Mini bigwig Dr. Michael Ganal said all new models of the Mini had completely new four cylinder engines, which he claimed increased performance and decreased fuel consumption by 20 per cent.
Other new features included an optimised chassis, new six-speed transmission and electro-mechanically assisted power steering.
The new Mini is boasting itself as the safest car in its class with six airbags as standard. Ganal said the exterior changes are subtle because Mini buyers don’t like change, so the rounded headlights and hexagonal grille have had only slight design tweaks to bring them up to date.
Inside is a different story, with a complete revamp for a more spacious and sporty feel, he said.
The CARSguide test team is currently in Barcelona for the official worldwide launch of the new Mini, and our test drive reports will be available in coming weeks.
Stephen Corby
Contributing Journalist
Stephen Corby stumbled into writing about cars after being knocked off the motorcycle he’d been writing about by a mob of angry and malicious kangaroos. Or that’s what he says, anyway. Back in the early 1990s, Stephen was working at The Canberra Times, writing about everything from politics to exciting Canberra night life, but for fun he wrote about motorcycles.
After crashing a bike he’d borrowed, he made up a colourful series of excuses, which got the attention of the motoring editor, who went on to encourage him to write about cars instead. The rest, as they say, is his story.
Reviewing and occasionally poo-pooing cars has taken him around the world and into such unexpected jobs as editing TopGear Australia magazine and then the very venerable Wheels magazine, albeit briefly. When that mag moved to Melbourne and Stephen refused to leave Sydney he became a freelancer, and has stayed that way ever since, which allows him to contribute, happily, to CarsGuide.
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