Mini today took its premium hatch to new heights - by confirming the £41,000 price of the Mini Inspired by Goodwood.
It chose the first day of the Goodwood Festival of Speed to announce the extraordinary price for its poshest hatch yet. The Mini Inspired by Goodwood is inspired by Rolls-Royce, you see.
£41,000 for a Mini! Are they mad?
Quite possibly. But Mini is certain there are 1000 owners rich enough out there who'll pay more than buyers of the Aston Martin Cygnet or Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari. These are indeed inflationary times for supermini prices.
Before we get carried away ridiculing the price, let's not forget they have lavished a heap of extra craftsmanship on the Mini Inspired by Goodwood.
The walnut burr dashboard and door handle trims are manufactured by Rolls-Royce in Goodwood and the rooflining, sun visors and rear storage trays are covered in cashmere.
The Mini Rolls-Royce...
Yes, there's even deep-shag lambswool floor mats, as you'll find in the Phantom.
There are a few giveaways outside so you'll spot the plutocrat's wife: the paintjob is Rolls-Royce's own Diamond Black metallic and those 17in wheels sport a new multi-spoke pattern.
Underneath, this is a Cooper S, featuring the regular 184bhp 1.6 turbo. That car costs £18,015, by the way.
Thứ Tư, 29 tháng 2, 2012
BMW 520d EfficientDynamics (2011) first official pictures
Company car choice will be made even more difficult in September 2011 with the launch of BMW’s new 520d EfficientDynamics saloon with some extraordinary economy and CO2 emissions figures of 119g/km and 63mpg.
BMW 520d EfficientDynamics: how it’s so clean
The 520d ED is fitted with a longer final drive ratio to reduce revs at motorway cruise speeds, low-drag alloy wheels and low-rolling resistance tyres on top of the standard 520d equipment. Most Fives already have stop-start and an Optimum Gear Shift Indicator to let the driver know when the most efficient time is to change gear.
Despite a price of £30,435, BMW hope that the 10% advantage for fuel efficiency against rivals is enough for it to be a company car favourite.
The new BMW 520d EfficientDynamics will appeal to UK company car drivers because of its 13% benefit-in-kind tax bracket. No other executive car sits in such a low tax band.
BMW Z4 family grows
BMW has also announced the £29,480 Z4 sDrive 2.0i, stretching the roadster range down into four-cylinder territory. It has a twin-turbo four-cylinder unit for a cheaper alternative to the 2.3 and 3.0 litre engines currently available in the Z4.
The Z4 20i- hits 62mph in 6.9 seconds and it averages 41.5mpg.
For those who can stretch to the new sDrive 28i, rather more impressive performance is offered. The BMW Z4 sDrive 28i has identical emissions and consumption to the 20i but hits 62mph in 5.6sec and is limited to 155mph.
The Z4 2.8i sDrive costs £33,645; over four grand more than the 20i. But the performance gains on offer make it more understandable.
BMW 520d EfficientDynamics: how it’s so clean
The 520d ED is fitted with a longer final drive ratio to reduce revs at motorway cruise speeds, low-drag alloy wheels and low-rolling resistance tyres on top of the standard 520d equipment. Most Fives already have stop-start and an Optimum Gear Shift Indicator to let the driver know when the most efficient time is to change gear.
Despite a price of £30,435, BMW hope that the 10% advantage for fuel efficiency against rivals is enough for it to be a company car favourite.
The new BMW 520d EfficientDynamics will appeal to UK company car drivers because of its 13% benefit-in-kind tax bracket. No other executive car sits in such a low tax band.
BMW Z4 family grows
BMW has also announced the £29,480 Z4 sDrive 2.0i, stretching the roadster range down into four-cylinder territory. It has a twin-turbo four-cylinder unit for a cheaper alternative to the 2.3 and 3.0 litre engines currently available in the Z4.
