DCAWD.com

It looks even better IRL!!!

my god that is perfect. i would drive it around town, as-is.

I find it very interesting the way they used the membrane buttons for most everything. I'm not sure I agree with that. Wearing nomex gloves bouncing down the road, it might be tough to hit a barely raised surface exactly where you want.

not the WRC car, but the backseat of the production model. thought it was interesting.

and, news from the launch event by MINI USA.....well optioned Countryman S with AWD will be under $30K. So, 1.6L direct injected turbo AWD and not as expensive as once thought. That said, its a MINI and if you're not judicious in holding off on options, it could easily hit $40k.

PGT wrote:and, news from the launch event by MINI USA.....well optioned Countryman S with AWD will be under $30K. So, 1.6L direct injected turbo AWD and not as expensive as once thought. That said, its a MINI and if you're not judicious in holding off on options, it could easily hit $40k.

kick ass. paint me interested!

I'll be curious to see how many $30,000 well optioned Countryman S with AWDs actually make it to a dealer's lot.

Mr Kleen wrote:I'll be curious to see how many $30,000 well optioned Countryman S with AWDs actually make it to a dealer's lot.

being that MINI's business model has always been very little stock held on dealer lots and customers ordering their cars as they'd like them built, I'd say slim-to-none.

I ordered my R53 with the precise options I wanted and waited the eight weeks (did the same on the wife's R53 Cabrio...she wanted Cool Blue/Blue Top). There are something like 100,000 variables possible so this has been MINI's MO since day one.

there's a new article on autoblog that has updated pics and video.

I see its using five bolt hubs, not the 4x100 that comes on all MINI's. <checks pics of production Countryman to be sure>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtCylxJTn6k[/video]

note the non-MINI motor and north-south placement in the engine bay

PGT wrote:note the non-MINI motor and north-south placement in the engine bay

whoa. they really raided the beemer parts bins, didn't they?

don't the Dakar racers usually share about as much with their road-going counterparts as the average NASCAR entry does?

Might not be much Mini... but it looks like a TON of fun!

Mr Kleen wrote:don't the Dakar racers usually share about as much with their road-going counterparts as the average NASCAR entry does?

yep. this one is MINI in name and body panel only. tube frame + BMW longitudinal four and there isn't much MINI but the badging

What top end race cars DO share much with their road-going counterparts?

GT1 vette resembles a z06 to me. But I'm sure every detail is different.

But yeah, nascar, v8, GT1, supergt ... more changed than stayed the same.

-scheherazade

Which is honestly a shame... If they spent as much time making the cars we drive every day stronger/lighter/etc we would be drving very different cars. Saftey you ask? Have them put in roll cages just like all of us do.