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MINIAC · Feb 14th, 2001, 05:00 PM

The following article from the January issue of Sport Compact Car had different hp and weight figures:

New cars become old cars very rapidly in the modern automotive world. With model cycles of 4 to 5 years, product planners hardly have a chance to judge a model's success or failure before its replacement must be designed. That is one of the few challenges the new Mini Cooper's designers didn't have to face.

The original Mini was in continuous production at its Longbride, England factory from August, 1959 to October 4, 2000, where over that time some 5,387,862 were built. That marks the Mini as one of the most sucessful cars of all time. With 41 years to study sales patterns, the new Mini's product planners had plenty of time to think things over before getting on with the business of designing a new one.

Exactly who is designing the new Mini and why is a long and complex story; here's the Soap Opera Digest summary: The original Mini was sold both as the Austin Seven and the Morris Mini-Minor,(Austin and Morris had merged a few years earlier to form the British Motor Corporation, or BMC). It was soon sold under the banner of some of BMC's other nameplates as the Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf. Eventually, all the surname proliferation stopped and Mini became a brand unto itself. Meanwhile, parent company BMC became British Leyland and later the Rover Group. In 1994, the Rover Group was purchased by BMW, but after attempting to reverse Rover's money-hemorrhaging ways, BMW sold off all but the Mini brand.

Creating a new Mini is no simple task. The original Mini, as designed by Alec Issigonis, was basic transportation, no more. With only 34 hp, no amenities and a surprising amount of room inside, it was an excellent city car. It quickly became a powerful social statement as well. But it was British racecar builder John Cooper who first saw the potential of such a small, nimble package for competition and it is the more powerful, more agile Mini Cooper that is most prized today.

So when designing the new Mini, the goal was not only to build a car that looked like the old Mini, but to make the car that its original creator would have built, had development continued over the last 40 years. The question was, which creator?

Mini Program Manager, Richard Steinberg pointed out that following Issigonis' minimalist city car philosophy with today's requirements, would inevitably result in something like the Smart, or A-class Mercedes. Instead, the more sporting nature of John Cooper's work with the Mini inspired the new car.

So enough about history and inspiration, what about the car? The new Mini debuted at the Paris Auto Show in September and is slated to go on sale in Europe and Japan in 2001 and in the United States in early 2002 (as a 2003 model). U.S. sales will be through about 70 (presumably full-size) Mini showrooms that will be added to the current BMW dealer network. The 345 BMW dealers currently in the U.S. must compete for the opportunity to build these Mini showrooms.

The new Mini is small, but not nearly as small as the original. At 141.6 inches overall, the new Mini is nearly 20-inches longer than the old Mini, but should still be the smallest car in the United States. In overall length, it is almost 8 inches shorter than a Geo Metro, and nearly 14 inches shorter than a Miata. Like the original, most of that length--97 inches of it--is wheelbase, meaning that it puts its wheels nearly 8 inches further apart than the Miata. The track width is also about an inch wider than the Miata's. Mini purists may be disappointed to note that the new Mini rides on entirely conventional 15, 16 and 17-inch wheels, a far cry from the 10-inch doughnuts on the original car.

The increase in size definitely deflates some of the novelty of the original Mini, but with modern safety regulations a bigger Mini was inevitable. The Mini is being touted as an extremely safe car for its size, with an unusually rigid passenger cell and six airbags (front airbags for driver and passenger and side airbags for all four seats.) It is also being targeted fairly upmarket, with options like a panoramic sunroof, leather seats, Harman Kardon speakers, Xenon headlights and even rain-sensing wipers adding complexity and weight. Curb weight is expected to be around 2,500 lbs, 1,000 lbs more than the original.

The original Mini was so sparse that instrumentation consisted only of a centrally mounted speedometer. The central speedo is carried over in the new car (unless an optional navigation system is in its place), but there is now a tachometer on the steering column, an electronic climate control system below the speedo and below that, a hugely entertaining row of toggle switches. From a design standpoint, the Mini's interior rivals the Audi TT for visual stimulation. Luckily, it is also laid out intelligently, with a proper driving position and well-placed controls.

Suspension is MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link "Z-arm" similar to the 3-series suspension in the rear. Basically, the rear hub is carried on a trailing arm, which is laterally located by an upper and lower semi-trailing link. Mini reps promise "go cart-like handling," but we'll have to wait about a year to test that for ourselves.