The Z4 20i- hits 62mph in 6.9 seconds and it averages 41.5mpg.
For those who can stretch to the new sDrive 28i, rather more impressive performance is offered. The BMW Z4 sDrive 28i has identical emissions and consumption to the 20i but hits 62mph in 5.6sec and is limited to 155mph.
The Z4 2.8i sDrive costs £33,645; over four grand more than the 20i. But the performance gains on offer make it more understandable.
Bugatti Veyron L’Or Blanc (2011) first official pictures
Another week, another special edition Veyron – and this one’s made from porcelain. Sort of.
Bugatti has announced a partnership with Königliche Porzellan-Manufatur of Berlin, a German porcelain specialist whose ceramic trim adorns much of the new Bugatti Veyron L’Or Blanc.
Porcelain? So my new Bugatti Veyron is a toilet on wheels!
Hardly. The new L’Or Blanc – that’s white gold in French – is based on the Grand Sport and uses porcelain in seven locations around the car.
There’s even a dish in the centre console that can be used as a caviar tray. Bugatti certainly knows its market.
How much is the new Bugatti Veyron L’Or Blanc?
A very cool £1.5 million. And they’re only building one L’Or Blanc, so you’ll have to hurry. It’s not been sold yet. But don’t worry, despite the odd materials, it’ll still hit 253mph.
‘The L’Or Blanc is evidence of the capabilities of the craftsmen at both brands,’ says Achim Anscheidt, Bugatti’s director of design.
We presume the porcelain trim will be very practical, with excellent wipe-clean properties and water resistance as standard.
Would you have to be potty to buy one?
Well, all standard Veyron coupes have been sold, but you can still order one of the last Grand Sport roadsters or a tweaked-up Super Sport.
And by the sounds of the new Veyron L’Or Blanc, there will be one or two new special editions still to come. The mind boggles what might arrive next.
Bugatti has announced a partnership with Königliche Porzellan-Manufatur of Berlin, a German porcelain specialist whose ceramic trim adorns much of the new Bugatti Veyron L’Or Blanc.
Porcelain? So my new Bugatti Veyron is a toilet on wheels!
Hardly. The new L’Or Blanc – that’s white gold in French – is based on the Grand Sport and uses porcelain in seven locations around the car.
There’s even a dish in the centre console that can be used as a caviar tray. Bugatti certainly knows its market.
How much is the new Bugatti Veyron L’Or Blanc?
A very cool £1.5 million. And they’re only building one L’Or Blanc, so you’ll have to hurry. It’s not been sold yet. But don’t worry, despite the odd materials, it’ll still hit 253mph.
‘The L’Or Blanc is evidence of the capabilities of the craftsmen at both brands,’ says Achim Anscheidt, Bugatti’s director of design.
We presume the porcelain trim will be very practical, with excellent wipe-clean properties and water resistance as standard.
Would you have to be potty to buy one?
Well, all standard Veyron coupes have been sold, but you can still order one of the last Grand Sport roadsters or a tweaked-up Super Sport.
And by the sounds of the new Veyron L’Or Blanc, there will be one or two new special editions still to come. The mind boggles what might arrive next.
Mini John Cooper Works WRC: the roll cage in detail
Mini claims it’s created the safest WRC car ever – with a little help from Prodrive. And to prove the point, they’ve opened up the Mini Countryman WRC’s innards and spilled some of the secrets of its rollcage.
The Countryman racer is stripped and fitted with a new type of rollcage designed by Prodrive. Its beams curve outwards and the Banbury engineers say it has been designed to withstand impacts much better than the straight crossbeams used in most WRC car games.
What’s different on the Mini Countryman WRC’s rollcage?
It’s all about the curvature of the rollcage members. Prodrive says it’s like curved body panels being stronger than flat ones; the slightly bowed bars of the rollcage give it extra strength, and the loads are fed into welds in a controlled direction to reduce the risk of rollcage failure by tearing.
