Happenings

BMW Releases Details Of The Mini Coupe

BY Burnpavement

Aimed at maxing driving pleasure, this coupe will be the first two-seater in the line-up.

It has not been long since the biggest Mini landed in Singapore, but now we are one step closer to seeing Mini's new strictly-for-two go-kart for the road. With a tweaked chassis, Mini claims that the body is more rigid and moved the car’s weight balance slightly further forward to give the front-wheel-drive car better traction.

The new car will have power and torque figures that range from 122 hp/160 Nm of the Cooper, to the Cooper S with 184 hp/240 Nm and all the way up to the 211 hp/260 Nm John Cooper Works.

Mini also claims the new car to be practical too, with an extremely high-opening tailgate and large luggage area. This new car retains the distinctive "helmet roof" that was first seen on the concepts. Completing the looks are the raked rear screen and a lower road-hugging profile than the hatchback. There are two spoilers too, one which is built into the roof and another that deploys automatically at speeds above 80 km/h.

Several spy photos show both coupe and soft-top roadster variants together during a testing session. The coupe is slated to be in the showroom before 2011 ends, with the roadster joining in 2012.