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We’ve received official word this morning from MINI France PR that the matte black special edition cars we reported on earlier are indeed coming. Exclusive to France (for now) the small run of 250 cars will go on sale January 21, 2011. Wrapped in a matte black film, each car will feature a numbered side scuttle and matching key ring, along with a checkerboard themed interior and mirror caps. The mat film carries a separate 2-year warranty and there is full factory paint underneath. You can preview the MINI Mat Edition exclusively at MINI Shades France during an open house starting January 22, 2011. You know, should you happen to be in France. </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

Друзья, 6ого февраля (воскресенье), в 14.00 будет мероприятие по теме. Пожалуйста сообщите мне и Zacken'у о вашем желании участвовать.

Chad drinking beer from the future, I’m not wearing pants, Todd sneezes and Chad ties his shoes. Shoulds like the makings of a pretty good show to me. And, among other pre-show goodies, I talk iPhone on Verizon. After that, Todd tells us about Detroit and mostly about the Paceman. Along with Gabe, they got some great interviews at the Detroit Auto Show. You can grab them from MotoringFile. Those will be in the feed starting tomorrow. Download | WRR @ iTunes | 25.7MB | 53:27 </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

Big thanks to Mark for sending this in! It’s an iPhone holder that integrates into the MINI dash much like the old R50/53 Chrono Pack speedo. From the photos, this appears to be an R56 installation and we don’t have any word on whether a similar kit would be available for the R50/53. It’s made by the German company Attractive4MINI and is due for release sometime this spring. No word yet on pricing. Also, rumor has it that something similar is in the works from MINI USA. It’s a great idea and kudos to its developers. [UPDATE] We’ve talked with the folks at Attractive4MINI and have a little more info. The first versions will be iPhone 4 only. It does include the dock connector and can replace the arm rest iPhone dock if you want it to. That means that this gauge can be your iPhone cradle for MINI Connected. Also, they plan to build a version of this for the Countryman as well. Sadly, there will be no R50/R53 version as those gauges are apparently too small to house the iPhone. They are making plans for US shipping availability once the product is ready to go. More photos after the break. </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

This story comes to us from MotoringFile contributor Brendan. I met TonyB two years ago through North American Motoring and we’ve kept in touch sporadically since then. I bought my current suspension from him and a few other bits and bobs. A few Sundays ago, I made my way up the windy California backroad towards his house to talk to him about his car. In particular, I wanted to know more about weight saving techniques. Tony’s house is at the top of a long, steep driveway. He does all his work on the least inclined section of the driveway as he has no garage. Every time I’ve seen his car taken apart it’s been out in the open, on ramps or bits of wood and cinderblock. Two weeks prior, the entire front subframe was on the ground. He was replacing the tie rod ends and the belt and tensioner. The day I interviewed him for this story, the subframe was back in place with the front end in what’s known as ‘service mode’ — the front bumper and bumper carrier off the car. “I just finished installing the crush tubes here.” He motioned towards two slightly protruding black bits of metal on either side of the radiator. The tie rod end procedure took him a little longer than planned because one of the parts went missing overnight. “We’ve got a bunch of raccoons around here. They sometimes take shit and you never see it again.” Tony’s been in the MINI community for a while now. He bought his car new in 2003 and hit the forums hard. In the process, he became a sort of a mod pioneer. He’s the first to have a straight-back exhaust on an R53, and perhaps the first to remove his rear seats. He also partnered up with M7 Tuning to develop the DFIC, a replacement intercooler which channels air directly through the cores to exchange heat much more efficiently. His initials are on the side of each intercooler M7 sells. As he reattached the tie rods to the car, we started to talk about his philosophy on weight saving. He told me there are three types of weight saving: Some weight saving modifications are also performance mods. The example he gave me was his exhaust. The stock exhaust on a Cooper S is heavy and by replacing it with a straight exhaust on his car, Tony has lost nearly 30 pounds. And because the straight exhaust is less complex and has better flow, it also makes for a horsepower gain. Some weight saving modifications have an indirect performance enhancement. Tony sold his rear seats because he didn’t think anyone he knew would want to have to squeeze in the back of his car. So, he took them out and sold them. He then turned around and spent that money on other performance mods. Some weight saving modifications are for the sake of weight saving. It’s hard to sell things like the hood liner (4 lbs) and so these kinds of changes are in order to improve the overall power to weight ratio by diminishing the weight side of the equation. There are some issues with changing the car’s weight substantially without proper planning, however. “If you’re serious about stripping out weight then you need to invest in a coilover suspension. That way you can have your car corner balanced in order to maintain front to back balance. It’s much harder to take substantial weight from the front of the car compared to the back so it’s something to keep in mind. I’m working on relocating the power steering pump in the future in order to shift weight around.” We went through his car looking at exactly what he’s done to cut weight. Rear seat delete, lightweight wheels with non run flat tires, stud conversion, straight exhaust, front and back wiper delete, Braille lightweight battery, hollow rear sway bar. There are too many mods to do justice to here. “The forte of this car is nimbleness. They don’t have big V8s. Colin Chapman; I think he was the founder of Lotus, had a philosophy. ‘Simplify and add lightness’.” I asked him about his car’s target weight. “Well, right now it’s around 2,424 pounds. I’ll be getting rid of the AC condenser and a few other things…” He took half a minute to do some quick mental math. “I can probably take another 75 pounds off the car just as is. That’s without replacing the rear trailing arms with the R56 aluminum ones. You hear about Miata guys taking paint thinner to their cars to lose more weight. But I don’t want my car to look like a track car inside or out, you know what I mean?” I decided I had spent enough time chatting and got ready to hit the road. Tony tells me he thinks he’s got about two more hours before the car’s back together. As I wrapped up a few loose ends, he spied something in-between the passenger side strut tower and the engine. “I think there’s a chipmunk or a rat living back here,” he said as he extracted a few gnawed-on acorn shells. “These can also add weight.” Post photo courtesy of Flickr user AMcUK. </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

