omg want.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/109082621288/mini-coupe-concept-revealed

8/26/2009 11:32:27 PM

looks like garbage

8/26/2009 11:33:49 PM

some guy thought he knew what he was doing when he attempted to

Quote :

" CHOP THAT TOP "

8/26/2009 11:34:11 PM

I have a feeling this is going to be a polarizing car. And like the 135i, it may make me a hypocrite when I have to open my wallet. but right now.... yeah, I think this is pretty hot.

8/26/2009 11:36:15 PM

everything but the top, man.

8/26/2009 11:36:47 PM

It looks like someone stepped on the Mini.

8/27/2009 12:11:08 AM

I just spent some time looking at the pics of that beauty, and I am amazed by it.

I would take it just the way it is, with no changes. The design elements are awesome. It is fucking beautiful, yet at the same time, a lot more aggressive looking than the Mini Cooper. And the JCW engine doesn't hurt!

Yes, the roof is awkward and polarizing in design, but I love it. And those wheels are to die for. In the 1st pic below it looks like it is wearing a backward baseball hat!

Now I know Noen/BBR will come in here criticizing the design and lambasting me and laughing at me for liking it and not seeing all the glaring design 'flaws', but that's OK, I am used to such meaningless verbal abuse from them.


Gorgeous:

8/27/2009 12:25:23 AM

that car is hot as hell...no doubt about it.

8/27/2009 12:35:22 AM

that car is hot as hell...no doubt about it.

8/27/2009 12:43:40 AM

that car is hot as hell...no doubt about it.

... ain't no way it'll be produced like that though. the window height will never pass NHTSB/DOT requirements, the b-pillar is definitely concept, it'll get simplified, as will the rear window/trunk/spoiler transitions. The wheels aren't anything special. Wish they would chop out the matte black fenders and bump the wheels up 2". That would be MEAN.

Good to see Mini making something interesting though. The front 3/4 of the car is pretty damn near perfection The whole rear window to trunk to butt is really strange looking (and proportioned), but it's not really BAD, just really unusual.

8/27/2009 5:07:26 AM

that's a lot less ugly than a mini coupe

8/27/2009 7:30:18 AM

fugly

8/27/2009 7:56:35 AM

trash.

8/27/2009 8:04:48 AM

even if they open up the back for dot standards, the car looks like a visibility nightmare. way worse than a 350z

8/27/2009 8:45:16 AM

FWD FTL


And I guarantee that thing will wiegh around 2800lbs. How something that small weighs so much is beyond me.

8/27/2009 10:40:47 AM

Not diggin' it. Looks like a shrunken X6

8/27/2009 11:05:38 AM

its ok. like the bmw 1 series coupe i think it looks a bit scrunched.

8/27/2009 11:14:53 AM

screw the haters i like it

8/27/2009 2:25:21 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to cut the weight by a lot, actually. The roof is lower, smaller, and aluminum where the normal mini's is steel. Also, it has a lot less glass and no back seat. I bet it'll be under 2500 lbs.... I'm gonna go check the roof and weight now.....

8/28/2009 2:29:22 AM

From the press release:

Quote :

" Its entire construction is based on a lightweight concept reducing weight particularly where it really counts for even greater agility. As an example, this two-seater comes with an aluminium roof not only optimising the overall weight of the car, but also lowering the car's centre of gravity for a significant reduction of body movement and optimised driving behaviour. "

8/28/2009 2:50:12 AM

A quick search turned up cooper S weights at 2634, cooper S convertible at 2855. I think 2500 lbs or less is doable. And the press release seems to play up the potential co2 and mpg benefits. I think this they really could be serious about this as a real model. Makes a fuckton more sense than mini crossover we keep hearing about.

8/28/2009 2:56:25 AM

The rear axle looks as if it were placed a few inches too far to the rear, overall an interesting concept, but the rear is lacking lines.

8/28/2009 3:10:17 AM

I could have sworn the cooper S weighed over 3k

8/28/2009 7:45:43 AM

^^^that's good to hear, but since they're making special concessions to keep weight low that tells this it will be overpriced.

I mean a JCW Cooper S is already more expensive than a base 370Z. What a joke.

8/28/2009 11:13:39 AM

the proportions look all wrong to mee

8/28/2009 12:13:34 PM

I realize that the current Mini is pretty "agile" yet saying;

"Its entire construction is based on a lightweight concept reducing weight particularly where it really counts for even greater agility", in a fwd cars is kind of a funny statement.

8/28/2009 12:40:50 PM

roadster also coming to frankfurt after 2 weeks:

8/28/2009 8:25:45 PM

heinous

8/28/2009 11:54:11 PM

Quote :

"omg want."

You do realize this is a FWD vehicle, right? When you consider how much utility you've lost over the standard mini, the slight increase in performance is truly negligible (A few tenths off of a 6.2 second 0-60 isn't that much really). Plus, anybody who truly puts performance first (And you would basically have to in order to buy that coupe version) is not going to be interested in an overpriced FWD boat (It's not quite a tank yet, just a boat).

