Next-generation Mini to debut in September 2006

News via "Inside Line": New Mini shows its face -


Apparently the the car is 2.4 inches longer than predecessors, this is mostly due to a new front end designed to meet European pedestrian-safety regulations. It also has an all-new DOHC 16-valve 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine (don't ask me what that means, I just copied and pasted it).

The public debut will be at the Paris Motor Show in late September 2006.



Photo via: miniusa.com

Typical.

One of the things that gave the original Mini its charm was that its body was 'essentially' untouched over its entire production.

The new Mini, albeit not the real thing, has done well in my opinion to keep the Mini name. But now they are doing what every other car manufacturer does with every other car model. If they keep it up it wont be long till its as big as a bloody 3 series.

This is a shame for the Mini name.. In my opinion of course

Tom...

the new New MINI is hardly distinguishable from the old New MINI, believe me. The increase in size is not a matter of choice, as Ed Bob points out, it is force due to safety regs.

Maybe the changes are as a result of the BMW "Six Sigma" implementation (coming soon). Anything Toyota can do, BMW can do better!

I thought the point of a mini was, er, being "mini". If the size increase is due to safety, will that not affect cars like the smart?

Its longer so they can stick more deformable bits n pieces behind the bumper so if you hit someone they're less likely to get their legs smashed in. I guess the same reglations will apply to the smart too, altho its better than the current mini in the euro-ncap tests, so may meet the new ones anyway...But yep, its way too big now, im pretty sure they could cut down on size somewhere, wasn't the record for the number of people in the old mini 16? (or 5 in the little britain version)...plenty of room

New mini is actually not that much bigger than the old version. Yes its a lot larger than the old British Version however like it was said earlier this is purely for Safety. Lets face it if you were doing more than about 40mph in an old mini your pretty much living on borrowed time. The new car has an enhanced chasis and drive shaft to give it that old mini go kart feel and it still complies to the encap safety regualtions. Not a bad car for the money but cooper S is very poor for consumption.

matt

The extra 2.4inches ontop of the current mini is for safety regulations. The current/new mini is over half a metre longer than the original british versions, im pretty sure thats not "purely for safety"

No, because a Smart bounces off pieces of litter in the road, let alone pedestrians.

we test drove a mini a few days ago it was ace! we're gonna get one!
& oy OhFFS less of the smart Smart comments, we've a Smart Roadster it's pretty nifty I have to say!

Saw one of these the other day...parked outside a club...

I guess the "Clubman" has been out for awhile, but this is the first one I've noticed. It looks very, very heavy.

I saw one of the mini station wagons for the first time two days ago. I didn't like the elongated body. I much rather prefer the smaller version of the car.

When we were Down Under, I read about it. The article said that for 'righty markets, the half door would NOT switch sides. So Aussie- and Brit-drivers will have that thing behind them, and the whole ease of passenger loading is defeated.

Comparatively I suppose it is. The MINI Clubman is 80kg (7%) heavier than the MINI. This compare to the 320i Touring which is 70kg (5%) heavier than the Limousine. But then that isn't surprising considering the extended wheelbase and door concept.

This board needs a "fascinating..." Spock-emoticon

I guess 176 pounds isn't so much for all those extra shiny doors and a longer wheelbase. Thanks for the stats OG!

yep true but do you think those drivers would be prepared to pay the extra development and production costs of a RHD body?

Huh? You just hit Ctrl+H in Catia and everything gets flipped horizontally. No work at all!

hahaha. development is more than just drawing pictures on a pc, not to mention higher production costs.

There's more truth to humor in my joke. Engineers don't draw pictures on a computer. They model 3D objects, aggregate tolerances, test interferences and simulate dynamics, all on the computer. So I imagine that flipping the door to the left today would be loads cheaper than flipping the door 15 years ago. Plus computers help streamline the managing of parts and customer demand so production costs are also reduced. But we're getting way too serious again <spock>fascinating...</spock>

The design stage is not the expensive bit, it's the tooling, having to make different press tools etc. costs a fortune and has to be balanced with the question, how many people will not buy the car just because the door is on the "wrong" side?

Just in time for the olypmics, the Rickshaw mini

Another euro on the price of Fuel and I'll buy one.