The new Prodrive rollcage design also increases interior space – always welcome in a Mini – and has better crumple properties in a crash.
‘The Eureka moment was the redesign of the side impact protection bars, routing them farther away from each crew member and subtly changing their shape,’ said Dave Wilcock, Mini WRC’s tech director. ‘In an impact, this brings the structure into play much sooner, allowing softer materials to be specified to safely decelerate the crew over a much longer period of time.’
The new door beams are welded through the Mini Countryman WRC’s B-pillars to strengthen the shell too.
Why is it needed?
A side impact is the most dangerous type of shunt – not just in rallying. There is little room between the impact and the driver/navigator, so whatever hits the car could hit them too.
Prodrive subjected more than 50 rollcage samples to limit-finding tests to find a design that worked best. The company says the result is strong enough for the FIA to consider making such a cage mandatory in future designs.
The Countryman racer is stripped and fitted with a new type of rollcage designed by Prodrive. Its beams curve outwards and the Banbury engineers say it has been designed to withstand impacts much better than the straight crossbeams used in most WRC car games.
What’s different on the Mini Countryman WRC’s rollcage?
It’s all about the curvature of the rollcage members. Prodrive says it’s like curved body panels being stronger than flat ones; the slightly bowed bars of the rollcage give it extra strength, and the loads are fed into welds in a controlled direction to reduce the risk of rollcage failure by tearing.
The new Prodrive rollcage design also increases interior space – always welcome in a Mini – and has better crumple properties in a crash.
‘The Eureka moment was the redesign of the side impact protection bars, routing them farther away from each crew member and subtly changing their shape,’ said Dave Wilcock, Mini WRC’s tech director. ‘In an impact, this brings the structure into play much sooner, allowing softer materials to be specified to safely decelerate the crew over a much longer period of time.’
The new door beams are welded through the Mini Countryman WRC’s B-pillars to strengthen the shell too.
Why is it needed?
A side impact is the most dangerous type of shunt – not just in rallying. There is little room between the impact and the driver/navigator, so whatever hits the car could hit them too.
Prodrive subjected more than 50 rollcage samples to limit-finding tests to find a design that worked best. The company says the result is strong enough for the FIA to consider making such a cage mandatory in future designs.
British Grand Prix 2011: Button and Hamilton's video guide
Where will you be Sunday lunchtime? Anyone who's even remotely interested in Formula One will be in front of the TV getting psyched up as 12 F1 teams take to the world’s fastest circuit.
Yes, 15 weeks in and 22 of the finest F1 drivers will be lining the grid, thinking about how they will tackle Abbey, the first right-hand corner, the fastest corner on the track where the drivers experience a peak G-force of 4.8g and over 4g for 1.3 seconds! At which point the car is experiencing two and a half times its weight in downforce through the corner. Then it’s straight into turn two and the race is on.
The question is, will anyone knock Vettel off that centre spot he’s become so comfortable on? His trail of success makes us think it's unlikely. Watch our video below as Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton guide us around the new-look Silverstone circuit ahead of the 2011 British Grand Prix.
>> What's your prediction for Silverstone F1 race? Add your comment below and don't forget to vote in our poll for who you think will win
Yes, 15 weeks in and 22 of the finest F1 drivers will be lining the grid, thinking about how they will tackle Abbey, the first right-hand corner, the fastest corner on the track where the drivers experience a peak G-force of 4.8g and over 4g for 1.3 seconds! At which point the car is experiencing two and a half times its weight in downforce through the corner. Then it’s straight into turn two and the race is on.
The question is, will anyone knock Vettel off that centre spot he’s become so comfortable on? His trail of success makes us think it's unlikely. Watch our video below as Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton guide us around the new-look Silverstone circuit ahead of the 2011 British Grand Prix.
>> What's your prediction for Silverstone F1 race? Add your comment below and don't forget to vote in our poll for who you think will win
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