packed into a very small space.
The interior of the MINI Vision stands out with its individual style, variability, functionality and aesthetic appeal. The fundamental idea behind the MINI brand – of providing maximum comfort within minimal exterior dimensions – filters through every detail of the interior.
A transparent and open cockpit, sweeping doors and a “floating” centre console allow the driver and passengers to experience the sensation of a wide open space coupled with the benefits of a space-saving small car. Lounge seats featuring dynamic piping add the finishing touch to the unique interior ambience.
The creative design solutions have been brought together with established pillars of MINI design. For example, the elastic fabric straps on the insides of the doors – arranged like the stripes of the Union Jack flag – are a nod to the brand’s British heritage. However, the stretchable straps have a functional as well as stylistic role: these flexible retaining devices are designed to hold a magazine, mobile phone or drinks bottle within easy reach.
The fresh layer of variability added by the MINI click system offers additional scope for customising the interior. Smartphone holders, a storage box, cup holder or small safe can be attached and removed in a single movement as and when required.
The interior of the MINI Vision as a whole can also be adapted to a variety of interaction requirements with similar flexibility and immediacy.
The Driving Experience Control switch allows the driver to choose between a pure and focused or fully-interconnected mode. The two modes are expressed in different colours using calm, clear light and dynamic, energy-charged shades. Another highlight of the fully-interconnected mode is the “MINI Disco” floor. Here, an expressive interplay of colours, light and forms transforms the footwells as the MINI Vision appears to come vibrantly to life. As well as turning the ambient colour scheme of the interior on its head, the Driving Experience Control switch also changes the face of the familiar MINI circular central display. Depending on their selection, drivers will be met by either a classic, analogue-style view or an impressive 3D look, which gives the full suite of display elements an unaccustomed depth.
Colours and materials: structures form characters.
The Glamorous Gold paint finish – a shimmering gold-tinged orange tone – has never been seen before in the history of MINI design. And the use of organo metal creates an intriguing contrast to this gleaming metallic shade. The organo metal adds highlights not only to the outside of the car, but also to the interior, its unique structure lending the MINI Vision a cutting-edge character.
A tough, dark-blue fabric recalling the properties of a high-quality suit is employed for the seats and sections of interior trim. The seamless transitions of the various materials between the interior and exterior bring consistency to the MINI Vision despite the use of different materials and textures.
Its unbeatable scope for personalisation and an extremely sporty and precise design make the MINI Vision the perfect partner for the road, tailored to the needs and preferences of the individual driver. This design vision demonstrates that MINI will continue to use intelligent variability, imagination-capturing technology and a compact sporting presence to deliver unrivalled driving fun over the years to come.
<p>One thing that immediately jumps out at me here is the absence of the protruding chin intake that carried over from the R56 refresh. The front of this concept, particularly from the grill down looks so much better.
I think the rather simple rear end looks better as well. No grill, or pretend grill below the bumper.</p>
<p>This interior looks great as well – love the almost non-existent center column. That would make for so much more leg room – so much more comfortable on a long drive.</p>
<p>I totally agree with your opinion about the exterior of that concept !
The front is so much nicer !</p>
<p>I very much agree that the absence of the chin intake makes the front end look MUCH better. The Rocketman grille design is quite substantial so it helps when there isn’t a competing grille/intake design below it. The dual grille/intake design of the R56 works well (in particular the JCW Aero bumper) because it looks like the shapes were designed in harmony.</p>
<p>It’s reassuring to see this Vision concept because the “bottom-feeder” chin intake of the spy shots looked visually confusing.</p>
<p>Another interesting detail here are the air vents just forward of the front wheels – I suspect that this is an airwash for the surface of the wheels which parallels a similar detail on the 1M coupe, and heading for other BMW products.</p>
<p>although these may be just brake ducts…</p>
<p>now THAT looks ace!</p>
<p>Something about the front reminds me of an original Mini. Due to the need for a larger vehicle and my dislike of the Countryman (after a number of loaner stints) I’m not sure I’ll own an F56 but its looks certainly don’t put me off</p>
<p>agreed. But where’s my Rocketman?!? ;)</p>
<p>Honestly, I love this design. The interior is simple but full of Tech. Cant wait to see it in person</p>
<p>Larry, Larry, Larry
This is a ” Concept ” design that MINI put out to try and tone down the fears of what the leaked photo’s showed. The ” Concept ” will never be built, so you will be waiting a long time. If they did build it as shown, the waiting time to get one would be back to one year, just as when the new MINI came out in 02</p>
