MINI United

The International Mini Meeting 2010

2010-03-10T09:02:20Z

The IMM is the annual meeting of the classic Mini community from around the world somewhere in Europe. This year - for the first time since 1996 - this somewhere is again in Germany. To be more precise: Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz. So this town with 40,000 inhabitants, which is located between Regensburg and Nuremberg, and one year after the exciting festival to celebrate Mini's 50th birthday in Birmingham, will become the epicentre for around 2,5000 fans of the brand from 20 nations and at least 1,500 minis, mokes and all other models that have been created from the fantastic design by Sir Alec Issigonis.

The date: 21st to 24th May. But there is not much time left to note this date because at the start of March over 1,800 mini fans had already registered and the preliminary end of registration is as early as 12th March. So register now!

Don't worry! Even if you are not able to decide quickly you can still take part in the IMM 2010. But none of the organisers can guarantee that you will receive one of the hotly desired welcome packages. But what Stephan Reichl, the main organiser from Fan Club Mini Bavaria e.V., can promise is that new MINI drivers are also warmly welcome. All around the Jurahallen there are large numbers of car parks and camp sites where you can spend a weekend celebrating Mini inventor Alec Issigonis together no matter which model generation you have.

And how do people celebrate in this region? In the traditional Bavarian way! View the organisers' preliminary programme and prepare yourself for regional culinary specialities and delicious Bavarian beer. So for anyone who isn't yet convinced in the coming weeks we will provide information on the big tombola with really unusual Mini prizes, the strictly limited Mini Automobilia at IMM 2010 and other details of the event as the ultimate persuasion. Wait for it and then you can't say later that we didn't tell you about it.

MINIWOOD: The real Making Of!

2010-03-04T16:32:25Z

South of Geneva, on the other side of the border to France, there is a mountain called Mont Salève. Normally the steep slope of the mountain sinks into darkness after sunset – but not when MINI is in town.

There couldn’t have been a better way of greeting the new arrival – MINI turned the city on the shores of Lake Léman into MINIWOOD for the world premier of the new MINI Countryman at the Geneva Motor Show.

Suddenly stars were twinkling on the sidewalks from the airport to the convention centre and downtown, just like on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But you couldn’t read “Bruce Willis” or “C3PO” there, but rather MINI Countryman. A dressed-up Countryman showed up on a red carpet on quite a few street corners, safely behind red ropes.

But where MINI definitely outdid themselves was the new interpretation of a world renowned landmark: the MINIWOOD logo. With the power of almost 500 light bulbs and more than 230 times brighter than the headlight of a car, “MINIWOOD” was temporarily burned into the cliff on the north slope of Mont Salève.

In doing so, it towered over the logo of its Californian original, being twice its size. The letters that appeared on the mountain were about 30 metres high and the entire logo was almost 200 metres long.

The metamorphosis of the Swiss city of Geneva into MINIWOOD lasted from 9:00 pm until midnight, then the letters disappeared as quickly as they had shown up. The last thing that witnesses claimed to have seen was a MINI Countryman rather hurriedly leaving the town of MINIWOOD. Confused policemen and a sign were all that were left behind: “I became famous at MINIWOOD”

MINIWOOD: Mini Takes over Geneva!

2010-03-03T08:21:14Z

It is a dark night in Geneva, and a MINI is speeding silently towards the mountains on its way to MINIWOOD. What is MINIWOOD? Find out. Watch the video now!

MINI Countryman: World Premiere in Geneva

2010-03-02T14:06:48Z

Welcome to the 80th edition of the Geneva International Motor Show. Check out the MINI Countryman World Premiere and stay tuned. There will be some more surprises coming soon.

Geneva 2010 – Welcoming the Countryman

2010-02-25T17:07:07Z

It’s a busy time for the people at the MINI Headquarter in Munich – next week, the new MINI Countryman will make it’s first public appearance at the Geneva Autoshow. Of course, the MINI United Bloggers can not miss this opportunity to lay their hands on the fourth member of the MINI Family, and, being MINI, we're sure they will welcome the countryman with a bang.

kopfhoerer and me will keep you up to date with the latest news, videos and pictures from the Geneva Autoshow. We’ll be starting our coverage this sunday, as we plan to meet with some fellow MINI Drivers in Switzerland, before we head to Geneva for the big show. Be sure to follow us on twitter @miniunited and on the MINI United facebook page ;-)

The Getaway

2010-02-23T11:05:22Z

Hot in town, over the hills and on the sea. Life is outside. Need to get out? The getaway is coming your way. Go live it. The brandnew MINI Countryman for your trip around the world.

