2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible 2-door 1.6l on 2040-cars

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The Mini John Cooper Works Rally is set for Dakar

In recent years, there have been convincing Minis tailored for rallying: Dakar wins were accumulated with gusto. Now there is a new version for 2017, named the Mini John Cooper Works Rally. Its debut will be the 2017 Dakar Rally running through Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. The new rally car has been built with experience gathered from rallying the earlier Mini All4 Racing, and it's based on the Countryman. Key areas reworked were the aerodynamics and the weight distribution to enable a lower center of gravity. As X-raid (Mini's motorsports partner) CEO Sven Quandt puts it: "The center of gravity has gone down substantially – we placed about 50 kilos [110 pounds] downwards by some 50 centimeters [19.7 inches] in the center of the car, which helps the handling and makes the car much more comfortable over all types of terrain, and aids the handling on a rally track with lots of corners." There is a new chassis frame, and the powertrain benefits from an updated engine mapping and thermal management. The interior has also been redone. Speaking of the powertrain, the Cooper Works Rally runs a 3.0-liter straight six from BMW's turbodiesel portfolio. In this guise, the TwinPower unit produces 340 horsepower at 3,250 rpm and a very respectable 590 lb ft of torque from 1,850 rpm. The retained ALL4 four-wheel-drive system has a six-speed SADEV sequential gearbox, together with lockable, oil-cooled Xtrac diffs with a central SADEV unit. The 2017 Dakar Rally runs from January 2-14. Related Video:

Mini Coopers make the best Pac-Man ghosts in Pixels movie trailer

The concept of fighting off real-world incarnations of classic arcade game characters out to destroy the Earth sounds like a rejected idea for an SNL Digital Short. But it's coming to theaters this summer in a film called Pixels starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Based on the trailer, it seems the premise of the film is that aliens receive a message from Earth and decide to fight back with vintage arcade characters, including ones from Space Invaders, Q*bert and Donkey Kong. To defeat these baddies, Sandler and Co must beat them in the style of their respective games. When it comes time to take out the giant glowing-yellow Pac-Man, their plan includes outfitting a quartet of Mini Cooper S models as the ghosts. Squint at the cars' license plates to spot a subtle, visual joke. They are called Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde – the nicknames of the enemies in the arcade. While it could be argued that Sandler and James haven't quite been at the top of their games recently, the story here appears to boil down to Ghostbusters with video games, which could work purely on a nostalgic level if it's properly handled. Check out the trailer to spot even more vintage arcade references.

Mini Electric Pacesetter will lead Formula E, hints at future JCW cars

Just a few days ago, Mini teased a wild electric hatchback with pace car-style lights. And just as we expected, it's the new safety car for Formula E. It's called the Mini Electric Pacesetter inspired by JCW, which is a mighty long name for such a little car. It looks like a blast, and although it's not exactly a production car or the direct forebear of a car that will be offered, it does hint that there will be high-performance electric Minis. Don't just take it from us, take it from the man in charge of Mini, Bernd Korber: "But it does reveal one of the directions we could take with the electrification of the JCW brand. For me, the message is clear: Electrification and John Cooper Works are a good fit." Mini made some major modifications to the Pacesetter to get it ready to lead race cars. It weighs 287 pounds less than the Mini Cooper SE that it's based on, giving it a total weight of 2,712 pounds. Much of that weight loss comes from the gutted interior, which now has a welded-in roll cage, race seats and six-point harnesses. While not particularly related to weight saving, the seats also have a neat 3D-printed material for the cushions that can be made in different colors and densities. The electric motor and battery are unchanged at 181 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque, but the weight loss means that it hits 62 mph in 6.7 seconds, an improvement of 0.6 over the road car. Handling and braking are upgraded with racing coilovers that have adjustments for compression, rebound, camber and ride height, as well as four-piston brake calipers. Mini John Cooper Works GP forged four-spoke wheels are fitted with 245-mm Michelin Pilot Sport tires. The wider track from the wheels necessitated the unique 3D-printed carbon fiber fender flares. The rear wing, which is similar but not identical to the GP unit, is also made of 3D-printed carbon fiber material. Splitters, side skirts and a large rear diffuser round out the aerodynamic tweaks. The car will make its racing debut at the Formula E event in Rome on April 10. And we hope we won't have to wait too long for an electric John Cooper Works model to reach the public. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.