The BMW-Mini Thread

Little mix: what's the best compact EV on sale right now?

Stylish, small, retrofuturistic... these are the EVs that everyone’s talking about. Where should you spend your hard earned cash?

Before you cry foul... yes, we know this page is a playing field that’s badly unlevel. The price of this top of the range electric Mini is half as much again as this electric Panda. It’s not a normal comparison test. We’re here to show how much choice there is amongst desirable little cars. I don’t just mean in the way they look, either, but also how you interact with them and drive them. These aren’t just cars, they’re characters, somehow animate. In an age where the global auto biz has decided – because it thinks you have decided – that what you need is a blobby crossover with a generic twin screen interface and blasé dynamics, that’s a relief.

If you really want to save money, the Grande Panda is for you. There’s a cheaper trim than this one, called Red, at £20,995. It has the same power and the same 199 miles of WLTP measured range as this top spec La Prima version. The Red is the one to buy because the Grande Panda, like all Pandas through history, feels cheap because it is. It doesn’t insult you with the notion that cheap is boring. The Red saves money by rolling on (perfectly attractive) white steel wheels and goes without the roof rails and heated seats, its climate control is manual and its centre screen has no built in satnav but you’ll be mirroring your phone anyway.

Good design costs nothing. The sheet metal is neat and chunky. Pixel motifs for the lights are copied in the cabin vents. A homogeneous set of rectangles with semicircular ends covers off the dash, binnacle, lower console and door handle plinths. The cabin trim isn’t made of expensive multilayered soft plastics, but the textures, like the shapes, make it obvious the designers thought about it, and they nudge you with endless Fiat logos carved into the plastic and fabric and very panels of the bodywork. Behind the Fiat lettering on the front hides the Panda’s brilliant unique feature, a fixed spiral wound charge cable. You pull it out, plug in, then watch it twang back in afterward, saving you from the grimy inconvenience of coiling it into the boot.


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MINI Launches Tasty New JCW Accessories to Give the Cooper a Track-Ready Look

Designed to elevate the style and performance its petrol-powered Cooper models, Mini has launched the latest selection John Cooper Works parts.

Among the selection of exterior enhancements are John Cooper Works (JCW) wing-mirror housings, which feature a Chili Red-to-Gloss Black gradient finish and ‘JCW’ logos. JCW winglets for the front facia are also available and, according British marque, not only lends the car a sportier profile but improves its aerodynamic properties. The rear JCW diffuser and roof spoiler are inspired by the car that helped Mini claim a class win at the 2024 Nürburgring 24 Hours.

The new accessory range also includes four striking alloy wheel options. The 18-inch JCW Rallye Spoke wheels, offered in Frozen Midnight Grey or Vibrant Silver, pay homage to the firm’s 1960s success in rally competitions. Customers also have the option of specifying 17-inch JCW Sprint Spoke and Star Spoke designs, both finished in Gloss Black. Optional floating JCW centre caps and red valve caps complete the look.

www.carmag.co.za

MINI Launches Tasty New JCW Accessories to Give the Cooper a Track-Ready Look

Designed to elevate the style and performance of the Cooper, Mini has introduced a variety of JCW trim elements...
www.carmag.co.za www.carmag.co.za

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These custom Mini JCW hot hatches are all kinds of awesome

Collaboration with Deus Ex Machina breeds two showstoppers in time for the Munich Motor Show

Earlier this year, Mini collaborated with apparel and lifestyle brand Deus Ex Machina to design a special livery for the Nürburgring 24 Hour race. A couple of months on, and the two have been at the paint palettes (and spanners) again to create this pair of modified hot hatches for the Munich Motor Show.

What you’re looking at are a Mini John Cooper Works Electric and its combustion-powered sibling, but these aren't exactly standard, off-the-shelf cars.

First up is the ‘The Skeg’ – the yellow and silver one – which uses a JCW Electric as its base. We’re told it’s inspired by the surfing world, and you’ll have noticed the surfboard-styled rear spoiler (or ‘Flex Tip Surf Spoiler’ to give it its full name) plus the straps for tying down any boards on the roof. We’re more taken by those glorious wheelarches. Not sure how practical they’ll be on narrow Cornish coastal roads, mind.

It also gets an illuminated front grille, surely inspired by its BMW siblings, while custom fibreglass panels strip 15 per cent of the car’s weight.

 
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