Space wonder Clubman

2010-02-16T19:12:22Z

Hi, my name is Jack Miller. I’m a police officer at the Los Angeles Police Department. I’m 53 years old and have been a so-called motorcop for the past 12 years, on duty for the safety of our city.

We always arrive quickly at the most important scenes with our motorcycles. Just like a couple of weeks ago when we received a call from the Hollywood Hills late in the evening. An older lady made a complaint. Disturbance of the peace by night. Dozens of young people were supposedly throwing a wild party at the edge of the woods...

Clothes make the man

2010-02-09T15:37:17Z

MINI drivers have one very special quirk: they like to wear t-shirts with the logo of their little darling. But there used to be one small problem: in contrast to a car, one couldn’t design this shirt to suit one’s individual tastes. Until now: because that’s exactly what you can now do with the MINI SHIRTDESIGNER.

Just choose the shirt type, meaning t-shirt or long sleeve shirt, the colour and the cut - and off you go! The first question: what design will it be? You can choose from nine different ones, and the colour can be adjusted to match the shirt. It continues on the back..

Here you can have the text of your choice printed on the shirt in the original MINI typeface. The colour can of course be changed here as well – in fact, even on every individual line.
It takes three to five working days for your desired shirt to reach you.

Always Open in 3D

2010-02-04T23:45:49Z

A little more than a year ago on our small and cosy website I wrote about a new gauge in the MINI convertible that had just been introduced at the time. A gauge that, when looked at objectively, doesn’t necessarily belong to the absolute necessities of a cockpit in any car – but on board a MINI convertible, the small clock to the left of the tachometer has developed into a pièce de résistance, a must-have. I at any rate have not yet met anyone that was able to resist the wonderfully fun-oriented charm of the Always Open timer.

Leap in time: September 2009, Frankfurt. MINI presents the roadster concept at one of the most important automobile trade fairs - and on board: a gauge like none ever seen before, an Always Open timer - Version 2.0.

It seems as if the people at MINI crossbred the globe from the Paris crossover concept with the well-known Always Open timer and simultaneously equipped it with several new features.

“In principle that’s exactly what we did”, said Oliver Sieghart, head of the Interior Design Department at MINI, when I asked him for details on the functions of the new Always Open timer. “Our goal was to make the emotional connection that one has with one's MINI apparent". Thus the roadster concept, for example, can display with the “gravity escape” gauge just how strong the forces were that affected myself and the car in my favourite curves on the way to work.

And so that I can see what these forces did with my body and my MINI, the new Always Open timer not only shows me my pulse on the heartbeat monitor, but also the coolant temperature of the engine.

But it doesn't stop there: “Nature Guard“gives MINIMalism an entirely new optical component and the high speed shifter shows me the optimal shift point. The buddy radar, on the other hand, does exactly what the name leads us to believe – it shows me the location of my friends, should they not happen to be sitting next to me on the passenger seat. Or drinking an after-hours beer with me in a pub.

Such a thing can end up in a firework of creativity, says Markus Sieghart: “We actually met after work for a beer and that's when we had the idea to give the Always Open timer a new dimension - namely the third. A mere three months passed from the first idea until the presentation of the roadster concept in Frankfurt. We could of course have simply integrated the gauge into a two-dimensional display in the existing board computer. It would have saved us a lot of time – but we at MINI just plain like round gauges.”

So only one question actually remains: Where can I get this thing? “It’s coming – the question is just when”, is the answer that Oliver gives us – and I can only ask myself just what the MINI Design Department will come up with in the meantime.

Ice action, MINI taxi

2010-01-28T22:41:01Z

Take the impressive Munich Olympia Park grounds and, using tonnes of steel, build an almost 400 metre-long track with 35 metres of vertical height and a maximum 30 degrees of slope, then install a huge cooling system so that the twisting turf can be covered in 390 cubic metres of ice – and you have the basis for one of the most spectacular winter sports events of 2010: Red Bull Crashed ICE. A downhill race of a rather different kind.

Four of 64 ice skaters in martial outfits who know no pain throw themselves down the slope at an alarming speed. The person who crosses the finish line first after 7 curves, 3 jumps and 4 waves is in the next round. The spectacle continues until ultimately four finalists are decreed the overall winners, qualifying for the World Championships 2010.

