I thought we'd already heard several rumors of MINI using a 1.9 Liter supercharged engine in the next couple years. The thought of a AWD is interesting though.

 

Hmmmm, yes. Interesting points. As cool as an AWD MINI would be, it would suck to add more weight to bring it up to like 3000lbs.....or more. The 2600lbs or so weight it has already is more than enough for a MINI. There's already like a thousand pound addition from the classic Mini to the new. Mind you, that may be for the better with the additions of safety and such. Plus adding length would ruin it even more. In addition, I'm more for superchargers than turbos. Damn.....there could be some serious contimplation over a pro and con list here.

 

If you look further at the other photos on the Dutch site, you'll see that the plate number is different on the "no Getrag decal" photo, too. It's just a different CR/W Mini.

 

AWD MCS?


Yoboys in their Evos and STi's will cower in fear whenever we roll by.

Gentlemen, Eat my dust! (and gravel too).

 

With BMW so heavily involved in Formula 1 right now with Williams it strikes me as fairly unlikely that they'd also start a very expensive WRC program for the Mini. I also agree that additional length and the weight of AWD would not be a good step for the Mini. It needs to be small and light.

Mark

 

I believe this is correct. I pulled the following chart from this webpage:
http://www.rallyscene.com/cms/A_100513/article.html

...........................Length.........Wheelbas e
Cooper S...............3655mm......2467mm
Skoda...................4002mm......2462mm
PEUGEOT 206........4005mm.......2468mm
Citroen.................4167mm.......2555mm
Hyundai................4200mm......2440mm
Subaru..................4300mm......2520mm
PEUGEOT 307.........4344mm......2610mm
Mitsubishi..............4360mm......2600mm
Ford......................4442mm......2615mm

The shortest car is the Skoda at 4002mm or 13.1' long. The MINI is 11.99' long a difference of 1.1' roughly 13". I can't seem to find what the minimum length is but I believe based on this article that the Skoda is very close to the minimum.

If all this is true a MINI that is 13" longer than standard doesn't sound like something I would want. I'll keep looking for the FIA minimum length.

However, an AWD MINI that weighs in at 3000 lbs or so does sound interesting. This would be lighter than the EVO, WRX and R32. The WRX is the lightest of the bunch at 3085 lbs. The MINI would have to have at least 220HP to be competitive with the WRX. I really don't ever see it being competitive. A 220HP MINI would be a pretty tricked 1.6!! The WRX's 227HP is a starting point and is easily upgraded to the STI's 300.

But hey the WRX and R32 are fuugggly! I'd rather have an all wheel drive Cooper S even if it is isn't competitive.

Rodney

 

I think the homologation rules specify a minimum length of 4m. I also think the MINI's engine size is too small too. As much as I love WRC, I'm not too concerned about MINI trying to build a rally car.

I'm most excited about the RWD bias, which also translates into the potential for a RWD MINI or an AWD MINI that drives like a RWD MINI. Before I bought the MINI, I swore that my next vehicle had to be RWD, but then the MINI was too cool at a good price to pass up (the panoramic moonroof being the clincher) and I'd always liked the originals, but not the concept of guaranteed death . I'm sure MINI could find a way to get the engine output high enough to not let the extra mechanical components of an AWD system really hurt the vehicle's streetability.

 

http://www.mini2.com/news/news268.html

 

I've seen this, it's pretty cool.


My guess is that an AWD Cooper S would be the BEST handling car EVER.

 

An AWD MINI would be the shiznit .

 

RWD! *but* engages the front wheels as needed.
Sounds like the best of all worlds!

 

Whoa.

 

That is awesome! I'd like to see how they made it all work.

 

and heavier, I'm sure....

 

Build it...and they will come! Can you imagine an AWD 200hp 6-speed Cooper S coupe...Now were talking! This is a no brainer in my book

 

nice to have 4wd.. but I rather have it RWD ..


after I got my 05' MCS for 3 month I'm thinking about selling it. After driving FWD car for awhile it just plain boring IMO.

 

More like 4wd and 300 hhttps://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/newreply.php#p That sounds a little better to me.

 

Threads Merged

This topic first appeared in October, today another thread popped up on the subject, and that thread has been merged into the original thread.

Also see these stories on MotoringFile

MotoringFile :: Getrag Tests All-Wheel Drive MINI (10/23/2004)

MotoringFile :: More Info on the All-Wheel Drive MINI (11/09/2004)

 

If they came out with a 250HP AWD MINI that weighed less than 3,000 pounds, I'd buy it tomorrow for 30 grand!

 

A RWD MINI would be crap IMO.There is no weight back there.The cockpit would be full of trany,and it would not be a MINI.AWD I could maybe live with,but I like the FWD MINI I have alot.

 

I'm glad to see so many folks sticking up for the small sized car over the increased capability. If they can cram the AWD into the present body style, I'll applaud their ingenuity (although I personally wouldn't accept any worse fuel economy than I already have, no matter what the goodies are). If beefing up for AWD and WRC means fattening up the whole model line, I certainly would prefer not to see it happen. The last thing we need is for the MINI to go the way of the Golf.

 

That's pretty cool!


but FF is plenty for me on the streets.
:smile:

 

I agree.
I got the MINI because the style+price+fun-to-drive factors, made it the best choice for me. I'm not interested in WRC, just fun on the road, and maybe a little AutoX. I'd love AWD, as described in the Getrag car, and a few more horses. However, if the car needs to get much heaver, bigger, and more expensive... Well, I don't know. There are already a lot of good cars in the $35K-$45K range. A larger, less-cute MINI might just be another also-ran, in that range. Heck, if I give in to spending that much for my next 'fun' car, I might start looking at a Lotus Eleise!

 

A rear sway bar makes the FWD on the Mini much more tolerable.

 

If size (dimensions) and weight can be kept reasonable for a MINI, I can see this being a hot ticket. They will lose me though if they go 13 inches longer for WRC...

While the extra couple hundred pounds (probably minimum) is not favorable, at least that added weight should help in the F/R distribution, and being that low is certainly better than higher...

Our driveline loss would no longer be 11 or 12% though... probably at least double that. While more is lost in this type of transfer, what does get there gets better utilized in the form of traction...

A 300 hp AWD MINI will probably "lose" about 75hp in driveline loss (25%, which is generous), so about 225 WHP. At best, she will probably weigh 3,000 pounds...

A 250 hp FWD MINI (achievable now with no SC replacement or an added turbo) will have about 220 WHP, or nearly the same as the above, while being a few hundred pounds lighter. Plus, I'm down to right around 2,400 pounds...

If an LSD can make for adequate traction, I prefer the shorter and lighter MINI - what I have now .