Let it snow! MINI supports the Burton European Open for the second year. MINI presents its Creative Use of Space Award to the most creative snowboarders and shape crews.

Posted on February 22, 2012 by StarLord

From 25 February to 3 March 2012 the best snowboarders on the planet will meet up for the 13th time at the Burton European Open (BEO) in the Swiss resort of Laax. MINI has been a partner of the snowboard event, part of the Burton Global Open Series (BGOS), since the 2010/2011 season – something experienced pro rider and MINI fan Marko Grilc (28) from Slovenia is particularly happy about: “Creativity and the freedom to express yourself is what snowboarding is all about – and it’s the same for MINI. That’s why the two go so well together.” The four-times junior champion and winner of the Air & Style 2009 competition in Innsbruck can’t wait for the action to get underway in Laax: “This will be a home competition for me and the European snowboarding scene,” he adds.

Creative Use of Space Award with prize money of 65,000 US dollars.

For the second year running the riders will get the chance to take home MINI’s Creative Use of Space Award. MINI presents the award to the male and female riders who nail the most innovative and progressive tricks in the halfpipe and slopestyle competitions at BGOS Open events (Canadian Open, Burton European Open & US Open). And under a new scoring system, creative performances also boost the riders’ points totals in the BGOS standings. Each Creative Use of Space Award is endowed with 5,000 US dollars and the winners are earning additional 25 extra points to add to their totals. For finalists, this can mean moving up a place or more in the BGOS standings.

Creative Use of Space Award also presented to shape crews for the first time.

This year, the shape crews sculpting the slopestyle courses at each of the four event venues also enjoy recognition of their work. MINI pitches in to help the crews design an obstacle bearing the brand’s signature – and this is integrated into the slopestyle course as a set feature. A jury made up of snowboarding veterans, professionals and media experts will vote on the most creative course execution at the end of the BGOS season. So, as well as playing an active role in how the competitions unfold, the shape crews now also have the chance to earn 5,000 US dollars in prize money.

The MINI Creative Use of Space Award 2012 got off to a flying start at the Burton Canadian Open, which took place from 30 January to 5 February in Calgary. Next up are the Burton European Open in Laax and the Burton US Open (5 – 11 March) in Stratton. The BGOS female and male overall winners for 2011/2012 will each be presented with a MINI Countryman. MINI also supplies BGOS with the MINI Countryman for its competitor and VIP shuttle service.

Click on the following links to see the Creative Use of Space Award winners in action at the Canadian Open.

Halfpipe:

Slopestyle:

And, of course, photos! We love photos, whether its from BMW or MINI or YOU! So let us know if you got some to share and we’ll post them here just like these are, bam!

[Source: BMW Group AG, Munich/Laax, 20-Feb-2012]

MINI Pricing for 2012

Posted on November 16, 2011 by StarLord

Yeah, we’ll keep this short. You want to know what the new MINIs are going for, here’s the list:

Complete 2012 Mini Lineup Pricing and Updates

Model/Variant MY2011 MY2012

MINI Coupe
Cooper — $22,000
Cooper S — $25,300
John Cooper Works — $31,900

MINI Roadster
Cooper — $25,050
Cooper S — $28,050
John Cooper Works — $35,200

MINI Hardtop
Cooper $20,100 $20,200
Cooper S $23,700 $23,800
John Cooper Works $29,800 $30,600*
* John Cooper Works model now includes aero kit as standard for 2012 MY (option in 2011 MY)

MINI Clubman
Cooper $21,800 $21,900
Cooper S $25,500 $25,600
John Cooper Works $32,000 $32,100

MINI Convertible
Cooper $25,550 $25,650
Cooper S $28,550 $28,650
John Cooper Works $35,000 $35,800*
* John Cooper Works model now includes aero kit as standard for 2012 MY (option in 2011 MY)

MINI Countryman
Cooper $22,350 $22,450
Cooper S $25,950 $26,050
Cooper S ALL4 $27,650 $27,750

All 2012 pricing includes a $700 Destination and Handling charge (unchanged from 2011).

Equipment / Technology Changes Versus 2011MY Vehicles
In regards to model year updates versus 2011, changes for the MINI Hardtop, Convertible, Clubman and Countryman models will be related to customization.

