At the 2006 Paris Motorshow (aka Paris Mondial de L’Automobile) the new, second generation MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S were unveiled.

The wraps are now officially well and truly off the new MINI. The new car, due to go on sale in Europe and the UK from November 18th 2006, had it’s debut public outing on the 28th September. Having spent almost an entire day crawling all over the car in various trim and spec levels, and talking at length to Marcus Syring of MINI Design, as well as other members of the MINI team at the show, MINI2 reports back in full in our lasting impressions of the new second generation MINI.

For photographs and video of the new MINI from the show, please visit the MINI galleries.

The day began well for us, arriving somewhat confused and weary after a start that woke the birds early for the dawn chorus and being too excited to bother reading exhibition guides we headed straight into the main entrance of Hall 1, where we literally stumbled upon the huge “MINI Box” (our words, not MINIs) where the new car and a couple of Convertibles were being shown in. The display was quite small, but maybe out of hype for the new car or maybe because it was so easy to virtually trip over the stand, it was buzzing with members of the assembled media throughout the day. Great for MINI, but a little frustrating when you’re trying to get a clear shot of as many aspects of the new car as you can.

Looking back on the day, having a sentimental moment, it was strange to attend a MINI event with no sign of the “new MINI” that we all know so well, save for the Convertibles which struggled for attention among the new models. However, it was interesting to see that even with a current shape MINI Convertible and a new shape MINI Cooper almost nose to nose, some people still failed to see the differences at first glance, surely a sign that MINI have achieved their bold yet somewhat understated ambition of reworking almost every aspect of the design, yet retaining the MINI look so many people have grown so fond of.

For the more discerning MINI aficionado, it would be obvious what changes have been made, and it was very interesting spending a long time discussing the merits and design process of “the most challenging” job Marcus Syring has undertaken. As Dr. Michael Ganal revealed the car to the clambering media representatives, the main reaction, an in fact the main line of the speech introducing the vehicle, was that it was “all new, but yet still the same”. A hard balance to strike.

Reactions first to the prototypes we drove, and then to the official images from MINI themselves have been mixed on the MINI2 forums, with many owners not happy at change for changes sake, or the difference in size and proportion compared to the outgoing model. At the same time, the world at large seem to think the car is pretty much identical to the 2001 version of the MINI. Seeing the new MINI in the metal, free from any disguise or prototype plastic parts, really helped to get a much better feel for the changes inside and out, and if you’re a MINI enthusiast thinking of making it over to Paris, then we recommend you take the trip.

It was really good to get a chance to go over both the Cooper and Cooper S with Marcus Syring, although responsible for the exterior design only, we gained an invaluable insight into the MINI design philosophy regarding this car and the future direction. Marcus was keen to point out that every effort was made by him personally (being an owner of a late classic MINI Cooper and two new MINIs himself) to keep the lines and style of the new model not only true to the MINI, but to the Mini as well. The single piece grille, which remains in place when you open the bonnet is indeed much more Mini than MINI, as is the return to two front light pods, upper and lower, rather than three on the first generation MINI. Which better mimics the classic Mini headlight and indicator configuration.

On the subject of the light clusters (especially the fog/sidelight housings), Marcus went into detail about how the design is intended very much to be 3 dimensional, giving depth and adding interest to each light unit. The xenon headlight design was interestingly inspired not by trends in vehicle lighting, but by trends in interior lighting design.

For the redesign, the work started at the front, the new pedestrian impact laws lead a lot of the decision making process when it came to the required height and length of the new MINIs front end, so once they knew the area they had to work with the challenge was to keep the lines across the car flowing and interesting. The more upright front end again is more similar to the “bull nose” of the classic than the more sleek bonnet of the outgoing Cooper model in particular. The design is intended to look flowing and smooth, yet tension is very important. The lines and the curve of the bonnet is designed to look tight and go just beyond that which you might expect it to flow naturally, without going too far and making it look uneasy on the eye.

We spoke, of course, about the MINI Cooper S scoop, a functional air duct for cooling the supercharger on the first generation Cooper S, a purely cosmetic feature on the new MINI. Marcus admitted he was disappointed that the scoop didn’t function well for cooling, it was intended to do so but in terms of engineering it turned out to not make sense to use it, so it was blocked in. However he felt that it still serves “a purpose” in terms of design, even if not in function, to add to the more aggressive look of the S, and to carry the character and lines of the MINI on through the next generation. It was also mentioned it could still serve a purpose in the future of the car, and things were always being tweaked and developed through the product life cycle. The lower air dam is also larger on the Cooper S, almost as large as the main grille, this is for a functional purpose of passing as much air over the lower cooling section, the intercoolers as possible, but also again helps the car look more aggressive and sporty.

