It’s official, MINI will make a JCW Countryman. The image above shows a prototype undergoing winter testing in Austria. The word is the JCW Countryman will offer a more tailored suspension tune, including a 10mm drop in ride height and an increase in power beyond the usual 210hp (155kW) we’ve come to expect from the [...]

MINI Australia has just announced pricing for its new Cooper S Coupé which will launch in February next year. You’ll need $42,990 to get yourself into the car, plus those unavoidable taxes, on roads etc. Joining the 135kW Cooper S will be the 155kW John Cooper Works model (pictured). Pricing for the JCW is a [...]

Following the recent release of information from MINI for their new Roadster here’s a more extensive photo gallery of images. Remember, simply click on a pic to load its 2000px wallpaper-friendly version. The only real changes from the 2009 concept model are now seeing how the manual roof system works and the removal of the [...]

MINI has just sent out notice of this new promo video for its new Roadster. Here at AUSmotive HQ we’re not normally fans of convertibles, soft-tops, hairdresser cars, whatever you want to call them. But the more we see of this new Roadster the more keen we are to try it out. Can the Roadster [...]

Following the release of the MINI Coupé back in June, MINI has launched its evil twin, the MINI Roadster. It’s essentially a soft-top version of the Coupé. When compared to the current MINI Convertible the Roadster looks an altogether more cohesive design solution, thanks to its raked windscreen and rear boot lid. In fact, the [...]

Back in January this year we gave you the scoop that MINI was planning a road-going version of its Countryman WRC. It would stand to reason that Prodrive would be the company to turn their racecar into a road car and that’s exactly what will be happening. Dave Richards, Prodrive boss says the transformation makes [...]

When Dani Sordo piloted his MINI John Cooper Works WRC to second place at Rally France on the weekend he ended a 1218 day Citroën-Ford duopoly. Sordo’s result is the highest place finish in a WRC event by another manufacturer since Petter Solberg drove his Subaru Impreza to second in the 2008 Acropolis Rally. Incredibly, [...]

Evo magazine journo Henry Catchpole was given a rare opportunity to spend some time behind the wheel of the new MINI WRC. In tarmac spec it sure looks like Catchpole would have had a lot of fun. But as there’s no words after his intro you’ll need to buy the mag to find out.

MINI USA has been embarking on a campaign to convert lazy automatic drivers into manual. The campaign is called Becoming a manual and uses cheesy 1950s style instructional techniques to get the point across. ‘Driving stick’ as Amercians uniquely call it is one of the world’s great cultural divides with almost everywhere else in the [...]

A quick shout out to MINI who are celebrating the production of their two millionth vehicle. BMW must be over the moon at the success they have had with the MINI brand. That success has been built on the bread and butter sales achieved with the regular hardtop model which is, undeniably, a genuine modern [...]

The third generation MINI (model code F56) will spawn 10 individual models according to Autocar. The bread and butter hatch will kick off proceedings for the versatile UKL1 platform in 2013. Joining the range, probably in 2014 or 2015, will be the Traveller (model name not confirmed). Known internally as the ‘Spacebox’, it will be [...]

Earlier this year the MINI Countryman made its Dakar Rally debut. For a first outing the car was doing quite well, too. That’s until it crashed out in rather spectacular fashion during a test run on the rest day. Team X-raid is following the ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’ mentality [...]

Motor Authority brings us some great pics of a MINI JCW Countryman doing its required Ring schooling before final graduation. We don’t think it’s the Countryman WRC we’re hoping for. However, the JCW version is likely to be fitted with plenty of juicy bits at the factory thanks to increased production capabilities at the Countryman’s [...]

MINI motorsport has released this short video showing the John Cooper Works Endurance in action and behind the scenes during preparations for the Nürburgring 24 hour race. The race kicks off at midnight tonight (Australian eastern time) and for more coverage head over to AUSringers.com.

The new MINI Coupé is not even a week old and its already living up to its “another day, another adventure” advertising slogan. You’re looking at the purpose-built MINI John Cooper Works Endurance and it’s looking forward to 24 hours of green hell this weekend. As we reported yesterday, the JCW Endurance has a healthy [...]