8/29/2009 6:40:34 AM

Terrible. F.



and I cannot fathom why anyone would every buy a Mini Cooper.

8/29/2009 7:39:18 AM

horrible

8/29/2009 11:57:55 AM

Wait, I thought Mini's were RWD. Regardless, that thing is hideous.

8/29/2009 2:53:51 PM

Quote :

"WHAT THE FUCK"

Quote :

"MINIS ARE FWD"

[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 6:04 PM. Reason : .]

8/29/2009 6:04:22 PM

Quote :

"Now I know Noen/BBR will come in here criticizing the design and lambasting me and laughing at me for liking it and not seeing all the glaring design 'flaws', but that's OK, I am used to such meaningless verbal abuse from them."

yes. because i care SO FUCKING MUCH about the visual design/looks of things... you're allowed to like whatever retarded shit you want to, that's purely based on your opinion and i could care less about it. my problem is only when you start spewing things out that are completely false on factual subjects. you seem to have a hard time remembering that just because you like something, it doesn't automatically make it better than other things in mechanical/performance terms.

8/29/2009 6:43:43 PM

well, I still like it. btt for lightweight mini with a sexy roofline.

8/30/2009 10:10:52 PM

Autocar video tour of the coupe concept.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpapers/Videos.aspx?AR=242806&CT=V

At 1:32, mentions that the concept weighs 100kg (220lb) less than the "mini hatch." Presumably referring to a similarly equipped mini, that'd mean a cooper S coupe would weigh 2414 lbs, and if a normal hatch cooper S JCW weighs 2700 lb, then a coupe cooper S JCW ought to weigh 2480 lb.

pwr to weights:

projected mini cooper S coupe: 2414/172=14.03 lb/hp
projected mini cooper S JCW coupe: 2480/208= 11.92 lb/ hp

mini cooper S hatch: 2634/172=15.32
mini cooper S JCW hatch: 2700/208=12.98

by comparison
135i: 3285/300 = 10.95 lbs/ hp
335i coupe: 3351 lbs, 3351/300=11.17
genesis coupe v6 man: 3549/ 300 = 11.83
Subaru impreza wrx: 3200/ 265 = 12.08
Audi tt 2.0t fwd: 2965/200= 14.825
VW GTI 2.0T: 3100/200=15.5
2007 Nissan 350z (C&D) : 3340/306=10.92

Interesting to see where the coupe moves from. Purely\ by this metric, the cooper S hatch is roughly on a par with a VW GTI 2.0T manual. But in coupe form, it leapfrogs to a little better than an audi TT 2.0T fwd. Likewise, the JCW model in hatch form trails a subaru impreza wrx but as a coupe drops to within spitting distance of a genesis coupe v6, if not quite reaching as far as a 335i's power:weight. Given the gearing, traction and torque delivery differences of all of these cars, this is no hard-n-fast way to predict absolute acceleration times, but both of these cars ought to be significantly quicker than their hatch counterparts as these power-weight ratios suggest they ought to be comparable to these cars which deliver 60 mph from a standstill in under 6 seconds.

8/31/2009 2:03:46 AM

i love it

8/31/2009 2:15:07 AM

and a used Elise/Exige will still whip it while looking better.

8/31/2009 12:10:18 PM

Luxury or performance. You can't have both if you want to keep the car small and light. So yeah, of course I'd expect an used Elise/Exige to beat out a new Cooper/Cooper S. But I'm also willing to be that the Cooper/Cooper S is more comfortable... The Elise/Exige isn't for everyone.

[Edited on August 31, 2009 at 12:18 PM. Reason : .]

8/31/2009 12:17:59 PM

Looks good, but it's a mini. I hope you like pushing it!

8/31/2009 12:43:34 PM

Quote :

"Luxury or performance. You can't have both if you want to keep the car small and light."

I beg to differ.

8/31/2009 1:13:14 PM

Okay. Comfort and performance...

Shucks, you know what I'm getting at

8/31/2009 1:38:29 PM

Subaru WRX STI: 3395lbs / 305hp / 290 lb-ft of torque = 11.13 lb/hp - .085 lb-ft/lb
Mini Cooper Coupe: 2480lbs / 208hp / 190 lb-ft of torque = 11.92 lb/hp - .076 lb-ft/lb

Same price range, one's a 4 door sedan with AWD and a comfortable full interior. The other is a tiny 2 seater with no storage and FWD.

Sorry, 2400lbs is bloated as fuck for a MINI COOPER. It's shorter and narrower than the Lotus Elise, has a smaller engine, and still somehow weighs 700 pounds more. There is absolutely no reason that a coupe mini couldn't be down in the 2100-2200lb range.

8/31/2009 5:54:25 PM

given roughly parity in power:weight, I'll take the lighter car, thanks. Plus, no matter what you think of the mini coupe, its even harder to say that an impreza STi is any less ugly! Neither is going to be listed alongside a miura or xke in beauty contests.

