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The MINI range - Autocar
06.10.2000 |
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New MINI steps into the limelight
BMW's MINI after six years in development, icon's replacement finally unveiled as an upmarket pocket rocket. Prices start at £10,000, rising to £20,000 for 130mph supercharged Cooper S.
The all-new version of one of Britain's greatest motoring icons, the MINI, is unveiled here for the first time. After a painful six-year gestation period offering nothing more than tantalising glimpses of how the new MINI might look, the production-ready car was finally revealed by MINI's parent company BMW in a small London studio.
The event marks the first leg of a catwalk-style tour of the world which will see the car appear in New York, Paris, Milan and Tokyo in the coming weeks before its first public outing at the Paris Motor Show on 28 September. British motorists won't get to see their new hero in the metal until it is displayed at the Birmingham Motor Show next month - but Autocar was present at the London unveiling to capture these exclusive pictures. It goes on sale nine months later in July 2001 at a starting price of around £10,000. As expected, the design of the new car clearly shares its styling genes with the original MINI. Brought up to date with styling details like jewel-effect headlights and flush-fitting glass, it looks every inch the pocket rocket for the new millennium.
But the biggest changes have been saved for the interior of the car, where the cramped and sparsely decorated furnishings of the original have been swept aside in favour of a radical redesign.
Retro details like the large, centrally mounted speedo-meter and toggle switches help maintain a link with the past, but modern touches like the aluminium-effect door slams and centre console supports give it a much more upmarket feel.
Climbing behind the wheel of the new car for the first time reveals that the sit-up-and-beg driving position of the original has been replaced with a lower, more sporty seating position with plenty of leg and head room.
Much of this is due to the new MINI's larger dimensions. At 3.5 metres long it is 400mm longer than the outgoing car but, contrary DC to early indications, it is still a small car by today's standards, being 130mm shorter than the Ford Ka.
Not surprisingly, rear seat space is limited but it still manages to seat two in similar comfort to a VW Lupo. A proper hatchback boot replaces the fold-down lid of the original, with extra practicality coming in the form of split folding rear seats. All initial models will be powered by 1.6-litre 16-valve engines in different states of tune. These will be built in Brazil by Tritec Motors, a joint venture between BMW and DaimlerChrysler. Initially two versions of the engine will be available, expected to be a 115bhp unit for the Cooper pictured here and a less powerful, more economical 90bhp version in the base model.
The two launch models will be followed by a 155hp supercharged version of the 1.6 engine, badged Cooper S. This will cost up to £20,000 in high-spec form. It should be capable of covering the 0-60mph sprint in just over seven seconds, going on to reach a top speed of more than 130mph.
The naturally aspirated version of the Cooper should manage 0-60mph in around nine seconds, with a top speed of over 110mph.
The Cooper family has been involved with the new MINI from very early on in its development. BMW sees the Cooper name as critical to the marketing of the new car.
"What is MINI without Cooper?" said MINI's International Brand Manager Wolfgang Vollath. "The base-level old MINI wasn't a premium object, whereas the Cooper was."
More information about the exact engine line-up is expected to be revealed at the Paris Motor Show and next spring's Geneva Motor Show. However, BMW sources have hinted at a larger capacity engine to follow from the same family of powerplants.
These will put their power to the road through Getrag gearboxes, as used in most BMW saloons. There will be a choice of manual, fully automatic and semi-automatic in the form of a Steptronic CVT 'box.
BMW is still maintaining an air of secrecy about the details of the new MINI's ride and handling, except to say that it will be "a driver's car".
However, Autocar's sources say the rear axle and suspension are based on a modified version of the multi-link set-up with Z-axle currently used in the BMW 3 Series.
This bodes well for the new MINI's handling, particularly in the light of BMW's claim that the platform is between two and three times stiffer than other cars of the same size. This helps both the suspension set-up and the car's overall safety.
BMW claims it will be one of the safest in its class thanks to an extremely strong passenger safety cell, with passive safety features including front, side and optional curtain airbags.
All models will also have powerful anti-lock brakes (ventilated discs at the front and solid discs at the rear) and a tyre pressure warning system fitted as standard, with BMW's dynamic stability control and xenon headlights among the available options.
The Cooper pictured here is shod with Pirelli P3000 DC 175/65 section tyres on 15-inch alloys. These come painted white or in a conventional metallic finish as a no-cost option.