Sounds crazy, is crazy. It really warms your heart in these icy temperatures to see how the athletes, armoured with protectors, fight for the top spots with speeds up to 60 km/h. The atmosphere is seething; every race – including fascinating slow-motion re-runs – is presented to the 50,000 spectators on huge video screens. The commentators work the crowd even more. There’s chanting, singing, and scores of La Ola waves role across the slopes of the Olympia Park.

And what is MINI doing in this turmoil? Giving directions and being a taxi! Because MINI is the partner of Red Bull Crashed Ice, so one of the fastest curves is named after the brand and the skaters are chauffeured from the finish line area to the starting ramp exclusively in MINIs. At times even in an open convertible. “There were eight of us sitting in there once", reported one of the participants, grinning. And why does one throw oneself down a narrow track after a drive in a MINI? “Because it’s the best thing you can do on ice skates.”

The bloggers can wholeheartedly confirm this from the spectator perspective and the winner of the evening, Martin “The Haunch” Niefnecker, agrees. He confidently won the final after some hard races. He is therefore considered a favourite for the World Championship finals. Thus our tip: anyone wanting to experience these tough guys on steel again this season should head to the Old Town in Quebec, Canada on 20 March 2010. It’s worth it.

Say Hello to the Countryman*

2010-01-20T17:32:01Z

The number „4“ has special meaning for the newest member of the MINI Family. Four wheel drive, four seats, four doors – and it's the fourth MINI in the range. The Countryman* has come a long way from what was known as the „Crossover Concept“ for the Paris Motorshow in 2008. And boy, what a result.

Honestly, when I first heard of the plan for the MINI Sports Activity Vehicle, I had my doubts. „Can this really work?“, I asked myself. The spyshots of the car with its distinct black and yellow camouflage foil did not really help in making a decision. But now I have to say: Congratulations to the design department, the Countryman* is not only a great-looking car – it is a great-looking MINI.

Being a MINI, the Countryman* is said to have the typical go-kart-like handling of a „normal“ MINI – which says a lot about the chassis of Number 4 - after all, it still is a Sports Activity Vehicle.
On the technical side, the Countryman* is not so different from his siblings: the Hatchback, the Cabriolet and the Clubman. Number 4 will sport exactly the same range of engines, starting with the 72kW One, followed by the 90kW Cooper and the top-of-the-range Cooper S with a 135kW Twinscroll Turbo. There will also be the 66kW One D and a new 82kW Diesel for the Cooper D.

On the inside it's quite hard to spot any differences from the other family members at first glance, but if you look closely then you'll notice the Center Rail that had its debut on the Beachcomber Concept in Detroit this year. Munich has told us that there will be all kinds of stuff you can mount on this rail, be it an iPod/iPhone Dock or a hardbox for your sunglasses.

The Cooper S and Cooper D models are also available with MINI’s new four wheel drive system „All4“ with an electrohydraulic middle differential. This is a very clever piece of kit: It actively diverts the power from the engine to the axle which has the best grip at the wheels, and this means better traction on every surface. Additionally, the front differential is fully lockable.

Expect the Countryman* to hit dealerships sometime this fall.

More stuff on the facebook fanpage of the MINI Countryman.

*: Naming may vary in different countries

MINI Countryman just arrived

2010-01-20T12:02:35Z

The MINI Countryman bridges the gap between the classic concept of the MINI and a modern Sports Activity Vehicle. Number four of the MINI family maintains that go-kart feeling likewise so characteristic of MINI, optional MINI ALL4 all-wheel drive offering an additional highlight for the genuine connoisseur.
Watch out the first pictures ...

More pictures: click here.

The way is clear for MINI number 4

2010-01-18T10:38:50Z

The three bloggers are sometimes a bit childlike and therefore believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the unbelievable Planet MINI stories. The most recent example: the market launch preparations for the fourth MINI series. Kopfhörer, Dombo and I are in absolute agreement that it could only have happened as follows...

A call from MINI to an advertising agency that we won’t mention here: “Hello, we have a new product for which we want to grab the public's attention before the official presentation" – “That's easy, you just need a teaser. What kind of a product are we talking about?” - “It’s a compact class sport activity vehicle for sporty couples and young families with a lifestyle approach” – “OK, hmm...somehow I have a hard time imagining this. Could you send us some pictures?” - “Of course, but please understand that out of confidentiality reasons we can only send you camouflaged pictures of our soft roaders.” - “OK, we’ll take what we can get. Leave the rest to us. You’ll hear from us again in two weeks.”

