J01 to be bigger than the F56

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A bit disappointing, but not surprising. Unfortunately. The increased length is not as disappointing as is the increased height.


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chrunck said:
Just saw on Motoringfile that the J01 is an inch taller and 1.5 inches longer than the F56.

https://www.motoringfile.com/2023/03/16/j01-electric-mini-cooper-bigger-than-we-expected/

I know many of us were skeptical of the previous comments about it being smaller on the outside and bigger on the inside, and it looks like we were right to be suspicious.
Click to expand...
I seem to recall photos of it parked in the snow pointing nose-to-nose with the current version, and it appeared slightly smaller. Optical illusion, effect of the camouflage, production version bigger, or just my mind playing tricks?

ETA: Something doesn't seem right about the stated dimensions. The wheelbase is supposedly 30 mm longer, with the overall length being 39 mm greater. How do you achieve that while actually significantly reducing the front and rear overhangs? Make the car a lot pointier?

ETA2: They also clearly stuffed up the dimensions of the R56.

ETA3: I also found Insightman's Photoshop overlay, where he scaled things according to the rear wheel diameter. Either that approached introduced a major error, the production vehicle is lot different, or this article is incorrect.
 
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Jim In Tucson said:
A bit disappointing, but not surprising. Unfortunately. The increased length is not as disappointing as is the increased height.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Click to expand...
How could MINI with a straight face claim the new SE was shorter when they knew exactly how long it would be?

Switching from a battery in the tunnel/under the rear seats to a slab-style battery under the floor, it makes sense the J01 would be taller. With a heavier battery, however, the SE's CG probably won't be much higher. I guess that will make it easier for us old folks to get in and out.

As I've harped on many times before, a MINI Cooper should be light--when will we learn how heavy this new SE is? And will it get even heavier before it can come to the US--assuming BMW can figure out how to sell it in the US?
 
Not to start any unsubstantiated rumors, but any chance Motoringfile got it wrong, and those are the dimensions of the new Aceman?

The Cooper gets smaller, the Countryman gets bigger, and the Aceman slots in between, ending up very similar in size to the F56.

Another question comes to mind: if those are indeed the dimensions of the new Cooper, why would the ICE version require such a heavily reworked platform? (Supposedly possible due to its "modular" design.)

ETA: I just noticed the picture of the F66, which to my eye has larger overhangs than the J01. So another possibility is that the dimensions given are for the former, not the latter.
 
chrunck said:
Just saw on Motoringfile that the J01 is an inch taller and 1.5 inches longer than the F56.

https://www.motoringfile.com/2023/03/16/j01-electric-mini-cooper-bigger-than-we-expected/

I know many of us were skeptical of the previous comments about it being smaller on the outside and bigger on the inside, and it looks like we were right to be suspicious.
Click to expand...
One would expect MINI-expert Gabriel to have noticed when the SE's range ballooned from 110 miles to 114 miles two years ago. After all, isn't range the only important spec for an EV?
 
insightman said:
One would expect MINI-expert Gabriel to have noticed when the SE's range ballooned from 110 miles to 114 miles two years ago. After all, isn't range the only important spec for an EV?
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MINI-expert Gabriel seems to just copy/paste from one article to the next without ever editing anything he previously wrote.
 
insightman said:
One would expect MINI-expert Gabriel to have noticed when the SE's range ballooned from 110 miles to 114 miles two years ago. After all, isn't range the only important spec for an EV?
Click to expand...
Working in a very detail-oriented career, it always surprises me how many errors (including grammatical) you in stories online. Sure, a writer might might be up against a deadline, or covering a wide range of topics, or not the most tech-savvy, but how hard is it to check your facts to make sure you got them right? I would be horribly embarrassed to make any of the numerous factual errors you see online.
 
So, it looks like MotoringFile is using the base F56 Cooper dimensions from MINI UK as their comparison. Height is pretty consistent between all ICE models in both the USA and UK... but length varies quite a lot.

13ub6aa.png

[UK: mm, US: inches... small mm differences are due to conversion rounding]​

~3mm taller and ~7mm longer than the existing Cooper SE is near enough to be equivalent, in my book. (and still nearly 1" shorter than the Cooper S.)
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sources:
https://www.mini.co.uk/en_GB/home/range/mini-3-door-hatch/mini-3-door-hatch-tech-spec.html
https://www.mini.co.uk/en_GB/home/range/more-mini-electric/mini-electric-tech-specs.html
https://www.miniusa.com/model/hardtop/specs.html
 
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I went looking for other sources that could confirm the J01 dimensions, and ran across this Autocar article where something completely different jumped out at me...
The Cooper’s interior – which will be all but mirrored across the rest of the range – harks back to BMW Minis of old, with a focus on physical buttons extending to an actual ignition key (which will be in the EV too).​
Eww... no thanks.

Also, not that it's relevant for EV models, but MINI appears to be axing the manual transmission as well.
The combustion-powered line-up is expected to exclusively use an eight-speed automatic transmission, as the car maker confirmed to Autocar it is “99% sure” it will not offer manual options on future products.​
 
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