2003 MINI COOPER ESTIMATED STREET PRICE:
Cooper $17,000 - $18,000
Cooper S $20,000 - $21,000

ENGINE:
Type In-line four, cast iron block, aluminum head
Valvetrain SOHC, four valves per cylinder
Displacement Approximately 1600 cc
Horsepower:
Cooper 118 hp (approx.)
Cooper S 165 hp (approx.)
Cooper S with John Cooper Garages Kit 197 hp (approx.)

DRIVETRAIN:
Layout Transverse front engine, front-wheel drive, limited-slip differential on Cooper S

EXTERIOR DIMENSIONS:
Curb Weight Approx. 2550 lbs
Overall Length 141.6 in.
Wheelbase 97.0 in.
Overall Width 66.4 in.
Track F/R 56.7 in./57.5 in.
Height 54.7 in.

SUSPENSION:
Front MacPherson strut, anti-roll bar
Rear Multi-link Z-arm with one trailing link and upper and lower semi-trailing lateral links, anti-roll bar

BRAKES:
Front disc
Rear disc

WHEELS AND TIRES:
Tires 16-inch aluminum
Tires 195/55R16 Goodyear Eagle NTC5

For its entire 41 years, the original Mini was powered by the now ancient A-series engine in displacements varying from 848 to 1275 cc. The new Mini is to be powered by an all-new iron block, aluminum head single-cam four built in Brazil in a joint venture with Daimler-Chrysler. Wait a minute. A car built by BMW with an engine built by Mercedes? Back to Soap Opera Digest: With Rover in hand and a new Mini in the works, BMW needed to design a four-cylinder powerplant that would fit under the Mini's hood. BMW's own four cylinder was not compact enough and the Mini alone wasn't expected to generate enough sales to support an engine development program on its own--modern engines require economies of scale to be financially viable. So BMW and Chrysler joined forces to develop a new engine family that could be used in the Mini as well as the European market Neon. This began before the Daimler-Chrysler merger and Chrysler becoming Daimler-Chrysler was likely a surprise to both sides. Regardless, the joint venture continued despite the two company's traditionally adversarial relationship.

The base Mini, will be powered by a 1.4-liter version of this engine making something less than 100 hp, but thankfully, this powerplant will not make it to the United States. Our base model will be the Mini Cooper, which will have a 1.6 liter making about 118 hp. Looking closely at the engine, a plastic intake manifold with long, narrow intake runners suggests a very torquey power delivery--much like the original. A tubular stainless steel four-into-one exhaust manifold may or may not make it when the engine is adapted to U.S. emissions regulations. The power-to-weight ratio suggests acceleration on par with a 2.0-liter Golf. Not exactly inspiring.

Pressure is always good for inspiration though, and positive manifold pressure will be available on the supercharged Mini Cooper S, which is expected to make around 165 hp. That power will be properly harnessed with a limited slip differential.

If you are a proper horsepower nut, you've already thought about using a smaller supercharger pulley for even more power. Quick thinking, but you still aren't the first to think of it. The John Cooper connection is more than just marketing hype. Cooper has been kept constantly apprised of the car's development, and his approval has been sought after, if not actually required, by the design team. Not only is Cooper said to be enthusiastically behind the car, but John Cooper Garages Ltd., which is run by his son Michael Cooper, is already developing parts to make it faster. Already, Cooper Garages has developed a kit consisting of an intake and exhaust, a smaller supercharger pulley, a ported cylinder head and bigger injectors that the younger Cooper claims will boost power output to 197 hp. Now we're talking!

Though the engine is all-new, the electronics are supposed to be substantially similar to other BMW models, making it readily serviceable by the BMW service departments behind U.S. Mini showrooms. There still appear to be significant differences, however--just poking under the hood, we noticed that the Mini appears to have a speed-denity fuel management system, while all BMWs use mass airflow meters.

Annual production at the newly renovated Oxford, England factory should peak at 100,000 Minis per year, though it has been said that can be stretched if sales demand it. Initial projections are for about 20,000 of those Minis to come to the United States. The Mini Cooper is expected to sell for $17,000 to $18,000, with about a $3,000 premium for the supercharged Cooper S.

