BMW CEO and board chairman Norbert Reithofer sat down with Autocar yesterday and talked about the prospects of a front wheel drive BMW built off the MINI platform. As we have reported BMW is going ahead with plans to build such a car and have even produced research (80% of 1 series owners already believe [...] More...
I would love to see it be a legit retro design of a small BMW 2002. I know that's what they said the 1-series was based on but I wasn't thoroughly impressed with their interpretation. A small, well designed, 2002-looking, FWD BMW would certainly make it onto my radar
UMMM not sure what we'll have after Mini has been run through the "Proper Brand" filter..... As for the BMW built on a Mini chassis; when considering the Mini I've been salavating for; a 2+ liter, twin turbo all wheel drive coupe, one would wonder if the price it would command would need the Roundel on it to be marketable..
That's a good point. If they were to produce it in AWD with a heartier BMW engine that could be truly impressive :eek6: Or imagine using the rear driveshaft setup from the countryman on the non-suv platform to make a true RWD BMW 2002-style car. It would possibly give the miata some competition for the small two-door RWD class. That'd be a blast
Cool thing is the pieces are all coming together in the BMW parts bin with the all wheel drive system for the Crossman and BMW has been developing a high performance small 2+ liter twin turbo for the Z4. Put those in the upcoming stiffer coupe and (your going to love this Rally) Mini could go back to it's roots and compete in Rally Racing, not to mention what a little monster it will be on the track!!
Yah, when I heard that prodrive was backing the mini for rally competition I was pumped. Maybe BMW/MINI has finally come around and will start supporting motorsports. I mean, even SCION is running a motorsport program now :lol: I took a quick peak at the rear drivetrain on the beachcomber. It was only a quick look at a concept model, but from what I could tell it wouldn't be TOO hard to retrofit to r56's which would be very promising for inter-model swapping. If that's true, I look forward to the first person/tuner that swaps them into a high hp AWD r56 like some of the VW guys do with the r32 drivetrain.
I like desigermart's work. I have a 420hp 135i, and whereas it's silly fast, and fun to freak out your friends with, it has the feel of a bigger car. I would love to see a '02 style car that weighed well under 3000 lbs. I'm talking stripped MINI weight: 2600 to 2700 lbs.