06 Mini Cooper "s"6-spd*21k Orig 1 Own No Smoker*gorgeous*mint Cond*rare Find*fl on 2040-cars

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JCW Tuning Kit comes to Mini Countryman and Clubman

Mini devoted one line in the middle of its SEMA press release to the limited-edition Ice Blue Cooper S Hardtop on show at SEMA. We'll give it a few more lines: the Ice Blue hue hasn't been available since 2013, and Mini's being coy about how long the color will hang around. Available on two-door Cooper models, the Ice Blue package adds optional features beyond color, like custom wheel caps and Mini Connected, and adds a few thousand dollars to the MSRP depending on which Cooper you start with. Ready for the big Mini news? The John Cooper Works Tuning Kit will soon be available for Cooper S and Cooper S ALL4 Countryman and Clubman; before now, the kit could only be had for the Cooper S hardtop and convertible. The kit juices horsepower up to 208 hp from 189 hp, and throws in another 14 pound-feet of torque to top out at 221 lb-ft. The stainless-steel exhaust reduces exhaust gas back pressure, and can be controlled via Bluetooth for Sport or Sport+ auditory response. Sport, we're told, is safe for any road, while Sport+ makes a track-only kind of cacophony. The back-end growl gets piped through either chrome or carbon fiber tailpipes. The JCW Tuning Kit goes on sale in January 2018 for $1,950, and can be installed at any Mini dealer. Related Video: Featured Gallery Mini Ice Blue Cooper S Hardtop View 10 Photos Related Gallery Mini John Cooper Works Tuning Kit Aftermarket SEMA Show MINI Coupe Performance mini clubman mini cooper s jcw

On Location in California with BMW and Mini

A mid-winter escape from frigid Michigan to drive a trio of new BMW and Mini products? It'd be a busy couple of days, but you can't argue with Southern California in February. The temperatures in LA, where we drove the Mini Cooper S Convertible, hovered in the mid-80s, and it was solidly in the 70s further north, at Monterey, where we drove the M2 and X4 M40i. The highlight of the trip was Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which is a rewarding track to drive in a street car. The M2 was a blast there. The canyon roads above Malibu in the Mini were a close second, but even the lazy drive down the PCH to Big Sur was a blast. More important is the California state of mind we were in when driving all three of these cars. I've spent a lot of time in this state, and it has a complicated relationship with the car – and there's also a huge difference in attitude between the greater Bay Area and Southern California. Ample sun and twisty roads clash with image-consciousness, eco-consciousness, and brutal urban gridlock, and each BMW dealt with that paradox admirably, in its own way. Take a quick jaunt to California with me and check out the locations and experiences that helped form our impressions of these vehicles: the 2016 BMW M2 First Drive, the 2016 Mini Cooper S Convertible First Drive, and the 2016 BMW X4 M40i Quick Spin.

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.