Jalopnik: Mini Cooper S

Race a Mini on the streets of anywhere

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:30:00 EDT

Even if you never wanted to design an urban racecourse and share it with a network of like-minded urban-racecourse designers, you can still play Mini Maps, Mini's new Google Maps-fed Facebook game. Just putter around Sheboygan, Wisconsin in a chocolate-brown Mini S with a Swiss flag on its roof. That's what I did. More »

Mini Cooper S, brought to you by the letter D

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 09:50:00 EST

The diesel engine has been around since 1893, the Mini Cooper S arrived in 1963. Now the two are in a May-December romance for the ages. It's called the Mini Cooper SD. But will anyone understand their special love? More »

Mini Owners With Broken Fuel Pumps Ask: Where's Our Recall?

Justin Hyde — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:15:00 EDT

BMW's recall of fuel pumps on 130,000 turbo-powered vehicles left some Mini owners scratching their heads - since they've had the same kind of failure on their BMW-designed Cooper S models since 2007. Mini's reply? No recall here. More »

Small Car, Small Mistake

Sam Smith — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:30:00 EDT

The ex-Paddy Hopkirk 1965 Mini Cooper S works rally car being driven — and offed — in anger at last weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed. Adorable. Rallying needs to be adorable again. Photo Credit: Richebetspics/Flickr More »

Porsche Beats Mini At Their Own Stupid Race

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:28:00 EDT

The Mini Challenge may have been rigged in Mini's favor, but Porsche still triumphed. [Facebook] More »

Bait-And-Switch Badvertising Ruined Mini vs. Porsche

Sam Smith — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:30:00 EDT

Mini wanted to race Porsche at Road Atlanta; Porsche said no. Hyundai stepped up, everyone shrugged, and then Mini revealed the track. Turns out it's not really Road Atlanta. It's a parking lot. We're supposed to get excited about this? More »

Mini Taunts Porsche With Hilarious Rocky IV Spoof

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:30:00 EDT

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Mini challenges Porsche to a race. Porsche says no. Mini says oh, c'mon!. Porsche says nothing. And now the people at Mini make the 911 out to be Ivan Drago in this hilarious Rocky IV spoof. 80's montage FTW! More »

Mini Launches Air Raid On Porsche Headquarters

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT

The sky above Porsche's North American headquarters hosted a Mini banner this morning that read "Dear Porsche, Bring It! Love, Mini." It appears Mini isn't backing down from its challenge, even if Porsche is. More »

Porsche Refuses To Race Mini

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:30:00 EDT

Porsche has declined Mini's offer to pit a 911 Carrera S against Mini Cooper S at Road Atlanta next week. Here is Porsche Cars North America President Detlev Von Platen explanation for why. More »

Mini Challenges Porsche To A Race, Porsche Considering It

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EDT

Mini is using the power of the Internet to challenge Porsche to a race, pitting their Mini Cooper S against Porsche's superior 911 Carrera S two weeks from today at Road Atlanta. Surprisingly, Porsche is actually considering it. More »

Mini Cooper Racer Crashes Into Crowd

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 03 May 2010 10:00:00 EDT

This amazing and scary video shows a mango farmer's Mini Cooper S tumbling end-over-end into the crowd at a Mini Challenge race at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich, Australia this weekend. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured. More »

Mini Ad: You Might Be A Mini Driver If...

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:40:00 EST

We know you were expecting a MINI next ad campaign to go something like "car driving picturesque road, details on competitive features, then price," but such is not the case. Instead, they're defining MINI drivers by their hipsterish actions. [Automarket] More »

Mini Owner Says "Screw You" To BMW Run-Flat Tires

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

This accessory is cleverly designed to provide a full-sized spare and hatch-access for the Mini Cooper driver who believes BMW run-flat rubber zaps pleasure faster than four layers of Trojans. [CarGuyDad] More »

Mini E's Range Shrinks In Cold Weather, Insists Batteries Were "In The Pool"