The MINI was styled by American Frank Stephenson. Among his distinctive features for the MINI are the headlight units built into the clamshell bonnet. When the bonnet is opened, the clamshell gives good access to the engine and lifts the lights clear of the engine.
Stephenson explained that one of his most difficult tasks was getting the bonnet and lamp units working.
"The trouble with having the headlamps attached to the bonnet is that the bonnet usually vibrates more than the rest of the car. You can also have problems with breaking the lenses by shutting the bonnet too hard." This was overcome with a gas strut hinge and vibration damping, he said.
The light cluster has the dipped beam mounted above a twin-reflector main beam which cleverly uses one bulb to generate 25 per cent more light than an equivalent single reflector.
The BMW Group selected the new MINI designer by holding an internal competition five years ago. Fifteen entries were picked and made into full-scale models.
These were shown at the Gaydon Heritage Centre to the BMW board.
Stephenson's design was chosen by the then research and development boss Wolfgang Reitzle and BMW Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder. Stephenson was then working at BMW's DesignWorks studios in California on the X5 project.
Although the car unveiled last week was billed as production ready, Stephenson admitted several items would be changed before full production starts. These include the honeycomb-look vents ahead of the windscreen, which were found to freeze over during cold weather testing, and could easily be damaged while washing the car. The gutter line to the roof is also expected to be improved on the production car.
BMW is remaining tight-lipped about the designer of the car's interior but it is understood to have been Tony Hunter, previously design boss of MINI and MG, who moved to Land Rover when the Rover Group was sold off by BMW.
It took some time to perfect clever details like the toggle switches which operate items such as the electric windows. They are now protected by hoops for crash safety.
The main instrument layout can be varied according to trim level. If buyers order the satellite navigation option then the speedo - back-lit red when the lights are on - is repositioned to a pod behind the steering wheel, next to the revcounter. The sat nav system then occupies the central space left by the speedo.
The interior also gets MINI-branded pedals and a two-spoke steering wheel.
But several cabin items earmarked for production by the designers have now been removed to cut costs, according to Stephenson. Items include the lights on the end of the control stalks. The indicator stalk had a green light to show the indicators were active, while the wiper stalk had a red light that lit up when the hazard warning lights were activated. These have now been replaced with metallic-finish items.
"I almost killed someone over the removal of the original fuel filler cap," says Stephenson. The cap now has a body-coloured cover. Early designs included a silver race-style filler cap, similar to that on the Audi TT.
Improvements to interior materials will also be carried out before production, according to Stephenson. The material for the top of the dash has been finalised but other items could change, including the plastics in the small boot.
An optional boot box is also available to hide smaller items of luggage. This box fills the entire boot floor up to the level of the folded seats.
This is just one of the many customised options available to MINI buyers. The car displayed here has a silver-look dash and door panels but Stephenson says these could easily be made from wood, DC carbon fibre or other materials. The chrome front and rear bumper rubbing strips can also be swapped to make a totally dechromed version.
Concerns that the sale of Rover to the Phoenix consortium might endanger the future of a new British-built MINI do not appear to have manifested themselves.
Production did have to be switched from Longbridge to Cowley, but 75 per cent of the content - excluding the engine - will be produced in the UK.
BMW is certainly keen to bill the car as British-built despite being German owned.
That's why the new car will go on sale in the UK first before being exported across the globe at a rate of 100,000 cars per year. BMW expects the Cowley plant to be at full capacity by 2003.
The MINI will be sold by BMW dealers worldwide, with all 150 UK dealers offering the car with a three-year warranty. The cars will be given a dedicated area of current BMW showrooms - or in some cases totally new premises.
UK MINI General Manager Trevor Houghton-Berry says he will have discussions with the dealers about what sorts of ideas will be suitable - but is looking for innovative suggestions: "We are looking for non-traditional outlets, for example shop fronts."
The outlets will also have to accommodate several new MINI models over the next eight years.
The BMW Group is already known to be working on MINI-derived coupé and convertible versions, but a Traveller-style estate has been killed off. Sources have hinted at the possibility of a MINI Moke car.
"You will be surprised at the number of body and engine variations that we will come up with," says Brand Manager Wolfgang Vollath.
Tristan Young