MotoringFile World Premier: MINI Rocketman

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oday MINI has taken the wraps off of a completely new concept that takes the brand into familiar yet uncharted territory. First off ignore the name. It’s a temporary solution that will be fixed if this car goes into production. And speaking of production BMW says that this is the first MINI concept ever to be shown without a specific plan to put it into production. However we know that a small MINI city car is being seriously considering for the brand.

Now let’s talk about this car. It’s meant to be one part shocking and one part familiar. Since the 2001 when the R50 was released MINI has made it’s mark in a size segment just above true city cars. The size of the car allowed BMW to create a car that felt upscale yet still managed to embody the classic Mini brand qualities.

With the Rocketman MINI has given us a true city car – even if it is purely a concept. The car, which will be revealed to the public worldwide for the first time at the International Geneva Motor Show (3 – 13 March 2011), harks back to the classic Mini in terms of its exterior dimensions, while its technology points to the future of automotive design. A 3+1-seater with three doors and a length of just over three meters (approx. 10 ft.), the Rocketman Concept responds to the fundamental requirements of mobile lifestyles in the large cities of the future by concentrating the brand’s core values in concentrated form.

One thing to note before we go further. This is purely a concept and it’s unrelated to the BMW i program. MINI hasn’t officially decided whether or not it will go into production and BMW has been keen on letting press know that this isn’t part of the megacity project. But let’s not allow that to think this is a throw-away exercise. The writing is on the wall and it’s clear that the MINI brand needs an offering in the city car space.

The MINI design team developed the vision of a car that takes up impressively little space on the road but boasts a surprisingly spacious interior. With this the Concept carries over the classic virtues of the brand into a groundbreaking vehicle concept. It offers a fresh interpretation of unmistakable MINI design features, and uses cutting-edge construction and manufacturing technology to create unique solutions in body and interior design.



The innovative character of the study is defined by the systematic application of lightweight design principles and a pure-bred interior geared to maximum driving fun and unbeatable variability. A carbon spaceframe construction, whose striking surface structure is visible at the front end of the car, around its doors and in the interior, forms the basis for a weight-minimizing construction. Indeed, the MINI Rocketman Concept offers the ideal platform for achieving high efficiency. To this end, it is designed to allow the integration of a drive system which with average fuel consumption of just three liters per 100 kilometers (94 mpg imp). (Full gallery after the break)

Wide-opening doors with double-hinge joints (seen in previous MINI concepts) and integrated sills facilitate entry into the MINI Rocketman Concept. The lightweight seats are contoured in customary MINI style and can be arranged in a variety of different positions. This allows owners to choose between maximum driving fun two-up, a comfortable amount of room for three occupants, or even an exceptionally efficient division of space accommodating four seats.



The capacity of the luggage compartment can be adapted to passenger requirements just as flexibly. The two-part tailgate consists of one section which is attached to the roof and opens extremely high, and a lower section which extends out of the body in the form of a drawer.

The operating logic of the MINI Rocketman Concept is also geared to the multi-layered demands of a contemporary target group, whose mobility needs are shaped by their desire for driving fun, flexible usage possibilities and extensive connectivity with their lives outside the car. The central control unit can be taken out of the car and configured on a computer before the journey begins to update navigation destinations, the music playlist or contact details for mobile communications.



Body design: hallmark MINI design language in particularly concentrated form.

The MINI Rocketman Concept body is shaped by an avant-garde interpretation of time-honored brand features. Innovative construction techniques allow the principle used in the classic Mini – of providing the maximum amount of room on the smallest possible footprint – to be carried over to the mobility challenges of urban areas in the 21st century. The MINI Rocketman Concept measures 3.419 meters (approx. 11 ft. 3 in.) in length, adding just a few extra centimeters to the front and rear of the brand’s founding father born in 1959. The new study is 1.907 meters (approx. 6 ft. 3 in.) wide, including the exterior mirrors, and stands 1.398 meters (approx. 4 ft. 7 in) tall. Its proportions also display clear symmetries with both the classic Mini and the brand’s present-day lineup. The brand’s familiar appearance is therefore concentrated into a new set of dimensions, with the concept for a new vehicle segment remaining unmistakably recognizable as a MINI.

The interpretation of the characteristic MINI design language chosen for the study car also exudes a powerful and dynamic allure. Tightly contoured surfaces, large wheels and a basic form dictated by straight lines help give the MINI Rocketman Concept a resoundingly solid structure. In addition to its tell-tale proportions, a sprinkling of distinctive design features ensure that its brand affiliation is immediately clear. Large, circular headlights and a radiator grille with chrome surround dominate the front end.



While the exterior contours of the headlights fit the familiar visual template, their inner structure has been further developed for the new study. The centrally positioned LED units generating full beam are bordered by an eye-catching light ring for dipped-beam mode. Direction indicators integrated into the headlight units are a feature shared with the current range of series-produced MINI models. Look closely at these elements. We believe the 3rd generation MINI may get some inspiration here.

The dimensions of the headlights reflect those of the current MINI, which means they come across as particularly large when set against the smaller face of the study car. As stand-out features of MINI design they symbolize the core values of the brand, which remain reassuringly intact in the new vehicle concept represented by the study.

In the area surrounding the headlights and around the front apron and radiator grille, sections of the carbon spaceframe are visible alongside the painted and chromed surfaces. Its striking surface structure serves as a reminder of the study’s innovative construction blueprint.



Powerful silhouette, innovative door concept.

Large wheels and the three-level structural split of body, “wraparound” greenhouse and roof resting on top give the flanks the same appearance as the MINI models already in series production. The windows taper as they extend back towards the rear, emphasizing the body’s dynamic wedge shape and offering an immediate hint of the vehicle’s sporty and agile character. The high waist-line, accentuated on the MINI by a chrome frame ringing the vehicle, takes the form of a light strip on the MINI Rocketman Concept and throws the study’s powerful silhouette into even sharper focus.

The study’s 18-inch wheels likewise leave no doubt that the sure-footed road-holding and sporty handling properties of a MINI can also play a key role in a car with smaller dimensions. The weight-saving wheels specially developed for the MINI Rocketman Concept have an aerodynamically highly effective, enclosed surface structure. And the carbon wing contour of the directional wheels also helps to reduce drag. An aluminum trim strip on the wheel rim adds an attractive stylistic touch.

Among the car’s key design and functionality related innovations are the two side doors. Their length and the specially designed arrangement of the door sills allow extremely comfortable access to all the seats in the MINI Rocketman Concept. When opened, the doors pivot outwards complete with their sills, enabling the driver and front passenger to climb in right next to their seats and get settled in comfort. Entry to the rear seats is also made much easier by the car’s unusual door concept. The carbon spaceframe construction, together with the impressively high torsional stiffness of the under-body structure, allows the arrangement of the side sills to be combined with extremely high body rigidity.

In addition, an extremely sophisticated opening mechanism ensures easy access into the car, even in tight parking spaces. The front-hinged doors have a double-hinge joint, which also allows a large opening angle when space is restricted. The innovative character of this construction element is also evident when the doors are closed, the carbon hinges standing out visibly in form and color from the rest of the body. The MINI Rocketman Concept thus takes a stylistic cue from the classic Mini, whose exterior-mounted door hinges also went on to become an identifying characteristic.



More at http://www.motoringfile.com/2011/02/22/world-premier-mini-rocketman/