As for being "bloated" the mini's still-relatively-high mass even in "coupe" form is down to its convenience features handed down from the extremely practical hatch. The doors are gigantic. It's easier to step in and out of a mini cooper than my Lincoln. You don't need to take solid mechanics to realize the elise's geometric advantage of having a low roof and high sills. The mini's bending stiffness is primarily by its upper structures being in compression when its lower structures are in tension, whereas the Lotus, originally conceived as a "step-over-the-bodyside" minimalist roadster, was always going to be able to accomodate a shape that could handle combination loads through a tall side profile. The fixed roof of the exige is essentially extra. Where the mini lacks advantageous positioning of structure, it can compensate by being essentially reinforced where it DOES get to have structure. A lotus elise's steering column is fixed. Its floor is bare. It only has a 4 cubic foot trunk. A mini coupe's trunk is still more than double the volume at 8.8 cubic feet. The mini hatch only has 5.7 cubic feet behind its rear seats but that's primarily because nearly all of the space behind the front row goes toward attempting to accomodate 2 human beings. With those seats folded down, a mini cooper S hatch has 24 cubic feet, similar to a corvette in hard terms, but where a corvette's trunk is essentially a 4 foot by 3 foot by 1 foot trough with a conic section of about 1/3 that size above the trough, a mini's interior space is nearly cubelike. if a mini cooper S hatch is a two seater with a trunk, then it might as well also be considered a pickup compared to the lotus. The lotus, in addition to a smaller percentage of its surface area being consumed by luxuriously large doors, also has the advantage of not having any other orifices. The mini's entire back end is a hatch! Even in the coupe form, the mini won't have the advantage of a high liftover lip. It'll retain a large hatch, and therefore is more useful and less geometrically advantaged to be stiff than the same car with a trunk of the same volume, let alone a car having a trunk of less than half the volume! The mini also has conventional car seats, ones that place the driver's ass more than a few inches off the floor of the car, is height, reach, and rake adjustable, and can be fitted with seat heaters. The Lotus has cleverly padded shells. Maybe the Mini is a BIT posh for what it ought to offer, but when compared with the Lotus, the elise is the one that is perhaps questionably equipped for the daily grind.

Don't get me wrong, the lotus elise and exige are two of my favorite cars. However, it has to be stated that Lotus manages those sub-2000lb curb weights by having a discipline of minimum weight at all costs, and being willing to compromise typical comforts to deliver on that ethic. Mini does not have that luxury. It is selling a product for a far larger group of less wealthy buyers to use for daily transportation. You may wish to leap upon the mini coupe's casting aside of the mini hatch's rear cavern, but consider that many mini coupe drivers are singles who do have a daily grind but don't have kids yet. A mini coupe is still very easy to park, keeps much of the versatility of a hatch if not the same amount of volume, and sacrifices a back seat from a car that is remarkable for offering one, but not from a car whose back seat is always occupied. I think the mini coupe makes a LOT of sense. Imagine if a honda Insight had been fast? similar idea. I think 2480 lbs for a JCW would be excellent.

8/31/2009 7:47:49 PM

^You said "Comfort and performance..."

The impreza is faster in every metric, and a hell of a lot more comfortable. And better equipped in every imaginable way. It has 20cf of trunk space, and can fold down to 45cf.

If you don't care about practicality, then a S2000/Miata/Solstice/Sky are all more powerful RWD coupe's for the same price range.

The Miata/MX-5 weighs 2400lbs or less.
The S2000 is 2765 but it's a full convertible (guarantee you a coupe version would knock off a SHIT ton of weight)
The Solstice GXP/Sky is 2877, but has 260hp

And those are all before any real performance tuning. If you throw some aftermarket dollars in them equivalent to the JCW edition Mini's, it's not even close.

I like the look of the car, but it's entirely impractical, and there is no performance justification to buy it. It's a car, much like the Lotus, that you buy for more than the numbers.

8/31/2009 9:38:46 PM

what makes you think they can/should make a car lighter then a MX5.

Have you been in a mx5?

8/31/2009 9:44:36 PM

The original Mini was 1500lbs. They made it up until 2000. It's certainly possible.

And I'm not saying they should make one lighter than 2,400 lbs. I'm saying if you are going to try and tell me that a 200hp FWD car is supposed to be nimble and fast, 2,500 pounds aint gonna cut it with all the other options out there.

8/31/2009 11:44:59 PM

^^^Don't forget the Solstice/Sky turbo models can come with 300hp with a dealer installed option (computer chip).

9/1/2009 8:36:44 AM

Keep in mind also that the Mini cooper is made from steel, where as the Loti are made from bonded aluminum and fiberglass clam shells. Two very different build materials folks. Lotus spent no expense making their cars light weight, where as Mini (I dare to say) is more focused on producing cars that are affordable by compromising with heavier, though cheaper, materials. I'm sure if the Elise/Exige were made from steel body panels and such, it would probably weigh at least 250lbs more. Oh and keep in mind glass is heavy. The mini has much more glass than the Elise/Exige. Probably 75lbs more.

[Edited on September 1, 2009 at 8:49 AM. Reason : .]

9/1/2009 8:49:40 AM

not to mention that a chopped top often weighs more

lots of people don't understand or realize that

9/1/2009 9:51:01 AM