The ever-popular MINI Yours customizations just became available for US customers this 2012 model year, for those that don’t know it’s the premium, exclusive series of options from upholstery, interior surfaces and exterior colors that can be purchased as a package or as individual options. MINI Yours interior options include:

An instrument panel covered in a smooth two-tone soft-touch leather that has exposed stitching
Two-tone leather steering wheel
The new MINI Yours 17” alloy wheel – on all Cooper and Cooper S models
MINI Yours pattern “Soda” mirror caps, which have a three-dimensional effect
MINI Yours Soda pattern Lounge Leather, where the unique Soda pattern appears on the sides of the backrests and headrests, and a contrasting black leather stripe runs down the middle of the seats and is offset with a premium piping

Cosmopolitan floormats will be standard on all MINI models sold in the US.

The model year 2012 John Cooper Works Hardtop and Convertible will be equipped standard with the JCW aero kit.

Specific Color / Option Changes by Model

MINI Clubman
The lower C-pillars are now available in body color for Laser Blue, White Silver, British Racing Green II, Eclipse Gray and Pepper White.

MINI Hardtop and Clubman
New standard wheel for Cooper models is the 15” 7-Hole wheel, replacing the 5-Star Spooler.

MINI Hardtop, Convertible, Clubman and Countryman
A new option is an interior mirror with a digital compass.

MINI Hardtop, Convertible and Clubman
Cross Check Cloth/Leather in Polar Beige will be now available on all body styles, along with Satellite Gray Lounge Leather and Carbon Black Cloth/Leather.

There’s lots of special models this year as well, keep it tuned to Miniology for details!

MINI confirms appearance at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show, Dec. 3 to 11, 2011.

Posted on November 12, 2011 by StarLord

MINI is using the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show to present the latest additions to its product range and, at the same time, open a window into the longer-term future of the brand — taking centre stage is the Asian premiere of the MINI Coupé, touted as packing all of MINI’s fun features into a concentrated form, sorta like those shots of RedBull which were wickedly popular in just about every country except USA, but that’s another story

Not only will you get to see the Coupe (and perhaps sister car the roadster) but MINI plans on showing off the MINI Countryman along with the Paceman concept car, the “Sports Activity Coupe” of MINI, sorta like modern MINI cooper meets the AMC Pacer, as you’ve likely seen in our earlier reports!

I’m not going to bore you with any more marketing fluff (though they did send us a crap load of it, which almost put me to sleep!) so instead, I’ll give you this nice little wallpaper sized HDR photo of the current 2011 model line-up, suitable for saving to your desktop or simply drooling over whenever you like. Cheers!

X-raid team sends four All4 (Racing) Countryman MINIs to Portugal

Posted on October 28, 2011 by StarLord

. Baja Portalegre 500 marks final round of FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies
. Leonid Novitskiy set to use MINI All4 Racing in FIA World Cup title defense

TREBUR (Germany): The 2011 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies reaches a conclusion with this weekend’s Baja Portalegre 500 in Portugal. The X-raid team tackles the event with four MINI All4 Racing. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS) and Andy Schulz (GER) will defend the Monster Energy X-raid Team world’s title against Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser.

He will receive support from the Portuguese duo of Ricardo Leal dos Santos and Paulo Fiuza in a second Monster Energy MINI All4 Racing. Also at the start will be the two Portuguese pairings of Filipe Campos and Jaime Baptista and Bernardo Moniz da Maia and Joana Sotto-Mayor in MINI All4 Racings.

Novitskiy leads the overall standings by 14 points from Schlesser. At the Baja Portalegre 500, 30 points will be awarded to the winner.

The 25th Baja Portalegre 500 starts on Friday October, 28th, with an approximately 5.5-kilometre super special. On Saturday, this will be followed by two stages with a total length of 426.54 kilometers.

“Our goal is come away with Leonid defending his FIA World Cup title,” said X-raid team manager Sven Quandt. “Actually everything is decided in one day and that’s why everything has to fit right on Saturday, The problems of the rally in Morocco are fixed and the vehicles are ready for use again.”

For more information and updates, check back here at Miniology.com or New Dimension X-Raid websites.

[Source: X-raid GmbH]

MINIs kick arse sales up 16% in a area where everyone else slumps 5%

Posted on October 6, 2011 by StarLord

BMW Group in the UK (BMW and MINI combined) report 12.2 % sales up from this time last year, which is great news in a market which has seen an overall 5% slump in sales.

