Home » Archives for March 2011

TotalMINI Diesel Challenge - one tank of fuel to John O'Groats

13:40

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Have you heard about the MINI Diesel Challenge?

Well today, totalMINI admin crew Jon and Kev will be attempting to drive a factory standard MINI Cooper D from MINI HQ in Bracknell, all the way to John O'Groats - that's 676 miles!

No problem you may think... well the challenge is to complete the journey on one (40 litre) tank of diesel.  That means driving all through the night, watching our speed and fuel consumption, and trying to average a whopping 76.6mpg!

So why are they doing this? Well it's simple, to raise money for two very worthy causes. Breakthough Breast Cancer is this year's totalMINI Charity Ball main benefactor, and Leukaemia Research was an easy choice after the TM community lost a much loved member this year to the illness.

So please folks, get behind us and show your support by donating using the link below.

DONATE http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/DieselChallenge

TRACK THEM http://beerm.at/dieselchallenge/

FORUM www.totalmini.com/forum/9-general-discussion/16809-totalmini-announces-mini-diesel-challenge.html

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/totalmini

MINIs out of WRC after mechanical failures

12:41

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News

The MINI's debut in the WRC has come to a premature end after mechanical failure on both machines forced the Brazilian WRT and Motorsport Italia to retire.

The two teams had been the first to ever enter the new Countryman-based JCW S2000 into the WRC and official MINI driver, Daniel Oliveira, was getting his first taste of handling the MINI under competitive conditions for the Brazilian team before hooking up with the official MINI team in Italy in May.

A statement from the Brazil World Rally Team says:
"Unfortunately, after four days of competition and more than 385.37 kilometres of tough stages, Oliveira’s MINI stopped within the last stage of race with a broken suspension, 13 kilometres from the finishing line. Daniel couldn’t fulfil his aim of finishing his first event in the WRC. However, the general outcome was highly positive for him and the team."

The second team competing in a MINI is Motorsport Italia/BAMP, with Armindo Araujo piloting the S2000. Araujo had been performing pretty well, better than Oliveira in the S2000, but after suffering a tyre puncture on SS11 on day two, they eventually were forced to retire with engine problems according to Rally Buzz.

MINI makes its debut in the WRC

16:25

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News

The WRC's third 2011 event in Portugal is well under way and sees the first of the WRC Super 2000 MINI Countrymans competing. Official MINI driver Daniel Oliveira is piloting a JCW Super 2000 version of the WRC MINI for the Brazilian team before joining Kris Meeke and the official WRC MINI team in Italy in May. While Portugese driver Armindo Araujo has also entered in the same car for the Motorsport Italia team

In the ceremonial special stage through the crowd-lined streets of Lisbon yesterday, Oliveira set the sixth best time of the Super 2000 cars through the 3.27-km run, with a time of 3mins 11.4secs. to came 13.8secs adrift of class leader, the local hero Armindo Araujo.

Today the drivers are tackling six more stages, covering 132.41 kilometres of gravel roads, and this time there will be no ceremony as Oliveira and Araujo try to get to grips with new MINI under competitve conditions for the first time.

You can follow the WRC in many ways. Here are some links

www.wrc.com
www.facebook.com/WorldRally
http://twitter.com/OfficialWRC

In the meantime, for those of you who know of Ken Block, who competes in the WRC, here's a pretty nasty roll he had yesterday.

UK MINI-E trial finishes

15:29

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News

The MINI E UK Field Trial which has been researching and analysing the use of fully electric MINIs on UK roads since December 2009 has come to an end today. The 40 ‘pioneers’, who are the second set of participants in the trial handed back their MINI Es at an event at MINI Plant Oxford.

Official MINI USBs released

15:32

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Products

There's been a growing trend for novelty-shaped USB memory sticks since the classic Mini USB was seen a few years ago, and now MINI has released it own quality and authentic items for any Mini lover.

Three USBs have been released, each with a different design to appeal to your own personal styling.

The MINI 'Key' USB imitates the MINI ignition key, right down to the last deatil and offers storage of up to 8GB, The red ring around the outer edge of the key illuminates when connected and there is also cap, neckstrap and separate USB cable. £30

For those keen to emphasise the British link to the Mini there is a 'Bulldog' design which is proper British isn't it! This stick holds 4GB of information and is pulled apart to expose the connection. It also comes with a lanyard with MINI prints and an additional USB cable. £21

Finally the very cool MINI Liquid USB mouse is sure to enliven your desk and replace that dull cream or grey mouse. Inside the mouse is a mini MINI swimming around in a two-tone, transparent orange liquid. There's also a bumper sticker proclaiming 'Do not stare at my boot', while practically there are two buttons and a scroll wheel on the optical mouse. £14.95

Buy them at selected dealers or from the MINI shop. www.mini.com

Luxury MINI planned for Shanghai show

10:03

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News

Autoblog has revealed that MINI is planning to unveil its super high-end luxury model at the Shanghai Motor Show next month.

The luxury MINI has been on the cards for a while, but with the introduction of the new MINI personalisation system - MINI Yours - the time seems right to unwrap it for public viewing.

From the little information available, the car is likely to be named the MINI Goodwood (or some variation) after being co-created with the bods from Rolls-Royce, based down in Goodwood.

It is rumoured that it will be the most expensive MINI ever, eclipsing the mega-money needed for the JCW Championship 50, with the interior being overhauled and refitted with top of the range materials and comfort items.

The idea harks back to that of a luxury classic Mini, as was demonstrated by the Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet in 1961. Production of these high-end models didn't last the decade though and were discontinued in 1969.