In an interview with Autoblog’s Jonathon Ramsey, MINI’s new marketing manager, Tom Salkowski, had some interesting things to say about the landscape of MINI’s competition. Among general comments about MINI’s continued success amidst a growing competition, he reportedly had this to say about Fiat’s 500: “The 500 is a darling little car, but MINI is a premium brand.” This sentiment echoed when asked what other marques are thought of as competition for MINI in the small car segment. “…maybe Volkswagen, Mazda, Scion in the small-car segment,” going on to say that “Mini is very much a mindset, it’s different than other vehicles…for the time being we don’t see anything.” Oliver Friedmann, head of product management, agreed saying, “We don’t see any one-to-one competition, maybe the [Range Rover] Evoque could be [for the R60].” Ramsey goes on to ask about the emotional heritage of brands like Lotus and BMW, asking how big the cars and the brand can get and still be small enough to be considered “mini”. Friedmann replied, “That’s what we try to find out at the moment. We just jumped over the four-meter line with the Countryman,” going on to add that the european reaction to the R60 has been “very positive.” Further adding “The competitors for the Countryman are significantly larger. We will always stay the smallest in the segment.” Catch that last bit? We know that MINI has a lot of future models in the works, and it’s nice to hear the guys at the top saying that small will always be part of the brand DNA. </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

Если вы не разу не были ни в одной из клубных дальних поездок, и хотите поехать в составе организованной колонны на МЮ2011, то вы ОБЯЗАНЫ поехать в Минск

We’ve received word from a European source that next week MINI is set to unveil a special edition car for France and some other countries in the EU. Called “The MINI Mat” (we’re not sure about the spelling), the package will feature a checkered interior and mirror covers, plus a special matte black finish. Our [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

German automotive publication Automobilewoche, a sub-publication of Automotive News, has named the MINI “Car of the Decade.” Our german is a little rough, but what we’re able to glean out is that while Ford’s Fiesta and VW’s Golf family of cars outsold the MINI from 2000-2010, the MINI deserves the honor because it’s been a [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

Look for it in a 3D movie theater near you. Here’s the final cut of the commercial, chock full of slow motion.(Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

We’ve reported that a Cooper SD was coming in the Spring of 2011 for quite some time, now we have semi-official proof. We’ve received word from an inside source that MINI will debut the Cooper SD in Geneva. Expect a web debut a little earlier sometime in Febuary. Powered by a 2.0L 143 hp BMW [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

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We’ve got a enormous collection of photos for you from NAIAS so let’s get straight to the point. The 1M was the production star of the show in our eyes followed closely by the 650i and the Paceman. But what about the rest of the show? Porsche’s fabulous 918 RSR was, well fabulous of course. [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

MINI announced today that the Paceman concept has been approved for production. While the final design details will vary somewhat expect the car relatively unchanged to debut in about two years time. The Paceman will likely be positioned between the hatch and the Countryman in terms of price and will feature a unique rear interior [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

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It’s certainly more impressive in person and even better in motion. All three of us liked it quite a bit more than we thought we would. I was surprised to see it power up and move under it’s own power given the windows are so darkly tinted. Behind those windows is a 100% stock Countryman [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

Look who came out early this morning at NAIAS. The MINI Paceman showed it’s aggressive face a few hours before it’s officially unveiling this afternoon. Early thoughts? It’s a great shape and a smaller package than it looks in photos. The green was well received among us but the copper accents not so much. We’ll [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

After some early morning site issues (all sorted thank to a brand new server) we’re back and ready for a long day at the North American International Autoshow. We’ve been roaming the hall in Detroit capturing everything we can in order to bring the show onto your screen. The first order of business was Porsche [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

It’s over. MINI is out at Dakar thanks to a dramatic accident. Guerlain Chicherit had an accident behind the wheel of the MINI Countryman during a test drive he took on the rest day in Arica. The X-Raid Team driver suffered from a head trauma, which – fortunately – did not need for him to [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

Next week we’ll be at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and have access to a number of key people within MINI. We’ll be talking Paceman and certainly trying to get as much teaser info as we can about the upcoming city car, but what do you want to know? Leave your questions [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

The New York Times is reporting that MINI Financial Services will soon release a mobile-optimized web application that allows customers to access their financing. The app won’t be platform specific, such as an iPhone app, but rather a web-based app that is optimized to run on mobile devices such as Android phones, the iPhone and [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

Word from MINI today that a new kind of automotive advertisement will debut next week in movie theatres…in 3D. The 2-minute film will reportedly be the first ad to feature slow-motion 3D technology. The premise of the ad will be whether or not a monster truck can jump four MINIs — a hatch, a convertable, [...](Visit MotoringFile for the full article)</img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> Читать дальше

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