2002 Mini Cooper on 2040-cars

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Mini recalls 30K Hardtops to improve side-impact protection

Mini is recalling 30,456 units of its two-door models because they don't conform to federal side-impact requirements for the rear seat passengers. According to the documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (here as a PDF), this includes 15,653 examples of the 2014-2015 Mini Cooper Hardtop, 14,782 units of the 2014-2015 Mini Cooper S Hardtop, and 21 of the 2015 Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop (pictured above). Those with production dates between December 2013 and March 2015 are affected, the automaker reports in a statement to Autoblog. According to NHTSA, the agency tested a 2015 Cooper and Cooper S Hardtop on July 1 and 2, but the S didn't meet one of the impact requirements. The analysis showed that rear passengers in these vehicles were potentially in greater danger in a crash. Upon further research, the government and Mini found more models potentially affected. The automaker isn't aware of any reports of accidents or injures from this problem. To rectify the situation, dealers will add more energy-absorbing material in the space between the rear interior panels and the exterior of the hatchbacks, which will take around four hours. The campaign to fix them will begin on Sept. 12. RECALL Subject : Side Impact Crash Worthiness/FMVSS 214 Report Receipt Date: JUL 17, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V450000 Component(s): STRUCTURE Potential Number of Units Affected: 30,456 All Products Associated with this Recall Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) MINI COOPER 2014-2015 MINI COOPER S 2014-2015 MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS 2015 Details Manufacturer: BMW of North America, LLC SUMMARY: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S Hardtop 2 Door vehicles and 2015 MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop 2 Door vehicles. The affected vehicles do not meet the side impact performance requirements for the rear seat passengers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 214, "Side Impact Protection." CONSEQUENCE: If the side impact performance requirements are not met, rear seat passengers may be at a higher risk of injury during a crash. REMEDY: MINI will notify owners, and dealers will install additional energy absorption material between the rear interior side panels and the exterior vehicle body, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin September 12, 2015. Owners may contact MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525.

The Mini John Cooper Works Rally is set for Dakar

In recent years, there have been convincing Minis tailored for rallying: Dakar wins were accumulated with gusto. Now there is a new version for 2017, named the Mini John Cooper Works Rally. Its debut will be the 2017 Dakar Rally running through Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. The new rally car has been built with experience gathered from rallying the earlier Mini All4 Racing, and it's based on the Countryman. Key areas reworked were the aerodynamics and the weight distribution to enable a lower center of gravity. As X-raid (Mini's motorsports partner) CEO Sven Quandt puts it: "The center of gravity has gone down substantially – we placed about 50 kilos [110 pounds] downwards by some 50 centimeters [19.7 inches] in the center of the car, which helps the handling and makes the car much more comfortable over all types of terrain, and aids the handling on a rally track with lots of corners." There is a new chassis frame, and the powertrain benefits from an updated engine mapping and thermal management. The interior has also been redone. Speaking of the powertrain, the Cooper Works Rally runs a 3.0-liter straight six from BMW's turbodiesel portfolio. In this guise, the TwinPower unit produces 340 horsepower at 3,250 rpm and a very respectable 590 lb ft of torque from 1,850 rpm. The retained ALL4 four-wheel-drive system has a six-speed SADEV sequential gearbox, together with lockable, oil-cooled Xtrac diffs with a central SADEV unit. The 2017 Dakar Rally runs from January 2-14. Related Video:

2013 Mini John Cooper Works

Location, Location, Location
Back in February, Mini invited me to come try out its brand-new Paceman coupe-crossover-hatchback thing in Puerto Rico, and not long after, I spit out a Quick Spin detailing my impressions of the little-big two-door. But here's what I didn't tell you: Mini also let me loose on those fine, curvaceous, tropical roads in its hottest hatch, the John Cooper Works GP. And while that behind-the-wheel gigglefest would have no doubt made for a story laden with positive notes and warm regards, the truth is, I only drove it for 15 minutes, so I couldn't in good conscience offer much of a story to you. (European Editor Matt Davis also got a short stint behind the wheel of the GP late last year.)
So for the sake of due diligence, I buckled down and spent a full eight days with the JCW GP back home in Detroit, just as springtime was starting to stick here in southeast Michigan. But after my time with the Mini, I was wishing that I could have just been left with my GP memories from Puerto Rico, where I was pushing the little hotbox hard around smooth corners and flexing every one of its muscles to eke out the full JCW GP experience in only a short timeframe.