Sam Smith — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:40:00 EST

Winter brings cold temperatures. Cold slows down chemical reactions and can play hell with the performance of healthy batteries. As expected, Mini E drivers in the Northeast are seeing much-decreased range from their lithium-ion packs. Laws of physics FTW, y'all. More »

"Motor-Tober" Campaign Hopes To Scare Up Mini Sales

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EDT

Mini's rolling out a campaign dubbed "Motor-Tober" to drum up interest in the lineup. The fall-theme includes the above ad and others, open houses at dealers, auto-cross events and the like. Wonder if there'll be a mini-pumpkin carving contest? [Twitpic] More »

Rally Gods Take To Monte Carlo Course In Convertible Mini

Peter Orosz — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EDT

Paddy Hopkirk and Rauno Aaltonen—winners, respectively, of the 1964 and 1967 Monte Carlo Rallies in Mini Cooper S’s—revisit the rally course 40+ years later in a convertible John Cooper Works Mini. More »

AC Schnitzer Tweaks Mini Cooper S Convertible

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EDT

German tuner AC Schnitzer has plied its craft upon the Mini Cooper S Convertible, adding fender flares, more "powah," a limited-slip differential and adjustable suspension. Basically it's a JCW Mini in extravagant duds. More »

2012 MINI Cooper i-MegaCity Spied, Maybe

The Auto Insider — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:30:00 EDT

Last week we showed you a clear front shot of what could be the 2012 MINI Cooper, or i-MegaCity. Today, behold the may-be-Mini showing off its profile and new rump. UDPATE: It's a fake! More »

MINI 50 Mayfair, Camden Launch With "Mission Control"

The Auto Insider — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:30:00 EDT

MINI released two new special editions today at the MINI United Festival at Silverstone to celebrate fifty years of motoring. They're called the MINI 50 Mayfair and MINI 50 Camden. But what's this Mission Control thing? More »

2012 MINI Cooper i-MegaCity?

The Auto Insider — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:30:00 EDT

According to French magazine, L'Automobile, this is an early prototype of the upcoming 2012 MINI Cooper or the i-MegaCity, featuring MINI Crossover Concept-inspired headlights and a much smaller, non-clamshell hood. Sacrilege! More »

MINI Cooper S Clubman Airstream Concept: Let's Motorlounge

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EDT

Normally, a MINI Cooper S Clubman's towing capacity is limited to trailers no bigger than fruit carts. However, the Mini Cooper S Clubman Airstream Lounge Concept gives the little hatch a hefty-but-stylish silver trailer. More »

New Mini Cooper Convertible "Always Open" Commercials Celebrate Going Topless

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EDT

The 2009 Mini Cooper Convertible has a one-touch electric roof and an openmeter to measure it. Now, this set of adorably clever commercials from Mini implores you to keep it "Always Open." More »

2007 Playmate Of The Year’s Mini S Drop-Top Pops Up On eBay

Wes Siler — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EDT

Sara Jean Underwood's Mini is for sale on eBay. There's plenty of pictures of her posing with it, but at $34,999 you'd have to be crazy to click Buy It Now. Or a stalker. More »

The Tech Behind Movie Car Chases

The Auto Insider — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:30:00 EST

Have you ever wondered how they got those incredible driving shots in movies like Transformers 2, Fast & Furious or Dark Knight? Thanks to Redline TV and host, Tanner Foust, we'll get an inside look. More »

2010 MINI Cooper JCW Convertible Revealed Ahead Of Geneva

Wes Siler — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:00:00 EST

Mechanically identical to its tin top brother, the 2010 Mini John Cooper Works Convertible is bringing high-speed topless Mini motoring to next month's Geneva Motor Show. More »

All-Electric Mini E Gets One Year Lease Priced At $820 Per Month

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:40:00 EST

According to Luxevelocity, the new and very limited production all-electric MINI E will be offered up to interested customers with a one year lease at a monthly price of $820, but that's not all. To qualify for the lease you have to have a garage of some sort with a locking door and be able to supply a high-voltage hookup for the dedicated charging system. In return you get a two-seat Mini (the back is reserved for its 28 kWh lithium ion battery pack) with a 150-mile range, though considering you have to charge up via the wall outlet, it's really a maximum travel radius of 75 miles. More »