But guess what? MINI has performed even better, with the continued success of the Countryman range and we have already had a positive response to the new MINI Coupé which went on sale last weekend.

MINI reported sales of 38,147 vehicles in the first nine months of 2011, compared to 32,820 in the same period last year, an increase of 16.2%. Year-to-date MINI has a UK market share of 2.4 per cent. In September 9,690 MINIs were delivered to customers, 28.1 per cent up on September 2010.

MINI supports Burton Global Open Series (BGOS) snow boarding

Posted on August 10, 2011 by StarLord

Source BMW Press Release, Munich.

For the second time in succession, carmaker MINI is supporting renowned snowboard manufacturer Burton in organising the Burton Global Open Series (BGOS). This international snowboard competition series takes place annually and draws tens of thousands of spectators and top snowboarders from around the world.

Creative Use of Space takes flight.

With its Creative Use of Space award, MINI launched a prize last season that draws on the MINI philosophy of utilising space intelligently. The prize money goes to the male and female rider who demonstrate the most inventive and progressive tricks in the halfpipe or slopestyle competitions. For all the Creative Use of Space awards the prize money will be $85,000 in cash. The overall winners of the 2011/2012 BGOS season will also be presented with a brand-new MINI Countryman. This crossover model comes with luggage space of 1,170 litres – ample room to accommodate a snowboarder’s full kit.

This season MINI is presenting the following BGOS events:

Burton New Zealand Open 8 – 13 August 2011

Burton European Open January 2012

Burton Canadian Open February 2012

Burton US Open March 2012

In addition, MINI will be the presenting partner of the Burton Super Demo Tour, the Burton AM Series and the new Burton Rail Days event taking place in Tokyo on November 19, 2011.

MINI Countryman Wanderlust: Colby Elrick’s Fixed-Gear Crew Rolls to Gilroy’s Wheeltalk Compound

Posted on May 6, 2011 by StarLord

Biking world icon Colby Elrick takes his MINI Countryman Wanderlust event and SKYLMT team off-road to shoot a fixie film in the wilderness 200 miles from downtown San Francisco (not far from where StarLord used to live in the Richmond and Laura LaRue’s current digs!) Bay area peeps will recognize the route and much of the driving roads from earlier Miniology podcasts hehe..!

More at: http://bit.ly/MINI-Wanderlust-SF

Mini Rocks The Rivals Coming To Nick Alexander Mini

Posted on April 26, 2011 by califzeph

This just in from Nick Alexander Mini in LA…

Buckle up, the MINI Rocks the Rivals Test Drive Tour is headed your way. Don’t miss the competitive test drive at Nick Alexander MINI on Saturday, April 30th, 2011 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

This epic event will give you the opportunity to test drive the all-new, four-door MINI Countryman and three of its competitors. Go for a spin and experience the go-kart handling of the roomy Countryman then check out what the competition has to offer. We’re confident the Countryman’s cargo space and superior motoring ability will speak for itself.

So confident, in fact, that we’re taking $1,000 off the price of any MINI if you attend this test drive tour and purchase by July 5, 2011.

That’s right. $1,000 off.

An incredible selection of MINI Hardtop, Convertible, Clubman, Countryman, and John Cooper Works models will be available for viewing, product demonstrations, test drives, and immediate delivery. We’re stocked up with the entire MINI lineup just for this big show.

Register online at:
www.MINIrockstherivals-NickAlexander.com and you could also win a $100 gift card! Use it to buy concert tickets to see your favorite band or update your music collection. Register by April 29th and you’re one step closer to some great tunes. Everyone who registers online will be given one entry into a drawing to be held on Saturday for the $100 gift card. You don’t need to be present at the event on April 30th, 2011 to win, but the winner will be notified that day.

Even if you don’t win, we’ll have a rock-themed MINI gift awaiting your arrival. We anticipate a sold out event, so don’t delay as our supplies won’t last.

Plus, here’s a little more incentive to come out to the test drive: In celebration of this national tour, MINI will be giving away a four-door Countryman. If the confirmation number below matches the number being held at the event’s registration table, the brand new Countryman is all yours. MINI guarantees the winning confirmation number has been sent to someone. It’s your job to come in and see if the sweet ride has your name on it. You must be present to win.