GoAuto is reporting that MINI Australia will introduce the MINI Cooper D within the next 12 months. Coupled with a 6 speed manual and a 1.6l 80kW/240Nm powerplant the Cooper D is said to be capable of consumption under 4l/100km. Add to that impressive emission figures of 104g/km and there’ll be a whole bunch of Hollywood actors realising they could have looked cool and still been green, instead of buying a Prius.
BMW Australia are anticipating that new sales growth will come from the diesel segment and as a further show of faith in that prediction they will also be introducing an all new diesel 7 series, expected for Australian deliveries in 2010.
The Australian introduction of the Cooper D is great news for MINI fans as it had long been believed, and confirmed from the inside, that a diesel powered MINI was virtually impossible for the Australian market.
Road tested in Melbourne's Friday paper. I've never quite understood the acceleration times of diesels. The MINI has only 5kW less than the Cooper, and heaps more torque, yet is quoted at 9.9 seconds to 100km/h. I've got a Skoda turbo-diesel and same sort of thing. Yes, the torque is only over a narrow rev band, but it's not like it ever runs out of strong torque on a 0-100km/h dash. The hardest thing is changing gears fast enough.
Anyway, I think the petrol engine suits the fun character of the MINI better. I can understand urbanites going for the diesel though.
I found the petrol Cooper gutless. Had to rev the nuts off it on the test drive to get anything out of it. The Cooper D on the other hand felt far closer in terms of performance to the Cooper S.
I ended up with the D, and nearly 6 months on, love the thing to bits!
I just read that the diesel could be released by June.
This weekend I nearly traded-in my S Convertible for a Hyundai Diesel, mainly because we're now doing a lot of motorway driving. Cooper D would be a fantastic option, I'm going to chase the dealer for more info...
Wouldn't the Cooper D be the most eco friendly car in Oz, that's 'if' we get the 'stop/start' feature.?
From memory, something like $700 higher than the Cooper. Specs sounded the same except perhaps for tyres - can't recall exactly.
The paper said the release was in the next month or two, for delivery around June-ish. And, yes, the stop/start is listed in the spec and yes it is the lowest consumption and CO2, even compared with the Prius.
pw4
Last edited by pw4; Jan 25th, 2009 at 10:07 AM.
Reason: combining extra quote
That can be part of the fun of it I agree, though, the performance is soft - but the engine is sweet and revvy. I changed the camber on my Cooper and can get on the power earlier, so I find it a heap of fun to make the most of what power it has. Depends what you're used to, I guess.
Having said all that - I couldn't afford the extra $ for the S anyway
[quote=pw4;3647982]From memory, something like $700 higher than the Cooper. Specs sounded the same except perhaps for tyres - can't recall exactly.
I just learnt from the dealer that it'll be $2,900 over the regular cooper. But the good news is that the first arrivals should be on the road in May.
This leaves me in a quandary, we need a car for high mileage driving and with a little bit more space than our current cabrio. I know we should move to a bigger car, but nothing else has the same appeal after owning a Mini. Decisions, decisions, decisions......
Attached is the blurb the dealer sent me. He only provided me with pricing for Cooper and Cooper Chilli so I don't know about the Clubman availablility.
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... it might be easier to strap them in through the back 
