The MINI WRC Team continued seamlessly into 2012 after scoring two promising podium places during its 2011 learning and preparation year by impressively announcing its presence in the 2012 World Rally Championship. Dani Sordo in the number 37 MINI John Cooper Works WRC emphatically proved the performance of the car in the classic Rally Monte Carlo with a fine second place, simultaneously underscoring the winning spirit which reigns within the entire MINI WRC Team.

On the last special stage of the Rally Monte Carlo Dani Sordo ensured a perfect start to the season for his team. With the fourth fastest time on the 5,16 kilometre Powerstage he secured second place overall, having successfully fended off the advances of protagonist Petter Solberg, who had set three fastest times on the previous day to close within 19,1 seconds of Dani. At the finish Dani’s advantage over Solberg amounted to 28,7 seconds, with Sébastien Leob taking overall victory.

“To score a podium place on the Rally Monte Carlo is always something special,” said Dani at the finish. “We had to push hard towards the end, but the result proved well worth the effort.” After places three and two on last season’s Rallys Germany and France respectively, this result marks Dani’s third podium for the MINI WRC Team, bringing his career total to 32 in 92 starts. He has scored 19 second places, and 13 third overalls.

Team principal Dave Wilcock, too, was delighted by the performance delivered by the team on the opening round of the new WRC season. “We are very pleased with this result, and it is pretty special to come second in the Rally Monte Carlo with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, particularly given the brand’s very successful history here,” said Wilcock. In the 60s the “Three Musketeers”, namely Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen, claimed three Rally Monte Carlo Rally victories with the classic Mini Cooper S to create a sensation in international rallying.

“Well done to Dani and Carlos. they did a great job,” added Wilcock. “Pierre and Sabrina delivered a good, solid job too. The team has worked hard. This means that their success is well deserved.” Pierre and his co-driver Sabrina de Castelli made their debut for the MINI WRC Team with the number 52 MINI WRC after Pierre made his WRC debut on the Rally France, placing a classified ninth overall on home soil in a privately-entered MINI.

Two privateer MINI WRC crews also celebrated positive results on the Rally Monte Carlo. Portugal’s Armindo Araujo finished tenth for his own WRC team to score a point in the opening round of the championship. Brazilian Paulo Nobre placed a classified 20th for Team Palmeirinha Rally in his MINI WRC.

Adventurers and Explorers Take Note: The Recruitment process for BMW’s First All-Electric, High-Performance Vehicle – The BMW ActiveE – Now Open.

Recruitment efforts officially get underway in seven U.S. markets to find 700 BMW “Electronauts” to join the 2012 ActiveE Field Trial, a collective mission to help define the future of mobility.

Woodcliff Lake, NJ, January 20, 2012 – Beginning today, the recruitment process for the highly anticipated all-electric BMW ActiveE is open in the metropolitan markets of Boston, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco. The BMW ActiveE is available by lease only at a cost of $499 per month for 24 months with a down payment of $2,250. Electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts interested in leasing the BMW ActiveE can begin the recruitment process at www.bmwusa.com/ActiveE. Vehicles are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Calling All Electronauts. The 700 BMW ActiveE lessees have been dubbed “Electronauts”. BMW Electronauts are adventurers and explorers; they are front-runners of innovation and advocates for sustainability. Most importantly, they are key participants in the BMW ActiveE Field Trial. Beginning in early 2012 and taking place in the U.S., Europe and China, the BMW ActiveE Field Trial will include more than 1,100 BMW ActiveE vehicles, produced at BMW’s plant in Leipzig, Germany. Throughout the field trial, car- and driver-generated data and anecdotal feedback from the Electronauts will be collected by BMW to deepen its knowledge about the everyday use of EVs and to provide actionable insights into electric mobility in urban environments. Once the field trial commences, information collected from the Electronauts will be made available for all EV enthusiasts and media.

In addition, the learnings from the field trial will provide direct insight into electric mobility in advance of series production of BMW’s first purpose-built, mass-produced electric vehicles, the BMW i3 in 2013 and the i8 in 2014. Concepts of the i3 and i8, the first two vehicles from the new BMW i brand, made their official North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 16 and 17, 2011.

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Spartanburg/Munich. The BMW Group is expanding capacity at its U.S. plant in Spartanburg. “We plan to invest over the next three years nearly $900 million in the Spartanburg plant by 2014. This will create 300 new jobs by the end of this year. This will allow us to produce 350,000 units in Spartanburg in the midterm,” says Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Production, in Spartanburg on Thursday. The BMW Group already invested $750 million in the expansion of the plant for production of the new BMW X3 between 2008 and 2010.