In some ways, while many people have been keen to point out the money saving and time saving changes to the exterior design of the car, certain aspects such as the bonnet, seem to have become more complex now than before. The new bonnet is significantly smaller and lighter than the previous version, but now has to match up neatly at the front, back, sides and around each headlight unit, which calls for very precise engineering and fitment at the Swindon (panels) and Oxford (construction) Plants.

The sides of the car are much less refined, however the waistline is higher, and the rear end of the car is more bulbous than before, to increase boot capacity as much as follow through the proportions from the front of the vehicle. The plastic trim is also now larger than before, to compensate for the increased sheet metal area at the sides, and the “cuts” in the lines or breaks in sections now match front and rear of the wheel arches.

If the changes to the exterior are pretty subtle, the changes on the inside are far more dramatic. This was largely due to the fact the costs involved in reengineering the interior are much more reasonable, and there’s more freedom to develop the design inside the car, rather than trying to rework the already iconic lines of the exterior.

During the design process the team use a concept call MAYA, which stands for “Most Advanced Yet Acceptable”. The MINI is a modern car and technology is important to both the people working on the car, and those who purchase it. The MINI is very popular among people who work in areas of design, technology, science and IT, people who love their gadgets. But you cant go all high-tech and space age without keeping a consideration for the classic lines and appeal of the Mini. It’s a tough balancing act, but in terms of the interior we think they’ve done a very good good indeed. Good examples of the applications of “MAYA” to the MINI include the design of the navigation system controls, and the “floating” speedo that is part of that system, as well as the interior lighting options and sunroof still being operated by classic looking overhead chrome toggle switches.

In our opinion the interior of the car has improved in just about every way imaginable. The dash layout feels more spacious, more modern, yet with it’s large pronounced air vents and larger centre speedo feels more light our classic Mini than the new MINI ever did. A clever balancing act. The new finishes and materials also work very well. The design team were apparently never completely comfortable with the “fake” wood and “fake” aluminium finishes on the first generation MINI, but the curves and surface areas of the old dash section didn’t lend itself well to these finishes. The new design means we now have real wood and metal options, as well as numerous dash, door and seat trim combinations. While the more cynical of us might say this is just more ways for BMW to tempt us to part with our hard earned money, nobody can deny the MINI is very much about personalisation, and choice is a wonderful thing to have. The chance to make your MINI unique is very important.

Another area of the design which we feel is much improved is the seating, insired at least in part by the work of Arne Jacobsen (and in particular the Swan Chair), the new range of seats were all comfortable, grippy, and good looking. Not of all the trim finishes were to our tastes, but again choice is all important. The support and comfort both in the front and rear of the vehicle were much improved from the current car. The only real gripe we have at this time with the interior design is the overhead toggle and lighting units could be made into one complete moulding. It seems a little uncomfortable and over busy at the moment, but maybe that will be revised at a later time too?

I also asked Marcus about the involvement of IDG (IDG Italdesign-Gallizio) in the design process of the new car (where this video was shot in 2004). This was basically an engineering decision, not a design one. During the process Marcus would fly to Italy once or more a week to oversee the work being carried out IDG, who were basically responsible for making the designs work, the realisation of the concepts. This decision was taken purely on the basis the BMW team who would usually be expected to carry out this work were fully occupied with numerous BMW engineering tasks, and IDG were seen to be the best people for this task. Ask if he’d chose to work that way again, the answer was pretty much a straight no, not only because of the mileage involved, but because it’s just easier and more compact keeping things all under control of one organisation. That’s not to say BMW/MINI are not happy with the finished article though, but the process seems to have been more complex and stressful than it might have been.

Despite the fact that on the 3rd of October, less than a week after the motorshow, we’ll be driving the MINI Cooper S on the Spanish roads, Paris proved a very worthwhile exercise and a really good chance to get up close and personal with both the Cooper and Cooper S and discuss the various design merits and ideology with a key man in the MINIs current and future development. We hope you enjoyed not only our reports, photos and videos back from the day, but also this retrospective report on the MINI at the show.

Article: MINI2 - Photographs and Video from the show