With a numbered limited edition of only about 500 and a one year lease price of about $820, the MINI E won't be finding a whole lot of takers, but its still a car that will attract a lot of interest. The two seat all-electric car delivers 204 HP and 162 lb-ft of torque and runs on 28 kWh of a 35 kWh capacity battery made of 5,088 individual lithium ion cells and will take the MINI E a full 156 miles before a recharge at it's dedicated wall box is needed — a scant two and a half hours for that job! Acceleration is a brisk but not blinding 8.5 seconds to 62 MPH and top speed comes when you reach 95 MPH. With such low production numbers, this MINI is more of a field test for the real life of an electric car and the results will be used in future vehicle developments. Complete details below along with a nice rant if you scroll all the way down.  read more »

The new MINI Convertible will make its worldwide debut in January at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.Orders for the MINI Convertible are being taken now; the price for the MINI Cooper Convertible is $24,550 and for the MINI Cooper S Convertible $27,450, including the $650 destination and handling charge. Delivery of the first MINI Convertibles will begin on March 28, 2009. The new MINI Convertible's durable soft-top with integrated sliding roof function reliably protects driver and passengers from the elements when it is up. Allowing for spontaneous open-air motoring, the soft top lowers automatically in 15 seconds flat, even when the car is in motion up to 20 mph. The unique Openometer next to the tachometer challenges the driver to log as many top-down miles as possible by recording the hours spent open-air motoring.  read more »

Just two weeks alway the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the world's automaker is all about to release a bevy of shots and all the deets on their two big reveals for the 2008 Geneva Auto Show.

The great one is the official reveal of the John Cooper Works package for the 2008 Mini Cooper S.  read more »

We'd forgive you if you didn't know that anything would be happening at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show this year. We'd also forgive you if you didn't know there was a new 2009 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner on the way. Finally, we'd forgive you if after looking at these photos of the 2009 Ford Escape/Mariner you were unable to differentiate the two from the 2008 Ford Escape/Mariner. Besides a slight adjustment to the front fascia and rear tire spoilers, the big change is under the hood where Ford's mini utes are getting a new, 2.5-liter four banger mated to a 6-speed transmission.  read more »

(from Mini press release) The new MINI Convertible * MINI Cooper S Convertible : Four-cylinder gasoline engine with Twin-Scroll turbocharger and direct fuel injection. Capacity: 1,598 cc, max output: 172 hp at 5,500 rpm. Max torque: 177 lb-ft from 1,6005,000 rpm (192 lb-ft with Overboost). Acceleration 060mph: 7.0 sec Manual, 7.2 Automatic, Top speed: 138 mph Manual, 135 mph Automatic.  read more »

There's a funny thing about auto shows; from the outside, they appear to be all glitz and glamor, high-dollar extravaganzas to draw the attention of the nearest journalist, and later the consumer. In actuality, they are crushingly boring, highly stressed, cynical, irritating events which grow tiresome from both the PR side and the coverage side. Still, it's fun when you see something unexpected pop up on the floor. The new International LoneStar is definitely outside the mainstream of the average motor show. It was a welcome respite.  read more »

Black Tie Gala, Food, Booze, The New Audi A4 and Miss America After a very long week in the office, I was looking forward to a relaxing Friday night with my girlfriend. I had been talking to a few of my co-workers and one of them mentioned they were going to the Philadelphia Auto Show's Black Tie Gala event that evening. Having lived in the area for the last couple of years, it was something I always wanted to do. The reason I hadn't gone in the past is because the price tag for the event was rather steep - $200 for the evening. Seemingly every year the price had gone up, and for whatever reason I just dealt with general admission to the venue. Over the past few years I'd grown weary of car shows being mobbed by people to the point where you really couldn't get a good look at anything for more than a few seconds, as people would shuffle you out of the way for their 10 second chance to glimpse an exotic auto. Taking a picture was impossible as well, because even if you had enough space to take one someone would walk into your path. This brings me to another point: anything really worth looking at is completely roped off from the general public. I left the office that day and I told my co-worker to let me know how the event west, as I had explained to him (and now to you) my gripes with past auto shows. On the way home I was enjoying the fact that the week was over and looking forward to my vacation the following week. I then received a text message from my girlfriend and based on an unforeseen family obligation my Friday night suddenly freed up completely. As luck would have it I was still able to get my hands on a last minute ticket, so I drove home to get suited up for a fun night ahead. Not wanting to leave my S4 at the mercy of the local parking lot attendants I wisely took the train to the Philadelphia convention center. I also didn't realize the event would also include an open bar for the night. In retrospect it was quite fortunate that I took the train. I arrived at the event and I was one of the first few people in the door at 7pm on the dot. I figured that the allotted four hours would provide plenty of opportunity to see everything.  read more »

It used to be after a redesigned pickup truck was introduced, it would remain basically unchanged for years and years. (Well, there would be the occasional "Pace Truck" edition, or a new hubcap design or two.) But the first two press conferences Sunday saw two major truck fresheningsthe Ford F-150 (newly designed in 2004) and the Dodge Ram (new in 2002, mild update in 2006)back-to-back. It's a much more dynamic and competitive market than it used to be, with Toyota now selling the finally-full-sized Tundra and Nissan's oft-overlooked Titan. Competition in this segment is positive because it brings some great innovations and advancements. For example, Dodge is now moving to coil-spring rear suspensions.  read more »

While we're enjoying the crazy concept cars we may or may never actually see in real life or design studies that only hint at what we may see one day, we're going to actually be able to hang out with a car that will soon be in dealer showrooms. BMW will be bringing the MINI Clubman to the Detroit Auto Show for public admiration. And if you find yourself admiring the slightly less-MINI then you'll only have to wait a month to buy one, as they go on sale February 16th of this year.  read more »