“This is in response to rising global demand for our BMW X models and the expansion of the BMW X family to include the BMW X4,” Arndt explained at a ceremony to celebrate production of the two-millionth vehicle at the BMW plant in South Carolina since 1994. The move will bring the BMW Group’s total investment in South Carolina to nearly $6 billion.

The Governor of the State of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, spoke at the ceremony, saying: “BMW has once again provided tremendous evidence that South Carolina is a blueprint for significant economic development success. The partnership between this company and our State is an enduring example of how to attract, retain and grow business to stimulate perpetual job creation.”

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I’ve yet to drive the Roadster, and given the sub zero temperatures and snowy weather of Kuhtai, I’ll patiently wait for sizzling Toronto summer weather – but in the mean time I’m deeply confused about which car – the Coupe or the Roadster – I would pick.

Given that they both handle similarly, minus some rigidity in the chassis and a little extra weight for the roadster, of course, I’m at a fork in the road. While my time behind the wheel was limited, I was truly smitten with the Coupe’s character. But if you pulled its roof open, it could deliver the extra aural pleasure and wind-in-your-hair feeling that hardtops can never quite deliver.

I’ve always thought that the MINI Coupe would make for a great run-about car on Toronto roads (but then I’ve also felt that the Humvee would make for a great car for Toronto roads… for different reasons). It’s narrow width makes it adept to slipping through heavy traffic and narrow back alley short-cuts. Its style and character make it desirable from the sidewalk, and its efficiency makes sense when 90% of your driving is extra-urban.

Again, without driving them both, it’s hard to decide which would be the most rewarding.

What would you choose?

Tell us 

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Even though not confirmed by BMW, we expect the ActiveHybrid 3 to use a 3.0 liter six-cylinder turbocharged TwinPower engine aided by an electrical engine to deliver an additional 40 kW (about 53 horsepower). The hybrid technology is similar to the one seen in the BMW ActiveHybrid 5. The electric motor in the latter model develops 40 kW/55 hp and is supplied with energy by a high-performance lithium-ion battery integrated into the luggage area.

To increase efficiency, the lithium-ion high-performance battery is charged when the car is coasting or braking, the electric motor performing the role of a generator feeding energy into the high-voltage battery. By contrast, under acceleration the electric motor takes on a boost function. Here, it assists the petrol engine by generating an ultra-dynamic burst of power.

The innovative hybrid system features a coasting mode (with the engine switched off) active at up to 160 km/h (100 mph).

In our opinion, the ActiveHybrid 3 will become a West Coast customers’ favorite, and a popular car among “green technology” advocates.

Read More at BMWBlog.com

The hybrid produces 349 horsepower and has an overall weight of 1480kg, the equivalent to a power-to-weight ratio of 236 horsepower per 1000 kilograms. BMW says the i8 runs 0 to 62 mph in just 4.6 seconds and a has a fuel consumption of 80 mpg.

The i8 Concept combines the advantages of two different drive systems – an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. The electric motor is not a secondary power source, but rather an equal partner of the internal combustion engine. Initial revealed with a diesel engine, the major change for production models is a new 1.5 liter petrol engine. The engine is mounted at the rear and drives via a dual-clutch gearbox.

BMW i8 measures 4632mm in length, 1955mm in width and 1280mm in height, comparable to the 3 Series coupe in dimensions.

BMW will launch the i8 in 2014 and the rumormill says the price point will be above $150,000.

Read More at BMWBlog.com

Gallery: BMW i8 at Detroit Auto Show

I say gift because slippery roads can be fun-filled treasures covered in solid water. If you have a wild side that loves to explore the performance of your car, then you likely look forward to a good snow fall. In fact, you may even hope for it, checking the weather periodically to see if the sky’s ultimate gift to winter roads is on its way.

A slippery road surface decreases the traction coefficient such that you can reach the limits of grip at much slower (and safer) speeds. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to drift, or control understeer, no better venue could be had than a snow covered road or parking lot. It’s the perfect time to learn performance driving, this blustery time of the year.

Being the procrastinating sort that I am, I’ve still got the Yokohama Advan Neova AD08′s firmly wrapped to my car. These, after countless track days and months of on-road driving, are looking somewhat worn. Summer performance tires should never be driven in the cold, much less over snow or ice. There is simply, no grip. Worse yet, on the phone with Yokohama, a chemist told me that my tires will actually shatter if I hit a bump well below 0′ Celsius. The nano technology engineered into these tires for wicked high-temperature grip means that at low temperatures, they will literally solidify as water turns into ice, and shatter, forever destroyed. That sounds so cool I almost want to try it – minus the expensive price tag that experiment would carry.