<p>Ray, you must think I am complete Idiot.. I understand it is a concept. I was referring to seeing the F56 when it is officially launched.</p>
<p>A great release by MINI. I suspect the shape of front is quite similar to the F56, and the interior shots improve levels of confidence over what the interior of the F56 will look like in final spec with higher grade materials.</p>
<p>I love the color combo for the concept. I bought my first Mini due to the Hot Orange — and would love to follow up with one in copper!</p>
<p>I much prefer these vertical brake scoops to the bottom mounted version seen on the leaked car. The fog lights integrated into the grill clean up the front end nicely. This has much more Rocketman DNA than anything I have seen so far. A minor thing: I wish the huge tail lights could be broken up with a bit of white or amber (see Fiat 500). Sadly just a concept.</p>
<p>Baby’s got back.</p>
<p>But seriously, I hope the real thing looks more like this than it looks like the spy shots recently released. Too bad I am not going to be able to wait for the new Clubman when I have to upsize. Damn kids’ legs just keep getting longer.</p>
<p>…and it’s not really that much better than the spy photos, sadly. Here’s why:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Much of this won’t make production. We’ve already seen what will, and many of the good bits aren’t there. For instance, 90% of that interior is conceptual (minus the starter switch and dials we’ve seen in the center stack).</p></li>
<li><p>The front end is too long, too pointed. It’s losing the bulldog stance and becoming more fish-like.</p></li>
<li><p>The shape is TOO organic. Remember what Ford did with the Taurus in the 90s, where the whole car just became an amorphous blog? Yeah, this is our version.</p></li>
<li><p>The largish wheels in this concept help it look more aggressive. But the production version will have smaller wheels, making it look quite out-of-balance.</p></li>
<li><p>The back-end is all kinds of wrong… the lights are oddly huge (like some silly Pikachu character), and the links in the rear hood and fender are all unnatural… it’s like the exhaust got pushed up into the fender in an accident, and the taillights created creases on their way in.</p></li>
<li><p>The side profile is really the only sculptural part that says “MINI.” And that’s a shame.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Strongly disagree on the notion that the shape presented in this render is “TOO organic.”</p>
<p>There are so many details here that I dig, but I’ll be surprised if they’re more than faint echos in the production car. Like the circular screen, near absence of center stack, the silver band that extends all the way around the car under the windows, the Union Jack shapes in the doors, the slender sculpting of the console between the seats, the shape of the seats themselves…</p>
<p>I also really like the way the outside color is brought inside the car. That’s something that MINI seemed more interested in during the first generation of cars than the second and, while several other manufacturers have started doing it lately, I’d still welcome its return.</p>
<p>Go back to the drawing board. As for me, I’ll keep my 2010 :)</p>
<p>This is what the scoop photographs did not show especially when taken from a distance. The concepts face is very much the F56 and now evident we can see the surfaces that pronounce the bonnet as well as interesting details such as melted into the wings type headlights.</p>
<p>If we take the detailing away then we get an idea of the overall appearance of the new MINI which can be described as Revo-Evolutionary. This is thanks to the new modular BMW platform which bears traditional MINI engineering traits such as that typical MINI Go-Kart feeling.</p>
<p>We will see more of the new vision of MINI in the run up to the IAA in Frankfurt
Perhaps “more doors” will open between then, showing another vision for MINI.</p>
<p>In the meantime to keep you anticipated here is footage of a three cylinder MINI Cooper and the new MINI Cooper S living up to its reputation.</p>
<p><a href="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3LVMeapSLYs&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3LVMeapSLYs" rel="nofollow ugc">http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3LVMeapSLYs&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3LVMeapSLYs</a></p>
<p>I thought the Frankfurt launch has been pushed back?</p>
<p>Why tease us with this clean design? We can clearly see in the spy photos a horrible square chin on the bottom front that is not present in these photos.</p>
<p>Herr26, you have your work cut out from here until launch time. FIX THE CAR! Really, fix the thing and you’ll have a winner in your hands. Delay production if you must. Look at what happened to Honda when they released the aweful 2012 Civic and just one year later, they had to retool the factory as the car reviewed very poorly due to all the cost cutting and design compromises. MINI can’t afford to release a dud next year. We trust that your team can rectify this mistake and bring us something much more along the lines of the MINI Vision. Take this from a long time MINI and BMW customer. I love you guys but I am very vocal and very critical as well.</p>
<p>you are dreaming</p>
<p>And you are snoring.</p>
<p>Yes, snoring because I feel like Rip Van Winkle just woke from a nap started in 2007. The same naive advice to BMW, perhaps from the same naive people, to redesign now before its too late… How’d that work out last time?</p>