Feb 14th, 2001, 05:00 PM	#2
MINIAC MINI Profiler Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: City By The Bay Local Time: 03:27 PM Posts: 8,707 Offline	The following article from the January issue of Sport Compact Car had different hp and weight figures: New cars become old cars very rapidly in the modern automotive world. With model cycles of 4 to 5 years, product planners hardly have a chance to judge a model's success or failure before its replacement must be designed. That is one of the few challenges the new Mini Cooper's designers didn't have to face. The original Mini was in continuous production at its Longbride, England factory from August, 1959 to October 4, 2000, where over that time some 5,387,862 were built. That marks the Mini as one of the most sucessful cars of all time. With 41 years to study sales patterns, the new Mini's product planners had plenty of time to think things over before getting on with the business of designing a new one. Exactly who is designing the new Mini and why is a long and complex story; here's the Soap Opera Digest summary: The original Mini was sold both as the Austin Seven and the Morris Mini-Minor,(Austin and Morris had merged a few years earlier to form the British Motor Corporation, or BMC). It was soon sold under the banner of some of BMC's other nameplates as the Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf. Eventually, all the surname proliferation stopped and Mini became a brand unto itself. Meanwhile, parent company BMC became British Leyland and later the Rover Group. In 1994, the Rover Group was purchased by BMW, but after attempting to reverse Rover's money-hemorrhaging ways, BMW sold off all but the Mini brand. Creating a new Mini is no simple task. The original Mini, as designed by Alec Issigonis, was basic transportation, no more. With only 34 hp, no amenities and a surprising amount of room inside, it was an excellent city car. It quickly became a powerful social statement as well. But it was British racecar builder John Cooper who first saw the potential of such a small, nimble package for competition and it is the more powerful, more agile Mini Cooper that is most prized today. So when designing the new Mini, the goal was not only to build a car that looked like the old Mini, but to make the car that its original creator would have built, had development continued over the last 40 years. The question was, which creator? Mini Program Manager, Richard Steinberg pointed out that following Issigonis' minimalist city car philosophy with today's requirements, would inevitably result in something like the Smart, or A-class Mercedes. Instead, the more sporting nature of John Cooper's work with the Mini inspired the new car. So enough about history and inspiration, what about the car? The new Mini debuted at the Paris Auto Show in September and is slated to go on sale in Europe and Japan in 2001 and in the United States in early 2002 (as a 2003 model). U.S. sales will be through about 70 (presumably full-size) Mini showrooms that will be added to the current BMW dealer network. The 345 BMW dealers currently in the U.S. must compete for the opportunity to build these Mini showrooms. The new Mini is small, but not nearly as small as the original. At 141.6 inches overall, the new Mini is nearly 20-inches longer than the old Mini, but should still be the smallest car in the United States. In overall length, it is almost 8 inches shorter than a Geo Metro, and nearly 14 inches shorter than a Miata. Like the original, most of that length--97 inches of it--is wheelbase, meaning that it puts its wheels nearly 8 inches further apart than the Miata. The track width is also about an inch wider than the Miata's. Mini purists may be disappointed to note that the new Mini rides on entirely conventional 15, 16 and 17-inch wheels, a far cry from the 10-inch doughnuts on the original car. The increase in size definitely deflates some of the novelty of the original Mini, but with modern safety regulations a bigger Mini was inevitable. The Mini is being touted as an extremely safe car for its size, with an unusually rigid passenger cell and six airbags (front airbags for driver and passenger and side airbags for all four seats.) It is also being targeted fairly upmarket, with options like a panoramic sunroof, leather seats, Harman Kardon speakers, Xenon headlights and even rain-sensing wipers adding complexity and weight. Curb weight is expected to be around 2,500 lbs, 1,000 lbs more than the original. The original Mini was so sparse that instrumentation consisted only of a centrally mounted speedometer. The central speedo is carried over in the new car (unless an optional navigation system is in its place), but there is now a tachometer on the steering column, an electronic climate control system below the speedo and below that, a hugely entertaining row of toggle switches. From a design standpoint, the Mini's interior rivals the Audi TT for visual stimulation. Luckily, it is also laid out intelligently, with a proper driving position and well-placed controls. Suspension is MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link "Z-arm" similar to the 3-series suspension in the rear. Basically, the rear hub is carried on a trailing arm, which is laterally located by an upper and lower semi-trailing link. Mini reps promise "go cart-like handling," but we'll have to wait about a year to test that for ourselves. 