One hour later, the creative crew from the advertising agency is sitting in front of the MINI photos, brooding while consuming coffee and other stimulating substances. “Oh man, what did we get ourselves into? We’ve only got two weeks time. We’ll never manage that. This MINI is so different from any we’ve ever seen before from this brand. Four doors, more than four metres in length, four full-fledged seats. How can we package this in an interesting way without giving everything away?” The creative director nervously sips his natural spa water. One of the veteran advertising professionals says: “We can have attractive girls in cheerleader outfits and pom-poms dance around this cross-country vehicle while singing >hey ho MINI go<”. The creative director spits out his spa water in disgust. “First of all, it’s not a cross-country vehicle, but rather a roomy, agile car with elevated seating positions for urban day-to-day life. And secondly, a bunch of fidgety chorus girls really aren’t suitable here. So, who has an idea? I need something that fits to this youthful brand.” - “I have an idea” is quietly heard from a corner of the meeting room. “Aha, and what does our amazingly clever intern have for a good idea?”

“Well, it has to be depicted without giving everything away, but the outline of its shape is still supposed to whet our appetite for more. Why don’t we make it easy on ourselves, like the development department in Munich?” Silence. “We take the idea of the current camouflage method with the psychedelic stickering in yellow and black and develop it further.” Amazement. “This crossover is 80% covered by the disco-inferno film on the spy shots. Let’s make that 100%, and do the same for the background, the landscape, the houses and the animals while we’re at it. The MINI drives through a psychedelic world in yellow-black. Confusing and stimulating at the same time. One will automatically know what it’s about and before you know it we have the desired attention that MINI wants.” Everyone present is paralysed, and they nod with open mouths. That’s how it’s done. And here is the result:

Wait, stop, does anyone actually doubt that the creative workshop actually happened like this? Certainly not after watching this video, or?

MINIMALISM and the One Convertible.

2010-01-17T19:26:55Z

By now, the current MINI generation has a good three years behind it. Three years in which the technical development also didn't stand still. For the small Brit this means: time for rejuvenation.
“Technical re-working” is the modest term for this used at MINI. But it doesn’t quite do justice to the measures taken, because a new model comes with the rejuvenation after all: the MINI One Convertible.

And to top it all off, every MINI that runs on petrol is getting a new engine – based on 1.6 litres cubic capacity for all models. In addition, all petrol-run models have a variable valve control system that, with the help of black magic and voodoo, results in more performance at a lower consumption level and thus fewer pollutants.
For the One this means a plus of 3 HP in comparison with previous performance. The 75 HP One, on the other hand, has the same level of performance, but now also has the new, 1.6 litre engine. The Cooper also gained and now has 122 HP with a torque of 160 Newton metres. Torque causes the MINI to go fast faster when hitting the "loud" pedal.

The Cooper S engine is to be pitied – it doesn’t get any more cubic capacity. The reason for this is simple: it already has 1.6 litres. And like Obelix, who fell into a vat of magic potion as a child, the S was also spared.
But the Turbo has also been equipped with the clever valve control system and gains in strength in the Cooper S - and not just a little! A full 9 HP more, bottom line is 184 turbo-HP. With this, the Cooper S eats away at the magical 7 second time for a sprint from 0 to 100.

Since the Geneva Auto Salon 2009, MINIMALISM is an inherent part of the MINI fleet and of course also provides optimal energy use and low pollutant emissions with the new driving gears as well. This also shows the classification of the motors: they fulfil all the EU5 and the American ULEV II norms.

But MINI goes even one step further: with the MINI One MINIMALISM line. This is, in principle, a MINI One that has been trimmed for optimal energy consumption, either with 55 kW/75 HP or with 72 kW/98 HP – both with even lower consumption and CO2 emissions of only 119 g/km. Physically, the most economical MINI in the programme differs from the others due to its aerodynamic tyres, its own model emblem and special design elements in the colour pepper-white on the radiator grille and the exterior mirror caps.

Detroit - Beachcomber World Premiere

2010-01-14T06:22:16Z

2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Watch out the pictures of the MINI Beachcomber Concept press event.

Hyvaa syntymapaivaa Rauno Aaltonen

2010-01-07T08:46:17Z

As you might have guessed - this was finish. Finland is a big country way up north, where they have lots of snow. The Finish are all potential Rally Drivers, which is no surprise since they experience their first drifts while being brought to school by Mom in the Family Station Wagon. Finland is also the home of one of the most famous MINI Drivers - Rauno Aaltonen. And he turns 72 today.

72 Years means five decades of Motorsport on motorbikes and cars - mostly in his beloved small, british icon that is the MINI. Over the years, the flying Fin has become an embassador for our little car, and he really seems to enjoy this task.

