MINI Countryman; Paceman in 2012, WRC Edition

  • Thread starter Thread starter Joey D
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I want my diesels, that's for sure. Now that we're finally getting a Golf TDI again (hey kids, we haven't had one since... 2006), my guess is that MINI is feeling the pressure to do a diesel Cooper or whatever else is in the pipe. It makes sense, and it will probably sell.

Fingers crossed that these two will make everyone else realize that they should be selling diesel hatchbacks.
 
The MINI SU SAV or whatever it's called will be showing up in Detroit coming in January. I guess I'll have to go into the city to see it, but it's not all bad, at least there will be something to see this year.

Motoring File
MINI’s 2010 Autoshow Schedule Revealed (Updated)

A couple of months ago we broke MINI’s upcoming auto show schedule starting with the release of the Coupé/Roadster twins in Frankfurt. Now comes MINI’s next phase in LA. The LA Autoshow should see the North American debut of the Roadster/Coupé twins but not much else. MINI will be saving the big debut for Detroit.

Yes that means the R60 (aka the MINI Crossover) will be debuting in the Motorcity in early January at the North American International Auto Show. The car will technically debut on the web a few weeks before but the show will feature our first hands-on glimpse of the final production spec.

Next up MINI should start to roll out the R55/R56/R57 lifecycle refresh and what better place than the Geneva Motorshow in March. While we haven’t confirmed this plan yet, it would seem appropriate as that’s where the R50/R53 refresh was also debuted.

As always we’ll be covering everything as it happens.
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Oh and as a bonus feature, there are such things as 4x4 MINI's

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And then there is the home brewed one

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And you shall be called?

Motoring File
The R60 MINI Crossover Gets an Official Name & a Revised Debut
Official photos and details will be released in a few months but we have a few bits and pieces to finally reveal. For one we’ve confirmed (for the 3rd time now) that MINI will name the R60 “Countryman”. For those who have been following MotoringFile for awhile this shouldn’t be news, but another high-level confirmation was worth a mention.

However what is news is that MINI will be branding the new all-wheel drive system that comes optional on the Countryman. Like Audi does with Quattro and BMW does with Xdrive, MINI wants to create a sub-brand that will be recognizable with consumers. Therefore the system will launch with the name “All4″ tied to it.

While marketing is getting underway on the new MINI, pre-production is lagging behind. First off the X3 is still being produced. And as BMW’s most profitable vehicle per unit, they are very sensitive to the time it will take to stop production in Austria and start production of the new X3 in the US. So the Countryman is certainly a secondary thought as compared to an already established vehicle like the X3.

But that hasn’t stopped Magna Steyr from starting the hiring process at the Austria plant. Once X3 production ceases, new candidates have been selected and trained (along with the rest of the staff) production should commence. However the specific time when that will happen remains a little foggy other than to say early 2010.

All this leads us to believe that MINI may well push back the launch of the R60 to the Geneva Motor Show in early March rather than show it in Detroit in early January. If that’s the case we’d also guess that the debut R55/R56/R57 refresh will also fall back a few months.
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OK so it will be the Countryman for sure now. And All4? What kind of cool AWD system name is that? The creative juices must have stopped flowing at MINI that day.

And lame, if it's not in Detroit I see very little point into going down there to have a look around.
 
Just produce a 300HP version (actually, 280 would do,) and I'll be fine.

Otherwise, I'll get an Evo.
 
Jim Prower
Just produce a 300HP version (actually, 280 would do,) and I'll be fine.

Otherwise, I'll get an Evo.
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Eh I'd still get an Evo if you are looking for something sporty. This will be just like every other small crossover.
 
Officially Leaked Photos of the real thing.

Motoringfile
Kilometer magazine has leaked three photos of the MINI Countryman. Officially not to be shown to the public until March in Geneva, the Countryman was scheduled for an internet debut in a few weeks. As it stands now it’ll be interesting to see how MINI handle this leak and if they release the rest of the information of photos. One thing for certain, Kilometer magazine likely will not be invited to the next MINI vehicle launch.

Initial thoughts? Let’s hear them…
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EDIT: Tree'd by Joe!!!

Look at it. LOOOOOK AT IT!​

*pics*


Jalopnik

Autoblog


Let the invasion of the small 4WD hatchbacks begin!
 
Pfft....Tree'd. :p

I like the Countryman though, other then the weird bump in the front grill and those hideous black rims.
 
Lets be honest here... Something like the Countryman is absolutely perfect for Michigan. You've got a presumably fun to drive, somewhat fuel efficient car for seven months out of the year. Then, when the weather gets icky around Halloween through Valentines Day, you've got the All4 system in your crossover to get you around in the white stuff all season. Assuming the price isn't too bad on one of these (I think a fair guess is what, $21-22K?), they're going to sell like hotcakes.


Of course, this gives GM the reasoning they need to build the GMC Granite, and Chrysler-FIAT to get on that Panda 4X4-based Jeep. I'm all for it. Too bad Suzuki will be screaming "Look! We did it first! Waaaah!" with the SX4, and no one will care.
 
If they start at $21k, I'll be seriously thinking about one for my next car. I should be able to get one for about $25k with some goodies on it and what not. My fear is that it will be over priced like the previous MINI's have been.

And Suzuki will just say the are Mightier than the MINI for some reason.
 
I'll post this here, because, you know, laziness:

New engines to Mini

BMW used to offer an engine upgrade to its cars during the middle of their life. Mini is no exception. This year, the whole gasoline engine range of Mini gets some improvement:

Mini Cooper S: the 1.6 DI twin-scroll turbo motor finally gets Valvetronic to its crowded cylinder head. As a result, power is boosted to 184 hp from 175 hp, torque is unchanged, but fuel economy is improved from 41 mpg to 49 mpg, making a frugal car even more remarkable.