2003 MINI COOPER ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: Cooper $17,000 - $18,000 Cooper S $20,000 - $21,000 ENGINE: Type In-line four, cast iron block, aluminum head Valvetrain SOHC, four valves per cylinder Displacement Approximately 1600 cc Horsepower: Cooper 118 hp (approx.) Cooper S 165 hp (approx.) Cooper S with John Cooper Garages Kit 197 hp (approx.) DRIVETRAIN: Layout Transverse front engine, front-wheel drive, limited-slip differential on Cooper S EXTERIOR DIMENSIONS: Curb Weight Approx. 2550 lbs Overall Length 141.6 in. Wheelbase 97.0 in. Overall Width 66.4 in. Track F/R 56.7 in./57.5 in. Height 54.7 in. SUSPENSION: Front MacPherson strut, anti-roll bar Rear Multi-link Z-arm with one trailing link and upper and lower semi-trailing lateral links, anti-roll bar BRAKES: Front disc Rear disc WHEELS AND TIRES: Tires 16-inch aluminum Tires 195/55R16 Goodyear Eagle NTC5 For its entire 41 years, the original Mini was powered by the now ancient A-series engine in displacements varying from 848 to 1275 cc. The new Mini is to be powered by an all-new iron block, aluminum head single-cam four built in Brazil in a joint venture with Daimler-Chrysler. Wait a minute. A car built by BMW with an engine built by Mercedes? Back to Soap Opera Digest: With Rover in hand and a new Mini in the works, BMW needed to design a four-cylinder powerplant that would fit under the Mini's hood. BMW's own four cylinder was not compact enough and the Mini alone wasn't expected to generate enough sales to support an engine development program on its own--modern engines require economies of scale to be financially viable. So BMW and Chrysler joined forces to develop a new engine family that could be used in the Mini as well as the European market Neon. This began before the Daimler-Chrysler merger and Chrysler becoming Daimler-Chrysler was likely a surprise to both sides. Regardless, the joint venture continued despite the two company's traditionally adversarial relationship. The base Mini, will be powered by a 1.4-liter version of this engine making something less than 100 hp, but thankfully, this powerplant will not make it to the United States. Our base model will be the Mini Cooper, which will have a 1.6 liter making about 118 hp. Looking closely at the engine, a plastic intake manifold with long, narrow intake runners suggests a very torquey power delivery--much like the original. A tubular stainless steel four-into-one exhaust manifold may or may not make it when the engine is adapted to U.S. emissions regulations. The power-to-weight ratio suggests acceleration on par with a 2.0-liter Golf. Not exactly inspiring. Pressure is always good for inspiration though, and positive manifold pressure will be available on the supercharged Mini Cooper S, which is expected to make around 165 hp. That power will be properly harnessed with a limited slip differential. If you are a proper horsepower nut, you've already thought about using a smaller supercharger pulley for even more power. Quick thinking, but you still aren't the first to think of it. The John Cooper connection is more than just marketing hype. Cooper has been kept constantly apprised of the car's development, and his approval has been sought after, if not actually required, by the design team. Not only is Cooper said to be enthusiastically behind the car, but John Cooper Garages Ltd., which is run by his son Michael Cooper, is already developing parts to make it faster. Already, Cooper Garages has developed a kit consisting of an intake and exhaust, a smaller supercharger pulley, a ported cylinder head and bigger injectors that the younger Cooper claims will boost power output to 197 hp. Now we're talking! Though the engine is all-new, the electronics are supposed to be substantially similar to other BMW models, making it readily serviceable by the BMW service departments behind U.S. Mini showrooms. There still appear to be significant differences, however--just poking under the hood, we noticed that the Mini appears to have a speed-denity fuel management system, while all BMWs use mass airflow meters. Annual production at the newly renovated Oxford, England factory should peak at 100,000 Minis per year, though it has been said that can be stretched if sales demand it. Initial projections are for about 20,000 of those Minis to come to the United States. The Mini Cooper is expected to sell for $17,000 to $18,000, with about a $3,000 premium for the supercharged Cooper S.