What can you say to a man, who has won the Rally Monte Carlo, raced almost every race track known to man (including the famous 24 hours of Le Mans) and is said to be the inventor of left foot braking, a driving technique used by almost every race driver today?

You know what? Just say "Happy Birthday", hand him the keys to car, preferably a MINI John Cooper Works Cabriolet, give him the Col de Turini - and he's happy :-)

... and a happy New Year!

2009-12-29T17:52:31Z

Revolutions always start small, and so did we. “We” means in this case the three bloggers dombo, Kopfhoerer and I. But also a great team in the background that makes this revolution possible: blogging in the name of MINI. We’ll continue doing so in 2010. But exactly how, we can’t and don’t want to give this away yet. But I can tell you this much: we have lots of new ideas and you’ll be able to continue following us on the blog, Twitter (http://twitter.com/miniunited) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/miniunited). The rest will remain a secret for the time being, but the revolution continues.

On this note: let’s MINI and have a great start to the new year.

Merry Christmas…

2009-12-23T10:08:41Z

Christmas. A time for reflection, but also a time for looking back a little on the past year. And this look back makes us bloggers a bit proud too. The MINI United blog has been in existence for a year and about 100 blog posts now and is actually one of the first official automobile manufacturer blogs ever. And it takes courage, because a blog is different: No slick marketing texts, no high gloss photos, just spontaneous, outspoken posts, unusual photo angles and blurry videos – OK, we’re still working on that and we promise it’ll get better. But MINI’s courage has been rewarded, because the feedback from you, the MINI fans from around the globe, shows us that we are on the right track. Because you not only celebrated our birthday with us in Geneva, in Silverstone, in Birmingham and in Frankfurt, but you also really motivated us to be faster and better through your comments here, on Twitter (http://twitter.com/miniunited), and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/miniunited). We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to you for this and for your loyalty.

We wish everyone out there on Planet MINI a merry Christmas. Read you later!

MINI Beachcomber Concept.

2009-12-16T09:02:53Z

The really appealing thing about a MINI blogger’s life is the fact that one is always fed with information from Oxford and Munich a little earlier than others. Shortly after the IAA in autumn we were given the news that there would be a new concept vehicle at the North American Motor Show in January 2010.

Of course, all three of us bloggers then immediately tried to find out exactly what kind of study they were talking about. With no success. Nothing worked. No further information. Not even our offer of sacrificing the scalp of photographer dombo helped to worm the secret out of our friends in Munich. The three bloggers thus had to go hungry and turned despair into a game. We bet on what kind of a MINI it might concern. Kopfhoerer bet on a MINI that could be positioned below the current MINI in terms of size, a kind of Mega-City MINI. Due to his love for the Classic Mini, Dombo bet on a Moke and I placed my bet on a puristic modification of the Roadster from the IAA, with small side windows and a tarpaulin-covered passenger seat.

And now this: Dombo of all people, whose Moke bet we laughed at – he won the bet. No kidding. The unbelievable, no, what insiders have always considered to be a sheer impossibility, has happened: MINI is going to present a Moke.

OK, the thing isn’t named Moke, but instead the rather sober “MINI Beachcomber Concept”, but it is based on the most open of all Minis built from 1964 to 1968. And it’s exactly this openness that also characterises the chunky study: no doors, no roof, and not a lot of metal sheeting in general. Short overhangs, wide thresholds and four seats. Just like its ancestor. But the MINI Concept Vehicle can do more! The 2010 study eliminated exactly those weak points that stopped the Moke from becoming a true off-road vehicle: four-wheel drive, large jounce travel, thick cross-country tyres on 19 inch rims.

The developers even kept a weatherproof loading space, a functioning cloth cover and alternatively even a hardtop in mind. One can literally see that this MINI not only wants to play on the boulevards, but wants to get down to business in open country as well. Good thing that modern crash structures and thick roll bars allow one to take part in such open country trips without being nervous. But where does this security come from? The open country abilities? The room for four? It’s perfectly clear: from the fourth model series that is about to be released, the Crossover MINI.

Almost a year and a half after the MINI Crossover concept, MINI not only makes us eager for the Crossover series-production vehicle, but at the same time demonstrates what all is possible with the fourth series. It therefore remains exciting on planet MINI and the three bloggers will continue to give you all the details in 2010 as well. Amongst other things, we will be investigating whether this study will be going into series someday. What do you think: does this study have a chance on the market in your opinion?