Mini Cooper: the naturally aspirated 1.6 Valvetronic engine is basically unchanged except with some lower friction treatment like other engines. Output inches up from 120 to 122 hp.

Mini One: big news is the abandoning of the previous 1.4-liter VVT engine for the larger 1.6 Valvetronic in order to boost torque from 103 to 113 lb-ft. Max power improves by only 3 hp to 98 hp because this is a detuned version of the Cooper engine. Fuel consumption is worsened slightly from 53.2 mpg to 52.3 mpg.

Mini First: First takes over One as the entry-level Mini. It shares the 1.6 Valvetronic engine again, but detuned further to 75 hp and 103 lb-ft. Fuel consumption is identical to Mini One. I wonder why BMW created an engine with so low specific power using so sophisticated technology. Seems a waste of materials.
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Linky.
 
I hate the concept of it, but it doesn't look quite as pig ugly as I was expecting. Just sort of... inoffensively frumpy. Like Susan Boyle.

Also, why have BMW resorted to sticking the same 1.6 in everything again? I assumed they'd introduced the 1.4 purely to stop One owners remapping the ECU and effectively having a Cooper for a grand less. I can perhaps understand them doing this for the One again to save costs, but for the First too? Surely it'd have made far more sense to stick a 1.4 in it and lure in all those new drivers who need low insurance premiums. And 75bhp from a 1.6 is faintly ridiculous - a Fiat 500 1.2 will nearly hit that for god's sake.
 
The MINI First is 75hp to help with insurance for first time buyers as I understand it.
 
Either they did a poor job of scaling the MINI's styling up or they did a bad job of copying the style from the MINI because that just doesn't look like it should have a MINI badge on it. Or maybe the size alone makes it not look like a MINI. But take the badges off and my brain would never convince my gut reaction that that's a MINI.

I also think that the white and black paint scheme is awesome. Just not on that car. Everything about it just seems kinda ruined by not being a little hatchback.
 
Joey D
The MINI First is 75hp to help with insurance for first time buyers as I understand it.
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Actually yeah I don't know why I didn't see the logic there. Oops :dunce:
 
I'm in two minds about the Countryman... on one hand, I like the concept a lot. It's a small, funky crossover that has as much off-road ability as most people would ever need, more space than a normal MINI, which means good utility (I used to dislike on-road off-roaders until I drove a couple and realised how useful they are), and decent fuel efficiency.

On the other hand though, I don't think the styling works. I mean, I don't hate it, it's just badly detailed and badly proportioned. The wheels on that particular example look stupid and it'd be better suited with some smaller wheels with fatter tyres.

To me, the only properly good-looking MINI is still this one:

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And according to EVO, it's still the best new MINI too.
 
$21-22K for a new BINI? Keep dreaming. :lol:
 
Giancarlo
$21-22K for a new BINI? Keep dreaming. :lol:
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People pay it so why not? Even the new Fiesta with a decent amount of equipment is going to be pricey. Small cars are the new SUV's, people want them and they'll pay through the nose for them.

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Official Debut and Photos:

EU Debut

Motoring File Write Up With Gallery

Seriously if the US gets the diesel model with 50/50 AWD, I'm pretty much sold on my next vehicle since I can't have a Land Rover.
 
Joey D
People pay it so why not? Even the new Fiesta with a decent amount of equipment is going to be pricey. Small cars are the new SUV's, people want them and they'll pay through the nose for them.
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I think he meant keep dreaming as in "will probably start at $25,000" instead of "21,000 seems way too high."
 
Joey D
People pay it so why not? Even the new Fiesta with a decent amount of equipment is going to be pricey. Small cars are the new SUV's, people want them and they'll pay through the nose for them.
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I find that rather entertaining because small cars are supposed to save money... And charging more for them doesn't save you any money... :odd:
 
Philly
I find that rather entertaining because small cars are supposed to save money... And charging more for them doesn't save you any money... :odd:
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Presumably they're trying to dispel the image of 'Economy car' by filling them with posh bits and selling them for a small fortune. Also I think the idea is to have everyone downsizing from their Passats to a Polo, and for that to work small cars will have to build up a perceived level of 'quality' to keep everyone happy.
 
That 49mpg figure is imperial gallons, right?
 
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Joey D
People pay it so why not? Even the new Fiesta with a decent amount of equipment is going to be pricey. Small cars are the new SUV's, people want them and they'll pay through the nose for them.
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Toronado
I think he meant keep dreaming as in "will probably start at $25,000" instead of "21,000 seems way too high."
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Indeed. It's a bigger, flashier model. And now that Mini has a nice corner on the market and people know who they are, i think they'll charge a fairly ridiculous premium for this thing.
 
Giancarlo
Indeed. It's a bigger, flashier model. And now that Mini has a nice corner on the market and people know who they are, i think they'll charge a fairly ridiculous premium for this thing.
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Ah my mistake, I suspect you are right though. $21,000 might be a bit of a stretch but I can't imagine the FWD Cooper model running more then $22K.
 
Official Videos, Part 1 is boring but Part 2 shows the Countryman in motion. It looks like it will get through the corners pretty handily.





Posted by Motoringfile.
 
If only it didn't have such silly ride height. Still, I wanted to criticize it for body roll...but I can't...

That car handles good.
 
What are the dangers that this car will be considered by the "layperson" to just be a 2010 Cooper? Or is that what it's supposed to be? Even i'm confused, honestly.
 
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