2009 Mini Cooper S Convertible Caught In The Wild

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Unless you're the type to get all hot and bothered at the sight of camouflage on essentially superfluous rear windows and chrome bits, what we see here is the 2009 Mini Cooper S Convertible. The new Mini 'vert gets a mild refresh for the next model year with a tweaked nose, tweaked trim pieces and pop-up rollover protection replacing the bulky (and silly) static roll bars in place now. Expect the Mini Cooper S Convertible to make its official debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in January. [Global Motors] More »

Trippy Alan Aldridge Mini Displayed At Design Museum Of London

Andrew Stoy — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:45:00 EDT

British artist Alan Aldridge has created a one-off Mini Aldridge Special as part of a display of his work at the Design Museum in London. You may recognize Aldridge's work from a variety of book and album covers from the 1960s and '70s or simply from experimenting with such drugs as LSD and psilocybin. The new psychedelic Mini is said to be an "updated interpretation" of a famous 1965 Sunday Times cover featuring an original Mini done up in the artist's unique style, but in reality, it's a brilliant marketing move by Mini to link the new car with the old in ways even the retro styling can't accomplish. Press release after the jump. More »

Best Mini Crossover Shots Yet From Paris Show Floor

Andrew Stoy — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Ben smuggled back a couple gigs of additional images from the Paris Motor Show last week, including these shots inside and out of the Mini Crossover Concept. We got a live look at the diminutive soft-roader last week during the show, but these images give you quite a bit more detail, particularly of the laser globe center stack thingamajig. The whole car has kind of a split personality: It's the biggest Mini yet actually appears, from certain angles, more true to the original Mini than the regular version of the car. We'll see what the results are should they make it into showrooms. Press release reproduced after the jump. More »

New MINI Convertible Coming To Detroit Auto Show

Andrew Stoy — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:20:00 EDT

The next-generation MINI Convertible is set to bow at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, with models arriving in dealer showrooms just in time for warm weather cruising next spring. The most noticeable revision on the new drop-top is the lack of intrusive roll bars found on the current model. Instead, the new MINI 'vert gets a single pop-up bar that deploys automatically in the event of a rollover. A multi-stage convertible top also is said to allow a sunroof mode as well as full-open motoring, although it still stacks on the rear deck in so-called "pram" fashion, neatly eliminating pesky rear visibility. [Autoexpress] More »

Hamann Mini Cooper S, D: One Burns Rubber, One Burns Oil

Mark Arnold — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:45:00 EDT

An option for those wanting more power from their Mini Cooper S or Cooper D, tuner Hamann has introduced some new upgrades. Boosting power up to 136 HP for the Cooper D, and 230 HP for the Cooper S, both benefit from the BMW tuner's experience in reprogramming Motronic control units. But whatever good Hamann has done underhood is mostly ruined by what they've done to the rest of the car. Yes, low-riding coil-over suspension and big wheels are probably good for tackling a twisty track, but when combined with Hamann's body kit and graphics it voids out any of the Mini's inherent retro-cool. Press release after the jump. More »

Car & Driver Drags Odd Couple Car Combos, Shows Mom's V6 Camry Is As Good As A WRX

Ray Wert — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:40:00 EDT

Well, not "as good" in every sense, or even more than one sense, of the term — but certainly just as quick in a 1/4 mile straight-line race. That's what the boys at Car & Driver found after spending the day at Milan Dragway pitting some of the strangest combinations of straight-line non-performance we've ever seen to see if Mom and Dad's daily driver can put the kibosh on performance oriented cars. Most importantly, they finally answer the question of who wins in a drag race between a Mini Cooper S and a Cadillac Escalade? The answer? The Cooper S in 0-to-60 time, the Escalade in 1/4-mile time and, oh yes, the ability to swallow the Cooper S whole. Check out all the combos via the link below. [Car & Driver] More »