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2021 Mini Countryman gets a light update inside and out

Well that didn't take long. We got a glimpse of the refreshed 2021 Mini Countryman last week, and now it has been fully revealed. Sure enough, it's a light makeover of the current model, bringing it up to date with the rest of the lineup. The major changes to the Countryman are on the exterior. The front and rear bumpers have been thoroughly redesigned. At the front, there's only one main grille opening, flanked by small slots at either end. The round foglights sit on each side of the grille as part of a black plastic surround. The rear bumper is now entirely body color, and can feature a prominent skid plate-style panel. The 2021 Countryman also gets standard LED headlights, fog lights and taillights. The latter now have the Union Jack design shared with every other Mini model. The S models have a new mesh grille, too. Two new exterior colors have been added, White Silver and Sage Green, as has a Piano Black exterior trim that colors all the chrome on the outside in black. Inside, the Countryman gets a revamped center display surround with touch-sensitive shortcut buttons and flush fitting hazard light and driver aid buttons. A version of the Mini Cooper SE electric car's instruments with 5-inch display is now an option. Two new interior leather colors are added, Indigo Blue and Malt Brown, both of which have their colors extended to the lower plastics on the doors and dash. Mechanically, the Countryman is carryover. The base Cooper gets a 134-horsepower turbocharged three-cylinder. The Cooper S gets a 189-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder. The John Cooper Works gets 301 horsepower from a turbo four-cylinder. The Cooper SE plug-in hybrid combines the three-cylinder with an electric motor to get 224 horsepower. Range and fuel economy for the latter hasn't officially been announced, but it's likely to match the current model's 18-mile range and 29 mpg combined fuel economy for gas only. The Cooper and Cooper S are available with front-wheel drive and a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission or all-wheel drive with an 8-speed automatic. The John Cooper Works comes only with all-wheel drive and an 8-speed automatic, while the hybrid comes with all-wheel-drive and a 6-speed automatic. The updated Mini Countryman is expected to go on sale this summer. Pricing and fuel economy will be available closer to the on-sale date. Related Video:

2023 Mini Convertible Seaside Edition touts 30 years of Mini soft tops

There have been specialty vehicle shops creating convertible Minis since the 1960s. Heinz had Crayford Convertibles make 57 Mini droptops as part of a competition in 1966. But Mini didn't produce a factory-backed convertible until 1993, when parent company Rover sent cars to one of its German dealers that had already been producing its own soft tops for two years. BMW wouldn't buy Rover until 1994. That hasn't stopped the Munich firm from celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first official Mini 'drophead' with this, the 2023 Mini Convertible Seaside Edition. If you like your special editions to scream about their special-edition-ness, this one's for you — it's awash in graphics. Outside, the front bumper gets the special multihued blue graphic featuring a stylized number 30 created for this model. That graphic appears again on the side vent along with the word "Seaside" in orange. A twin coach line runs from that vent to the rear. The word Seaside appears again next to the passenger's side brake light, and yet again on the door sills with the twin pinstripe. The center caps? They say Mini. But they get the 30 graphic, and a newly available 18-inch wheel design meant to be "reminiscent of pulsating waves in the water." Even the key gets the special edition treatment as half of the fob is a deep blue, reworked into a thalassic-themed bit of sculpture that has the word Seaside hidden behind it. Inside the Carbon Black leather interior, Seaside shows up in orange on the sport steering wheel. The 30 graphic's been embossed into the instrument panel, accompanying the words "30 years of convertible" on the passenger's side. And a badge with the graphic adorns the floor mats,   The 2023 Mini Convertible Seaside Edition will be available from February of next year on the Cooper and Cooper S, and can be optioned in Nanuq White or Caribbean Aqua. 

Will the Mini John Cooper Works GP get an electric sidekick?

Mini will beat most of its rivals to the burgeoning electric hot hatch segment by releasing a battery-powered variant of the John Cooper Works GP, according to a recent report. If the rumor is accurate, the British brand's second series-produced electric car will also become one of the quickest models it has ever put its name on. Enthusiast website Motoring File spotted what looks suspiciously like an electric John Cooper Works GP testing in Germany, and unnamed sources who are allegedly familiar with the company's plans confirmed the model is currently being evaluated. None of the insiders said the model has been confirmed for production, however. It's too early to tell what will power the electric GP, or how closely it will be related to the Cooper SE. We're curious to find out how Mini will offset the battery's weight; the gasoline-powered GP (pictured) tips the scale at 2,855 pounds, while the SE weighs in at 3,153 pounds. Granted, a generous amount of instant torque can help the hatchback overcome its extra pounds, but masking it on a twisty road will require serious chassis wizardry. If the rumor is true, we'll learn more about Mini's next electric model in the coming months. It might arrive in showrooms in 2022, likely priced above $50,000 and possibly as a limited-edition model. For context, the existing GP is limited to 3,000 units worldwide, and pricing starts at $45,750. Mini made its commitment to electrification clear when it pegged its future on crossovers, the Chinese market, and electric cars. It confirmed it's developing an electric crossover that will be about as big as the Countryman, and it stressed electrification will spread across its range in the coming years. It's not planning on ditching gasoline- and diesel-powered engines soon, though; it wants to give customers what it calls the power of choice. Who else is in the game? Electrification still hasn't reached hot hatch land, and Mini's rumored electric GP would be one of the first cars of its kind. Volkswagen has often hinted it wants to build a spicier version of the Golf-sized ID.3 sold in Europe, but we haven't seen the model yet; the firm is understandably allocating its resources to ramping up production of volume-oriented models, like the ID.4 crossover. Across the pond, Renault transformed the humble Zoe into a 460-horsepower, four-wheel drive superhatch in 2017, but the project fizzled before it spawned a production car.