<p>It’s a message board and people are expressing their opinions. Am I naive enough to think that BMW executives are running down their office corridors toward the design dept. in a panic with printouts of these comments…well no. But considering the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the leaked production car vs. these comments might give someone pause. Just maybe.</p>
<p>Man that is one PHAT ass! I like it but I know this is just a concept</p>
<p>Mini concepts have been looking great for a long time. Do they implement them in a meaningful way though?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>The front air intakes in the leaked photos look wrong…no, they look like they don’t belong there at all.. I hope the final car looks more like this concept.</p>
<p>Now if they had only shown such concept at say an autoshow… like Geneva rather than a some limited edition car only for Europe. Wouldn’t that have made sense? Rather than scrambling to fix something because the real car was caught undressed- be proactive and show what the “vision” is.</p>
<p>I get that the BMW Group has tons of concepts that never see the show circuit or the light of day but for a Concept that directly influences the future of a brand ????</p>
<p>I believe this concept was planned to be shown along with another version with five doors. That said I believe they pulled ahead this material to help alleviate any concerns over the direction of MINI design after those terrible leaked photos.</p>
<p>If you read the comments here this far from alleviates any concerns over the design direction. It seems to just anger the majority that this is not what we’ll be getting.</p>
<p>I have 4.5 years on my ’12 S. If the F56 is anything like this concept, I will be buying an F56 in 4.5 years.</p>
<p>“Here is the MINI you aren’t getting,” thanks MINI.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t understand the last minute release of this “vision” especially since the clever, nice bits of this concept are not making it on the F56.
There is a name for this “blue balls” ;)</p>
<p>F56 is going to dominate. That is all</p>
<p>Now this looks much better than those spy photo shots… Why is there such a difference in the front and rear photos, especially the front? The spy shots are god awful, ugly front-end… That’s probably what you’re gonna get…</p>
<p>Well, this isn’t the car that will be released. This one looks good.</p>
<p>Come on MINI, it’s not too late to change the front bumper design of the production cars to be more in line with this design. It’s just the front bumper and wheel arch trim molds.</p>
<p>Delay the car another 3-6 months, fix the tooling and they’ll have a winner. MINI you know it.</p>
<p>I like the interior a lot – it’s brilliant. I agree the exterior looks like a fish. But apparently others like it, so to each their own.</p>
<p>Threw this comp together of the Mini Vision in JCW colors. I hope this concept carries over!</p>
<p>I rather like the exterior of this concept, but I am flabbergasted by the positive comments about the gaudy, tasteless interior; what a tawdry mishmash of clashing shapes and colors!</p>
<p>Broadly indiferant to the design. The view from the front is ok and the back is ok (though have quibbles with both). The side view is not pleasing to my eye, the windshield buldge is odd and feels like it has a weak chin. Its a concept so not likely to make any determinations until I see the F56.</p>
<p>I hate the term cheeky</p>
<p>It is a damn shame that this is not going to be the next gen car.
This is an excellent design; everything about it is clean, smooth and most importantly harmonious with each other.</p>
<p>This should have been the evolutionary step forward. I understand it is a concept car (and a bit of a back pedaling one at that) but the production car should have been made to follow this.</p>
<p>I love how smooth the whole design is;
The front end is so clean now; the lack of the protruding lower intake is a immense improvement for the front bumper since the front bumper beam is such a visually strong character piece. As soon as I saw the spy shots I thought to my self that they are fighting each other for attention.</p>
<p>I actually like how the rear bumper is smooth on this car, I always liked my fake mesh on my R56 but actually prefer this.</p>
<p>I absolutely love the character line that comes up from the wheel arch trim and connects to the belt line. Also the way it creates the door handle like a 1962 Thunderbird.</p>
<p>The interior is gorgeous, as they always are with concept cars, but this is great. The wrap around accent is like the new Jaguar XJ, it creates a visual expanse of space while clearly the dash is further forward and the glass is more steeply sloped back.</p>
<p>The dash its self is great, I love how it sort of calls back to the 1st generation Mini with the separation between top and bottom.</p>
<p>Overall it is much more minimalist than what we have seen in all of the spy photos over the last few years, its a damn shame that this is nothing but a tease. It almost feels like after the leak the team at MINI needed to create a beautiful concept car to show us what the next car could be like.</p>
<p>Everything we have spied on the F56 is here, but stylized, re-imagined beyond the realm of actual production and without regard to engineering or manufacturing. I understand its a concept car but when we have already seen so much of the finished product this feels like a bit of a bait and switch.</p>
