Filed under: LA Auto Show, Hatchback, Mini, Design/Style
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Remember the Mini Rocketman concept from 2011? While we were really, really hoping for a production version - a properly mini Mini - that never happened. And it won’t. But what we are getting is a whole lot of that showcar’s styling cues applied to the third-generation Mini Cooper hardtop, a model making its debut here at the LA Auto Show. And while from most angles, the new Mini is as cute as ever, we just can’t quite warm up to that face - or that huge front overhang. The car simply looks like a frightened goldfish (that yellow paint isn’t helping, either).
The car simply looks like a frightened goldfish (that yellow paint isn’t helping, either).
It should probably be pretty nice to drive, though, with the base Cooper using a new turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine good for 134 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. Friskier Cooper S models get a healthy power increase, their 2.0-liter turbo engines putting out a full 189 hp and 207 lb-ft, with both engines are mated to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission.
The 2015 Cooper also marks the first use of Mini’s new Dynamic Damper Control, with two different damper settings (comfort and sport, basically). There are also three different driving modes - Mid, Sport and Green. Mid is the standard setting, and as for the Sport/Green modes, well, you can probably figure out how they function.
There’s a revised interior, too, with the same sort of cheeky, circular gauges, though do note that the analog speedometer and the teensy rev counter have now moved out of the center stack and right behind the steering wheel, where they belong. Nothing else inside the new Mini is vastly different from previous models - just a host of fresh updates with what look like more intuitive controls.
Check out our fresh gallery of live shots direct from the LA show floor, and scroll down to watch video footage of the car’s unveiling in both Los Angeles and London. We’ve also included the press blast in case you missed any details the first time around.Continue reading 2015 Mini Cooper stuns crowd, itself [w/videos]
2015 Mini Cooper stuns crowd, itself [w/videos] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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