BMW hatches a right ugly duckling

The Mini division of BMW is adding another variant to the Mini series with the Cooper Coupe, releasing details ahead of its debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

This coupe is very similar to the coupe concept shown in the Frankfurt show in 2009.
According to BMW, this two seater coupe has also retained close stylistic ties the rest of the Mini range - only its sharply raked A-pillars, booted rear-end and chopped “helmet” roof design differentiate it from the three door four seater hatch upon which it is based.

New Mini Coupe

The new model will be built alongside the hard-top hatch, soft-top Cabrio and long-wheelbase Clubman wagon in Oxford, England, and is to be branded as a “Cooper”.
The company says the front-drive Cooper coupe, “Radiates the brand’s hallmark go-kart feeling with a whole new depth of intensity and achieves the best performance statistics ever recorded by a volume-produced Mini.”

Official dimensions reveal the Mini Cooper Coupe to be 35 mm longer overall than the Cooper hatch at 3728 mm (3734mm for the Cooper S and John Cooper Works edition). The coupe’s silhouette sits 52 mm lower than the regular Mini, thanks to the cropped roofline, and it is this chopped and channeled look combined with the overhanging roof that contributes to it fugliness.

For those who like gimmicks, the Coupe also has a pop-up rear wing that is housed within the rear deck lid and deploys automatically at 80 km/h to bring claimed aerodynamic benefits at high speeds. Items like this certainly do increase the ‘impression’ ratio, but not much else. It is still a house brick front on.

The Coupe will get electric power steering, electronic stability control and dynamic traction control systems, plus a standard six-speed manual transmission.

A six-speed automatic will be optional for all models except the JCW flagship, which will be the only version to come standard with Electronic Differential Lock Control (EDLC), although the weight balance of all models has been shifted slightly further forward to increase front-wheel drive traction.

The most basic Cooper Coupe’s 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four produces 90 kW at 6000 rpm and 160 Nm of torque at 4250 rpm, with a zero to 100km/h time of nine seconds and a top speed of 204 km/h.

The diesel version of the Cooper Coupe will be powered by BMW’s 2.0 liter all-alloy common-rail turbo-diesel developing 105 kW at 4000 rpm and 305 Nm at 1750-2700 rpm. This gives a zero to 100 km/h time of a claimed 7.9 seconds and has a 216 km/h top speed, and a frugal fuel consumption of just 4.3 L/100 km.

The Cooper S variant delivers the same outputs as the regular Mini Cooper S - 135 kW at 5500 rpm and 240 Nm at 1600-5000rpm, while fuel consumption is listed at a respective 5.8 L/100 km.

The flagship Mini John Cooper Works Coupe will feature the most powerful version of the new 1.6 liter twin-scroll turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine announced by BMW earlier this year. This engine delivers 155 kW at 6000 rpm and 260 Nm of torque between 1850 and 5600rpm, giving performance figures (released by BMW) of zero to 100 km/h in 6.4 seconds - one-tenth quicker than the most rapid JCW hatch. Top speed is listed at 240 km/h, yet fuel consumption remains relatively frugal at 7.1 L/100 km.

But isn’t it ugly!

Toyota and Honda production takes a big hit

Honda Brio

The vehicle production figures for Thailand went down for the first time in almost two years, with a 10 percent fall.

The big two, Toyota and Honda suffered most from supply shortages as Japan reeled under the impact of the tsunami in March. This produced a 48 percent drop in production for Toyota, and an even bigger drop for Honda which experienced a 59 percent fall year-on-year.

Honda, which traditionally has been the number two in Thailand, finished May as number three behind Nissan, whose sales actually jumped over 75 percent, on the back of their having ready stocks of the Nissan March eco-car and with Honda’s eco-car, the Brio, being available on back-order, Nissan took many sales away from Honda.

In the pick-up market, Toyota fell again, bringing Mitsubishi a windfall increase of 195 percent in their y-o-y sales.

In the Passenger Pick-up Vehicles (PPV) Mitsubishi went tops with 63 percent of the PPV sales, compared to Toyota down to 20 percent and Isuzu down to 15 percent.

However, the market will have stabilized as parts supply from Japan returns to normal by July/August. Despite its initial supply problems, expect to see many Honda Brios on the road by the end of the year.

Foton challenges Vigo down-under. Will it come here?

Foton pick-up

The biggest commercial vehicle manufacturer in China is Foton, which is producing a one tonne pickup which can compete in the world markets against Toyota’s Vigo. The Foton ute has been specifically designed and engineered for western markets and Australia will be the first market this pick-up will enter before exports begin to North America late in 2012.