<p>Agreed in all counts. I would definitely make a bid for this car, not the mounstrosity that we were shown a few weeks ago. The first gen MINI was an instant success because designers and engineers were allowed to control the look and feel of the car. 13 years later, is the accountants and marketeers setting the “Way forward” at MINI and BMW in general.</p>
<p>This is literally the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. This is my new favorite Mini design. I would love for them to take this design route.</p>
<p>MINI If you are reading our reactions, i hope very much you still have time to redesign the 2014 to look like this !!! This is perfect</p>
<p>The overwhelming negative reaction to the leaked photos of what is believed to the be the “production” F60 has likely caused upper management to order an extensive design review and this “MINI Vision” is probably the result of it. I like what I see here very much but doubt much of this will see the light of day. I hope the final product is the direct reflection of a group of passionate designers and engineers not the result of focus groups, bean counters and savvy marketing czars.</p>
<p>As much as I would love to believe that it’s likely too late to make any design changes on the production car. Sad.</p>
<p>…where’s the handle?</p>
<p>The front end is clean, simple, and progressive. The air curtains work well on the MINI face as opposed to the square brake duct inlets from the current R56 S and the F56 spy shots. Also, the proportions are reasonably sorted with the longer (and sadly required so we can’t really complain about it until the EU and N America decide on the same regulations…) front end not being as exacerbated with the more angled windshield.</p>
<p>The truth is, while tooling is set for all of the metal pieces and these major parts are nice (the hood, side, rear), it is easy to make a new plastic lower valence, move the fog lights and do a crash test to confirm it’s fine. So maybe MINI will do that and clean up the front end. Maybe that’s part of the reason for the date to be pushed back. The truth is, most MINI concepts are pretty close to production- the Clubman, Coupe and Roadster all being the best examples. Even the Beachcomber led itself to a good approximation of the production Countryman. And now it sounds like Frankfurt will get an F55 Concept and let the production reveal for the BMW Group fall to the i3.</p>
<p>I’m still holding off until the release and until I can see it in person, walk around it, examine the design details and put it next to the last two gen MINIs. And then the most important will be how good of a drive it is back to back with my R50 and E91. If it’s a success, the real question will be do I get an interim car for commuting and let the bugs get sorted and the F55 5-door be released… PS- The 2014 Mazda 3 is looking pretty good…</p>
<p>They left out the squeaks and rattles….</p>
<p>just build the Rocketman already… jesuz</p>
<p>Sadly, there’s no chassis for the Rocketman.</p>
<p>if this is where things are headed, it looks good. it remains to be seen whether this vision or, something close to it, materializes….
did anyone notice how in the center console the a/c ducts arent squared but make the mini wings on either side of the mini connect screen? clearly they had thought about this detail but dropped it, as seen in the spy shots of the new dash…</p>
<p>Not necessarily, I think there’s hope.
If you study the square vents closely in the spy shots they’re controlled by twisting knobs with arrows, even though they can’t twist (they’re square). So the current interior shots are not representative of the final product.</p>
<p>Can’t wait to see it in the metal!</p>
<p>I bought a cooper s convertible after my 335 convertible was stolen with the greatest of ease from outside my house in London. I have enjoyed it very much (save for the mechanical failures) and have been looking forward to seeing the next mini after realising how ordinary the new 4 series looks. Odly, when the coupe and convertible were called 3 series they were a total redesign, now they are fours they look the same as the sedan only with extra bloated features and bulging corners which is supposed to make them look more sporting but to me just makes them look fat. From the spy shots i got the impression that they’ve done the same thing with the new cooper s. It looked puffed up and covered in convex surfaces as opposed to the convex we see in the concept – and that ugly jutting oblong under the front bumper looks like an afterthought, put together by the department trainee. The original mini was above all a neat car and the neatness extended to the detailing. Looking at the spy shotsI feel a bit disappointed with the bloated design, with its pumped up tail lights and vaccum cleaner chin. It looks like a fatty in control pants and too many accessories headed for a party. The concept looks so much better, but I fear it’s a long way from what we’ll be getting.</p>
<p>I like the side and the rear views of the Vision, but just can’t warm up to the front view at all. And this is not the production car for 2014 anyway–it’s just a concept car. In other words, it doesn’t matter what I like, it’s not available.</p>
<p>My ’07 MCS has nearly 100,000 miles on it, and I want to replace it with another MINI. I’m actually thinking a “left-over” 2013 R56 will be what I buy, not an F56. I’ll wait until I see it before making my decision, but the whole business doesn’t bode well for MINI sales. I’m the most gung-ho MINI owner around, but I hate what I’ve seen so far.</p>