And so, for a second year I am prisoner to the cold, only able to drive my car when it’s warm enough not to shatter my tires. I need to sneak down to Southern Ontario where my Blizzak LM-25s are stored, carefully orchestrating my schedule with the weather forecast. Once they’re mounted, the winter is mine to enjoy. I should probably get on that, as the Detroit Auto Show, better know as the NAIAS is soon to be underway, and on January 9th, I’ll be there reporting live. I’ve never been to a Detroit Auto Show where it didn’t snow – and I’ve been going since I was a toddler.

It’s probably a good time to re-visit a tech article I wrote on the merits of winter tires two winters ago. Click here to give it a read. In short, it develops the argument that winter tires are critically important to winter driving and are, in fact, likely to save you money.

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We knew it was only a matter of time before the gorgeous all glass doors of BMW’s i8 concept car were replaced with more conventional ones. Gone are the high-flying butterfly doors; they are now likely to be surfaced in aluminum, or a composite material.

Are we disappointed? A little. Are we going to turn down a press drive? Umm… no. The i8 remains one of the most exciting BMW’s produced to date, chalk full of firsts for the company. We expect the i8 to feature a turbo charged inline 3 cylinder – or at most a 4 cylinder unit powering the rear wheels, with electric motors powering the front, and boosting power to the rear.

The spy photos can be found at Road and Track

Expect Toyota Prius milage, minus the snoring passengers. The i8 will likely give the current M3 a run for its money – at least in a straight line. We expect BMW’s next M3 to trounce the i8 in the performance department, however, thanks to a bump in power and a reduction in weight.

Is there an M8 in the works? We can only dream of this eventuality. If we all collectively pray for it at exactly the same time, will our focused mental powers influence BMW to build it? No. Too bad. But hopefully BMW will find a business case to build it, and we can, finally, stop begging BMW for a proper supercar to take to Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and the likes.

U.S. magazine Car and Driver names, for 21 consecutive years, the BMW 3 Series and M3 as one of the 10 Bestcars in 2012. The competition was represented by the new Audi A6 and A7.

Here is what the magazine had to say about the popular bimmers:

“The competition should have figured out a way to beat the BMW 3-series by now. It’s not for lack of trying: Every so often, another carmaker will pitch a worthy competitor into the mix, but none has been able to knock the 3-series from its pedestal or even maintain its consistent brilliance.

U.S. magazine Car and Driver1 names, for 21 consecutive years, the BMW 3 Series and M3 as one of the 10 Bestcars2 in 2012.The competition was represented by the new Audi A6 and A7.

Here is what the magazine had to say about the popular bimmers:

“The competition should have figured out a way to beat the BMW 3-series by now. It’s not for lack of trying: Every so often, another carmaker will pitch a worthy competitor into the mix, but none has been able to knock the 3-series from its pedestal or even maintain its consistent brilliance.

After 21 consecutive years on the 10Best list, BMW continues to evolve the 3-series toward some platonic ideal of sportiness. You don’t notice the seats, the steering, the suspension, or the brakes because everything feels natural. Everything feels right. And how has no other automaker matched the silkiness of BMW’s inline-six engines?

Don’t forget the M3, either, which remains magnificent in the twilight of a celebrated life, thanks largely to that lusty 414-hp, 8300-rpm V-83. The 3-series sedan is on hiatus until a new model drops in February. In other words, even as the entire current 3-series lineup is on the way out the door, it still roasts the competition. The biggest threat to its dominance is not from another carmaker but from BMW itself. An increased focus on gizmology has robbed a couple of recently introduced BMWs of the athletic, connected feeling that made the old Ultimate Driving Machine tag line ring so true. Here’s to hoping BMW doesn’t screw up the best one.”

Over 1000 guests at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel for the motorsport equivalent of the Oscars saw double World Champion Carlos Sainz present the coveted prize to Dr. Kay Segler, head of MINI Brand Management, and MINI WRC Team Principal David Richards. This is the first time the title has been awarded to any manufacturer other than Citroen since 2007.

“Wherever MINI has competed this year, it has seemed like all the fans have been cheering us on,” said Dr. Segler. “It is, therefore, fitting that it is the fans and readers of AUTOSPORT that have voted the MINI WRC as the Rally Car of the Year.”

David Richards: “This award caps what has been a truly memorable debut year for MINI in the World Rally Championship. This award is a testament to the dedication of the whole team behind the project in Banbury and the commitment of BMW and MINI who have fully supported the programme.”

Following the huge success enjoyed on the international rally scene in the 1960s, the MINI brand celebrated its return to the World Rally Championship at this year’s Rally Italy. Dani Sordo twice steered the number 37 MINI John Cooper Works WRC to a podium finish. The MINI WRC Team also won seven special stages.

As well as the two MINI works cars, up to four private MINI cars were also in action in the 2011 WRC. By the end of 2011, 15 MINI WRC cars will have been delivered to customers and in 2012 it’s anticipated that there will be as many as 80 car starts for customer teams in the WRC.

Read More at BMW Blog