It will initially be available in only one specification, called Premium, but will be available as single cab, twin cab, 4x2 and 4X4, in both diesel and petrol.

The Foton trump card is in the diesel engine. It will be the first one tonne pick-up to be powered by the a diesel engine from American engine maker, Cummins - the largest independent manufacturer of diesel engines in the world.

The Cummins turbocharged 2.8 liter ISF engine features high-pressure common-rail fuel injection. These engines are made in a new factory in China under close supervision by Cummins US engineers.

The diesel Foton’s 2.8 ISF is rated at 120 kW of power and 360 Nm of torque. The engines are mated to a Getrag five-speed manual gearbox, but a ZF automatic will be offered in 2012.

Other international style parts are the latest heavy-duty Dana axles, a fully electronic transfer case for range switching on “the fly”, and a limited slip rear differential.

From the specifications, it would appear on paper that this could indeed by a viable challenge to both the Vigo and the Tata one-tonners. Since the market for pick-ups is so large in Thailand, I would not be surprised to see one of the sales outfits picking up this pick-up.

What did we learn from the European GP in Valencia?

Well, we learned that despite KERS, DRS or any other acronym, Valencia remains the most boring race of the year (although don’t hold your breath, Singapore is coming). However, there may be change in the wind. Our Bernie (the patron saint of garden gnomes) was very cagey when asked directly whether Spain should get two GPs. There may be light at the end of the tunnel (or the Valencia opening bridge which opens every night - as if I cared) and we won’t have to endure another two boring hours, but if we do, perhaps the FIA can schedule the race closer to bed time…

I must point out that I am not alone. Our Editor at Large, John Weinthal, situated in Malaysia, watched the race and wrote, “May we together save F1. The FIA clearly has no clue. Our commentators rabbitted on about classic, drama filled, nail biting etc etc Valencia. Oh yeah? Something got lost in the ether twixt Spain and Malaysia is all I can conclude. Only one person might ever stay awake through a replay: Vettel’s Mum.”
Thank you John. So, forgetting the sheer bum-numbing boredom of it all, Sebastian (The Finger) Vettel (Red Bull) did it again, and did it easily. He played the full hand - pole, led all the way, fastest lap and the girlish screams at the end. I imagine that the next step in F1 will be the drivers jumping all over each other and kissing and hugging, one of the reasons I don’t watch soccer.

Alonso (Ferrari) did put in a sterling (peseta?) performance in front of his home crowd to bring the Ferrari home in second. Third placed Mark Webber (Red Bull) was quoted before the race that he considered Alonso to be the most complete driver on the grid. Alonso’s drive on Sunday showed it. Alonso has matured.

Mention must be made of Jaime Algywotsit who brought his Roaring Tosser into eighth place in front of the Spanish crowd. His best place all year, but it will not be enough to keep him at Toro Rosso next year.

Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) went from being the hero in Canada to an absolute also-ran in Valencia. Clouted Petrov’s Renault and had to change his front wing, rejoining in 17th, where he stayed till the end. What’s more, he compounded the ignominy by saying, “I locked the front wheel and slipped into him, which was clearly my mistake.” The old Schumi would never have uttered “my mistake.” It is clearly time he retired. The other Mercedes driver trundled round and was rarely seen on TV, but after the race was shaking hands with himself, saying, “I’m happy with my seventh place today as that is the maximum that we could have achieved and we got everything out of the car.” It is time young Rosberg raised the bar for himself. Happy with seventh! So help me! Mercedes is rapidly turning into today’s Toyota or Honda.

As for the rest? Down with Schumi in the also-rans. Yawnnnnnnnn.

Returning to John Weinthal’s suggestion that together we save F1, since the FIA has no clue, here is a very workable idea. Get rid of those gigantic snow-plough front wings. In any close encounters, the very wide wing must get knocked off. The racing will not be interrupted with pit stops to change noses, and the teams will save money in the repair bills. I’m sure there’s lots more we can do, but I’ll let the FIA digest that suggestion first.

The UK GP at Silverstone next weekend. That should be a good race, even without the acronyms.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I wrote about a sewing machine manufacturer that made the chassis for another company (still going today) in 1889. After that time the company went on to produce motorcycles.

After that it produced cars in association with an Italian manufacturer. I asked which manufacturer was this, and what is it best remembered for? It was, of course NSU, best remembered for its use of the Wankel engine in the Ro80. It used to be said that Ro80 owners would acknowledge each other on the road by waving fingers at each other. The number of fingers represented the number of engines they had replaced under warranty. It took Mazda to work out how to keep the rotary together.

So to this week. What car had a six cylinder engine with four valves and four plugs each and displaced 21 liters. Can’t give you more clues without giving the game away!
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].