The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33536
W By Rob Marshall ith Coupe and Roadster models getting ever closer to production and several more versions being planned, the MIN brand is expanding at a rate faster than ever before. Yet, while designers are busy styling new sheet metal, few developments appear to be happening mechanically. In the North American market, only two gasoline motors exist, the N16 Cooper unit and Cooper S’s turbocharged N18. These are supplemented in Europe, by a 1.6-liter diesel engine that was built by Peugeot (France), until a new BMW motor replaced it last year. Being the first ‘pure’ BMW engine under the Cooper SD moniker. As diesel MINI sales in the UK have ascended from four percent in 2003, to almost 30 percent in 2010, the need to develop and enhance MINI’s diesel range is more important now than ever before, especially as many European motorists believe that diesel cars would reduce driving costs. For the Bavarians, developing two different displacements to be slotted beneath the MINI’s diminutive hood, there is something important historically about the latest 1.6-liter diesel. A 1.4-liter Toyota unit powered the early R50 MINI One D and, while the end result was adequate, it was neither particularly The refined nor particularly punchy. far superior Peugeot 1.6-liter power- plant went a long way towards remedying the shortcomings in the R56 MINI Cooper D. However, last year, BMW severed its connection with that engine and adapted its own European-specification 2.0-liter unit, which is also used to power the 4-cylinder diesel BMW 3 and 5 series models, by reducing it to a 1.6-liter capacity and mounting it transversely in the MINI. While the BMW diesel does a fine task of gifting the smaller MINIs respectable performance, its acceleration has been far from lively, when faced with driving the heavier Countryman’s four-wheel-drive transmission system. Fortunately, in a logical development, BMW has restored the cubic capacity to 1995cc and it has just debuted beneath the hoods of the entire MINI range, 20 www.mc2magazine.com from one single basic engine makes economic sense, especially when it is used across both the BMW and MINI brands. Additionally, both the 1.6 and 2.0-liter motors are built at BMW’s plant at Steyr, Austria, which saves on the expense of importing the former completed units from France. Yet, the development might give us a vision into BMW’s future engine strategy. It is possible that the company might install its own 4-cylinder gasoline units to MINIs in the future? To do so makes some sense, because BMW 4-cylinder gasoline motors are produced alongside the MINI’s ‘Prince’ range at the Hams Hall site, which is part of the Production Triangle, located nearby to Plant Oxford. Conversely, BMW is still working closely with the French PSA (Peugeot) group on hybrid technologies and developments of the current MINI power-train might make sense in the longer term, especially as Saab will be using the current Cooper S N18 turbocharged gasoline motor in some of its models starting next year. Even so, the output of the 1995cc Cooper SD motor makes for interesting reading: Compared to its smaller 1.6- liter brethren, power has increased from 112bhp to 143bhp and peak torque, at 305Nm, is even higher than a gasoline- fuelled JCW. When installed in an R56 sedan, the Cooper T oh p Eu r e a r rn b e i a a Nl o I v MIu f a h i g cieh i- n ag kf n e U ore pe r s il i t wi l mw s et e xv tr m n oc r oe di brue as fS sh eys seer? l es o nv g in ee er s fa ors DIESEL THRILLS