2022 model sneak peek

I respectfully disagree. I have hated the external design of many PHEV & BEV vehicles because the manufacturers seemed to cater to the crowd that wants to show the world they are driving a "green" car. Good examples are the whole line of Prius and more recently, the Honda Clarity (which, with fender skirts and other such touches) may be slightly more aerodynamic, but they look like a geek car to me. I like that the SE looks (mostly) like any other Cooper S. (Imagine your SE with fender skirts!)

 

::shudders::

Fender skirts are functional, and I frankly don't mind them on a car like the Clarity. But not on the SE; it would kill the look.

 

I, too, prefer a Mini that is more under the radar.

 

I’m not sure that quote refers to two different blue colors for the body of the car. It might just refer to the two shades of blue that are on the multi-tone roof. (In the Mini video, the designer is really pleased to walk you through the transition from one blue to another and then to black on the multi-tone roof.)

I’ve been thinking that the way they photographed the SE in that medium blue was what made it look different from the blue they show on the Cooper S on the front of that web page. Lots of color in the light, as you see in the background. However, I’d be psyched if it really was a different shade, since it’s mofo beautiful!

 

Further: if you look at the above image of four new Mini's under the same light, you can see two in blue. The left one has the power-spoke wheels, multi-tone roof and ostensibly is the SE, the right one has different wheels, bonnet stripes, and is a 4-door hardtop. In this lighting, they appear to be the same color.

In other pictures we see the same SE with the power-spoke wheels that look like a very unusually beautiful shade of blue:


And on their website, they show that same, 4-door Mini S in more natural lighting:


So my conclusion is that this blue they are showing is the only new blue they are introducing... that the three new colors are a grey, a yellow, and the one blue we see in the top image of this post.

 

Here are all the 2022 MINI Cooper SE photos from the press pack. Click on a low-res image to see the high-res version.

 

Does the 2021 model year have all of the strip lighting on the doors and dash?

 

Not on my 2021.

 

I don't get the honeycomb design on the scuttle for the SE, that is very reminiscent of the current (pre-2022) ICE S grill. Also not sure what to think of the overall new scuttle design.

 

MINI must have gotten the message, "Whoa! We went way overboard with 4 round yellow plug emblems and a filled-in grille!"

 

In the collection of 2022 MINI Press Kit photos, this must be MINI's depiction of the SE's fog-light substitutes. So if you ever find yourself mired in a red fog...

 

I just noticed the name "Hardtop" is absent from the Press Release text: Now it's "the MINI 3-door, the MINI 5-door and the MINI Convertible." I wonder if "MINI big 5-door" is the new name for the Countryman?

 

And then there's MINI's new name for the hatch: "luggage compartment lid." Wouldn't that make the SE a "MINI 2-door plus luggage compartment lid?"

 

It appears that, as with the drivetrain, the SE's suspension remains unchanged:
> The innovative damper technology is available for all model
> variants except the MINI One First, the MINI One and the
> MINI Cooper SE.

 

Me, trying to decide on color and wheel, photoshopping the Pulse Spokes on Island Blue and BRG...



EDIT to add the blue color in its more natural light, but with the Pulse spokes:

 

I’m not convinced they don’t just look solid.