RE: Mini Crossman SUV Sketches Leak Out
Discussion
A Scotsman said:
Remember the original Fiat Panda 4x4 from the 80s? It had a Steyr Puch 4WD drive system and was amazing in the snow. I'd love to get hold of another one of those.
Could be yours - snuggled at the bottom of the PH classifieds:http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1397362.htm
Remember comparing my Justy 4WD with a Panda owner back in the early 90s; both were very useful as it snowed that year and the 200 yards of muddy cart-track had to be negotiated the rest of the time. Only problems were fuel consumption (I was chucking in about £45 a week) and 'binding' on tight corners due to the short wheelbase.
There's always the new shape Panda 4x4 or the Sedici. Guess the Mini Crossman will have a similar format to the Sedici and the latter needs a 2.0 diesel as the 1.6 petrol is insufficient to lug the weight.
The 4x4 is the most interesting bit of this. If the current run of snowy winters continues then many of us will start specifying our new cars with 4X4. I buy the wife a new Mini every couple of years and right now it’s snowing hard. Our Mini is due for replacement this year and a 4X4 option would probably get ticked.
However, I wouldn’t buy a style disaster just to get the 4X4. Until I see it in the flesh it’s hard to tell, but it doesn’t look promising.
What Mini should do is offer a 4X4 with EVO/Impreza class handling and serious power. Then they should take it rallying and milk the Mini rallying glory day’s image for all it’s worth.
A Cooper S Rally 4X4 with 300-400bhp in something like the current body would do nicely thank you. Mind you, that would cause a few problems with me borrowing her car all the time.
However, I wouldn’t buy a style disaster just to get the 4X4. Until I see it in the flesh it’s hard to tell, but it doesn’t look promising.
What Mini should do is offer a 4X4 with EVO/Impreza class handling and serious power. Then they should take it rallying and milk the Mini rallying glory day’s image for all it’s worth.
A Cooper S Rally 4X4 with 300-400bhp in something like the current body would do nicely thank you. Mind you, that would cause a few problems with me borrowing her car all the time.
Beyond Rational said:
I guess whether it is four wheel drive or not is totally irrelevant.
It's very relevent and here's why.BMW's Mini may return to the World Rally Championship 2011
According to Autocar magazine, the crossover, rumoured to be called the Countryman will go on sale next year, and could be turned into a WRC contender for the 2011 season.
The Mini Countryman JCW will be powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine, in line with proposals for future WRC cars.
Ex-rally driver Paddy Hopkirk, who won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in a Mini Cooper S, continues to work for BMW as an ambassador and spoke to Motorsport News. “It would be terrific to see Mini in the WRC. The level of engineering is amazing and very diligent – they’re a company that doesn’t take shortcuts. Everything they do they do well - without the Formula One project there could be more money to do that.
“People love the Mini and the new Mini as well. It would be magnificent for the glory days of rallying to return and for Mini to be a part of that. I love the car.”
The latest revelation comes on the back of news that both Fiat and Volkswagen are on the verge of signing up to the WRC.
Simon Long, chief executive of WRC promoters ISC, confirmed discussions for new entrants to the sport were at a developed stage:"The WRC offers increasingly valuable returns to car manufacturers. Discussions are on-going with a number of manufacturers - and privately run teams - who are seriously interested in what WRC has to offer, particularly at the dawn of such an exciting new era for the Championship," he said.
"There's a really positive buzz around WRC at the moment on the back of a series of important announcements including the appointment of a championship promoter, an improved WRC calendar, and a raft of progressive changes to the sport's regulations designed to enhance the 'show' and reduce costs," Long added.
"The recent decision by Ford and Citroen to commit to WRC for a minimum of two more seasons and ISC signing multi-year agreements with event promoters are further reasons for stakeholders, commercial partners and fans of WRC to feel confidently optimistic about the future of WRC."
A Mini UK spokesman told Autocar that the company had no official plans to enter World Rally yet, he did confirm that "if it does happen it would be late 2011 at the earliest, as JCW models traditionally follow on 12 months after the launch of the car."
Parrot of Doom said:
Sickens me slightly that it takes a German company to be so successful with what should be a British product.
It's pathetic.
What was pathetic was the British approach to the product and the sale of it. If it had remained British, there is no way it would have ever got so big or successful.It's pathetic.
This is total crap but the "British" effort was something called a Rover Streetwise which was probably still smaller than this ugly stick abomination.
Parrot of Doom said:
Sickens me slightly that it takes a German company to be so successful with what should be a British product.
It's pathetic.
What's British about a BMW designed Peugeot engined car built on Continental Europe - possibly Austria ?It's pathetic.
There's nothing British about this car - even the name Mini is derived from Latin.
threespires said:
Parrot of Doom said:
Sickens me slightly that it takes a German company to be so successful with what should be a British product.
It's pathetic.
What's British about a BMW designed Peugeot engined car built on Continental Europe - possibly Austria ?It's pathetic.
There's nothing British about this car - even the name Mini is derived from Latin.
Surely the idea of a supermini-sized SUV implies the designers are trying to make an already poorly packaged small car into a poorly packaged big one - I mean how much would you have to want something that shoots itself in the foot! It's like an olympic gymnast performing with a rucksack of rocks strapped to their back! It won't be any better to drive off road than a standard one but it will be worse on it.
I really thought Clarkson hit the nail on the head with these 'crossover SUV's when he tested the X6. It's just two mutually exculsive designs squashed together. Plus it looks like a tall skinny hippo emerging from a muddy river.
I really thought Clarkson hit the nail on the head with these 'crossover SUV's when he tested the X6. It's just two mutually exculsive designs squashed together. Plus it looks like a tall skinny hippo emerging from a muddy river.
) rally bred car with nice practical suicide doors
kING HORRID
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