Rallying on TV confirmed

15:29

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News

We love motorsport - it's at the heart of what the Mini is all about - so we're delighted that we'll be able to see the occassional Mini mixing it up with other historic rally cars through some very demanding courses in the UK.

Motors TV will be covering the Dunlop/WONAGO MSA British Historic Rally Championship with dedicated hour-long programmes following each round as well as an extended end-of-season review programme.

The broadcast dates for the first showing of each programme are as follows:
Mid Wales Stages: Sunday 27 March at 9.30pm
Bulldog Historic Rally: Saturday 23 April at 9pm
Pirelli Historic Rally: Saturday 28 May at 8.30pm
Severn Valley Historic Stages: Sunday 26 June at 9.30pm
Ulster Historic Rally: Sunday 18 September at 6.55pm
Tour of Flanders: Sunday 9 October at 10pm
Colin McRae Stages: Saturday 22 October at 9.30pm
Isle of Man Historic Rally: Sunday 20 November at 9pm

Backing for the coverage comes from BHRC TV partners CES (www.autosessive.com), Sherwood Engines (www.sherwoodengines.co.uk), Skipton Ford (www.skipton-ford.com.uk) Tuthill Porsche (www.francistuthill.co.uk), West Wales Rally Spares (www.westwalesrallyspares.co.uk) and XS Racing www.xsracing.net).

Each programme will benefit from multiple repeats in the week following the initial broadcast, and the opening programme from the Mid Wales Stages will be repeated up to 10 times.

Meanwhile, thanks to support from the event organisers, the Swansea Bay Historic Rally, which is a round of the Water End Gravel Cup, will also be broadcast. The programme covering the 16 July rally will be screened on Saturday 6 August at 9pm.

Acceleration Television and Video, the company headed by David Winstanley, is again filming the championship. His team will exclusively film all events and produce television programmes as well as DVDs, which will be available through www.rallytv.co.uk and via the HRCR shop (www.hrcr.co.uk)

Mini track evenings for novices from £39!

09:00

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Ever wanted to test your MINI on the track but never been able to afford it? Well, MINI has teamed up with Club MSV to unleash your inner beast at some of the best UK race tracks - and all for dead cheap!

There are five novice track evenings just for MINI and (ahem) BMW drivers. Following a safety briefing participants will be taken on a familiarisation lap before putting theory into practice and discovering what it means to drive their MINI on a famous motor racing circuit.

Classic Minis welcome!

The dates and locations are as follows;

Monday 11 April – Bedford Autodrome - including guest star appearance from TVs Tiff Needell.

Friday 13 May – Cadwell Park (Lincolnshire)

Wednesday 22 June – Snetterton (Norfolk)

Tuesday 19 July – Brands Hatch (Kent)

Monday 1 August – Bedford Autodrome

Prices range from just £39 to £49. For more information or to book onto an event please visit www.clubmsv.co.uk/bmwontrack.

British Mini Club announces Rat-look theme for Himley Hall

15:28

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Stately home Himley Hall will be welcoming a whole heap of decaying and rusty Minis onto its splendid grounds after the British Mini Club announced this year's event theme would be based upon the 'rat-look'.

The BMC, which hosts a number of the Mini scene's leading events, is keen to help encourage owners to embrace the look which is so well known in the USA and within the VW scene.

Not sure what it's all about, well it's not just letting your Mini rust away, although done properly this could be effective. It's more of a styling process where you co-ordinate body panels to give a post-apocalyptic type look. This could be done simply by replacing a good bonnet with a rusty one, or by conditioning certain panels to rust evenly.

To some it might seem controversial, but done under supervision and maintained properly you could have a very cool Mini.

The best way to understand is to look at what others have done and use some creativity to put your own individual stamp on your design. Whatever you come up with, we're very excited to see the final outcome at Himley Hall on May 8.

www.britishminiclub.co.uk

MINI Motorsport website now live. MINIs set for next round of WRC

13:36

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As part of MINIs foray into the world of motorsport - most noticably this year in the World Rally Championship - the MINI Motorsport division has launched its own website which will allow you to keep up-to-date with the official team's exploits.
And it's not just dedicated to the WRC. You can find information from the Dakar rally which the team took part in earlier this year, the MINI Challenge series and other competitive actitvities.
The classic Mini hasn't been forgotten amongst the flurry of excitement either, as there is a history on the classic's rallying history, as well as passing mentions for its success on the track.

With the first MINIs set to enter the next WRC rally in Portugal at the end of March, and MINI entering the official team in the Italian rally, things are really getting exciting.

www.minimotorsport.com/en

10:54

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Four lads from Wessex Mini Club are hanging up their car keys and taking to their bikes for a 10-day, 1000-mile charity marathon from John O'Groats to Lands End.

Wessex MOC, one of the oldest Mini clubs in the UK and has always prided itself on being a fun and friendly club. With this ideology they have supported a number of charities and fundraising events over the years.

For the last few years, working with Minis4Kids they have supported Wave 105’s Cash for Kids, attending the fundraising days at Gunwharf Quays, charity cinema screenings and helping with Prom runs. Each event has raised much needed money for children’s charities.

For 2011, four members of the club, Rob, Robin, Kevin and Darren have come together for a monumental physical challenge. In place of driving their cars to raise money, this year they are taking to two wheels in an epic challenge. This July they will begin a cycle ride starting from John O’Groats and ending at Lands End, a distance of nearly 1000 miles to be undertaken in 10 days.

A club spokesperson said: "With Wave 105 Cash for Kids as the chosen benefactor of this physical challenge, we know the funds will go to local children in need."

To help out and donate, or just to follow their efforts this summer, bookmark the website

http://4menandtheirbikes.weebly.com

www.justgiving.com/WessexMOC

www.wessexmoc.com