Oh Hi: 2011 Mini Cooper Lineup

When BMW isn’t prodding Porsche to race, they’re hard at work refreshing the Mini lineup for the 2011 model year. We’ve pretty much seen what the refresh is going to look like through spy shots, but BMW has released official photos of the Cooper lineup.

The biggest news is that both engines get a boost in power. The regular Cooper gets a bump from 115 horsepower to 122, while the spicier Cooper S gets its power boosted from 172 to 180. Mini is still going to stick to turbocharging the Cooper S models, mostly to keep fuel efficiency numbers in check.

On top of that, the Coopers will all get LED tail lights, a slightly refreshed front facia and the Camden edition will be optional on every Cooper trim level, not just limited to the Cooper S like it is now.

Click here to check out an aray of pics, courtesy of Autoblog.

[Mini via Autoblog]

Very Very Minor Mini Face Lift For 2011

Quick, name the differences between the current 2010 Mini Cooper and the face lifted 2011 Mini Cooper you see above!

Times up. Come up with anything?  They are so similar that hiding the Mini badge really wasn’t needed. In fact, there’s no mistaking it for anything by a Mini.

The first thing I noticed right away was the chrome lining on the intakes up front. The rear snap reveals more chrome lined intakes in the back. And uh, yeah that’s pretty much it. The light clusters are slightly refreshed as well. The rear tail lamp refresh is more obvious with a more pronounced circular theme all while keeping the classic Cooper shape.

The interior is expected to get an equally minor refresh as well. Some new rim styles would be nice.

Check out the rear snap after the jump.

[AutoExpress]

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Mini Cooper Profiling: OPP Not Impressed With Charity Drive

I try not to bash the police on this site because they have one of the toughest jobs on the planet, but this is a pretty dick move no matter how you look at it.

As it turns out the Southern Ontario Mini Club likes to get all the local Mini Cooper owners together to share their common love for the little British German go-kart. These get together’s inevitably turn into spirited drives around the area. The drives then got turned into ‘charity drives’ and I’m sure you can insinuate by the name what that means. These charity drives only happen twice a year, and this year the Mini Club was excited for charity drive number one because they had 30 Mini owners sign up for it.

To ensure everything went smoothly, the Club notified the local Ontario police department as a courtesy to let them know that 30 Minis would be driving around town so that they wouldn’t think something suspicious was happening.

The first drive went smoothly, as they only encountered one OPP officer who seemingly was cool with everything and let the Mini brigade continue on. He even commented how there was only one OPP officer up the road and that he would let the other officer know so there would be no incident.

But that didn’t happen.

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The Kinky Side of Mini

There is a billboard up in Germany that showcases the Mini Cooper’s naughtier side.

The billboard says “A good Mini takes you to heaven. A bad Mini takes you everywhere”. That is sure to ruffle a few feathers amongst religious groups, but the next part of the campaign will likely have them fuming.

Pictured on the billboard is a Mini Cooper with an S&M whip dangling behind the rear. There is also a code. If you text in the code word, the Mini will actually get disciplined via said whip. There is actually whipping sounds to go along with it and the Mini actually honks in pain/appreciation.

Get off  to Checkout the video after the jump.

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WTF? A Talking Mini?!

This has got to be one of the weirdest options available right now.

New for the 2010 Mini Cooper is the 50th Anniversary Camden package. It costs $5,000 and gives you metallic paint, interior trim, hood graphics, 17 inch wheels and Camden badging. Oh, and it gives your Mini the ability to literally talk to you. I wish I was joking.

This new option is called ‘Mission Control’ and it “evaluates a vast range of vehicle, driving situation and vehicle environment-related signals and supplies the driver with relevant information and instructions in customary MINI style.” This means that your Mini essentially has a conversation with itself using two voices, both male and female, both with British accents.

Why the hell would anyone want this feature? Is it meant for loners? Is it meant to keep you awake? Is it meant to make you go so insane that you eventually beat your Mini to a pulp so you’ll have an excuse to buy a new one?

It is undoubtedly one of the most irritating options I’ve ever heard and it came very close to making our ‘FAILS’ category. Check out the video above to see it in action.