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Consumer Reports selling its road-tested roadsters [w/video]

Here's a chance to acquire a celebrity-owned vehicles, and this time at a discount instead of a premium. So the celebrity in this case is Consumer Reports, that magazine that could be equally adored and abhored by car enthusiasts. CR buys all of its test vehicles and usually finds willing second owners within its own ranks, but its opening its small used-car lot to the public. On the forecourt are four roadsters: an automatic 2012 Audi TT 2.0 TFSI Quattro S-Tronic with 6,600 miles for $36,500, a manual 2012 BMW Z4 sDrive28i with 8,400 miles for $45,000, a manual 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK250 for $39,500 and a manual 2013 Porsche Boxster with 7,000 miles for $48,000.
Those numbers mean a savings of $9,000 to $10,000 before haggling - each car is listed with an "Asking price" so there could be some wiggle room if you show up with pockets full of dough and eyes full of serious intent. Since the money CR earns from the sales go back into the magazine's budget to buy more test cars, however, it probably won't take any oddball trades, so you can forget about getting any purchasing help from that track-day AMC Javelin project on blocks in the back yard.
The vehicles have been taken care of and spiffed up for sale; buyers will take delivery at the CR test track in East Haddam, Connecticut and get a tour of the facilities. While you're there they'll even take you on a lap around the track so you can feel how your car handles when driven by one of its testers. They will probably not help you with advice on which toaster and dehumidifier to buy - you'll still need to get a subscription for that. Have a look at the video below to see a day in the life of a CR test car.

Mini Minor to be co-developed with Toyota

It was back in 2011 when Mini first showcased the prospect of an even smaller hatchback with the Rocketman concept at the Geneva Motor Show. In the nearly four years since, parent company BMW has hemmed and hawed on the possibility of putting it into production, but the latest word from Europe has it that the project is a go. According to Automobile magazine, Mini is realigning its product portfolio into five pillars: the essential hardtop we've already seen (available in two/three- and four/five-doors), the convertible, the upcoming new Clubman wagon (coming this summer with full-size auxiliary suicide doors on both sides), the next-gen Countryman crossover in 2016 and two new model lines. One will be the production version of the Superleggera roadster concept, earmarked for 2018. The other will be the Minor, a smaller city car reviving a long-gone model name and presaged by the aforementioned Rocketman concept. But for that last one, Mini won't go it alone. To develop the mini Mini, BMW will reportedly turn to its partnership with Toyota. The relationship is already set to yield a new Supra and Z4 and share fuel cell and other technologies. But this would broaden the partnership to include a small hatchback. However rather than use the existing (or next-gen) Aygo, which is already built under joint venture with PSA Peugeot Citroen (with which BMW previously had a joint engine venture), word has it that the BMW and Toyota will develop a new platform for the project – one that will be used by both partners. The new product plan doesn't leave much room for the Mini Coupe and Roadster (which have already been discontinued), for the Paceman three-door crossover (which will suffer the same fate) or for the projected seven-seater minivan. But the addition of the new Superleggera roadster and super-mini Mini aren't likely to leave us wanting for either. Related Video:

BMW i8 fully revealed ahead of Frankfurt debut

It may be early in the morning here in the US, but in Germany, the first day of the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show is in full swing. BMW took advantage of the early start and showed off its long-awaited i8 plug-in hybrid sportscar, a two-plus-two, swan-wing-doored coupe, to the Frankfurt crowd.
We drove a BMW i8 prototype back in August, so many of the things we're reading today are clarifications on our initial suspicions or speculations. Underhood sits a 1.5-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine. On its own, it churns out a respectable 231 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, which is then channeled to the rear wheels by way of a six-speed automatic transmission. An electric motor, meanwhile, sends 131 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque through a two-speed automatic to the front wheels.
With all-wheel drive at its disposal, the total system power sits at 362 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque, and allows the i8 to scamper to 62 miles per hour in just 4.4 seconds. That excellent performance is offset by an estimated fuel economy figure of 94 miles per gallon, though, making this a fast and efficient vehicle. Charging is impressively fast on the i8, with a full charge coming from a 110-volt outlet in under four hours. A BMW Charging Station will trim the charge time down to 1.5 hours.