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| New for 2011 wheels |
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| 2011 Cooper front end |
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| 2011 Cooper S Cabrio front end |
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| 2011 Cooper S Clubman front end |
The 2011s are here !!! Here are couple pics of the FIRST 2011s delivery to dealer lots in Canada. Notice the new wheels on Cooper S Clubman (R55) and Cooper S Cabrio (R57). The new front bumpers are a bit more aggressive with the chrome trimmed air inlets. Clean and not overdone. The new front bumper on the Cooper is also a nice upgrade. A wider and larger grill gives a more aggressive appearance but still has an clean, smooth, elegant look. The new all black HVAC and radio/CD/deck controls looks nice too. Not that there was anything wrong with the old silver controls but still looks appropriate. Overall it feels like the facelift that happend in 2005. Subtle changes that made the model that much better.
Those black R121 rims are wicked! I'm hoping I can ditch my Crown rims for those. The one question I have, which nobody's been able to answer, how much do they weigh? I've heard 16.5lbs but that's just a rumour
ReplyDeleteThe next time I take one off I will check. Don't expect them to be a lot lighter than the other OEM wheels. OEM wheels with Run flats are not your lightest choice... but you know that already!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to switch away from RFs and when I do, I may consider new rims, hense the need to look at the weight improvement of the R121.
ReplyDeleteThanks bud!
I guess if you were able to compare R121 mounted wheels with similarly configured Crown Spoke it would give a good indication as to weight? Looking forward to your BBS post. Are all the OEM wheels made in Europe?
ReplyDeleteHey Rixter,
ReplyDeleteOEM wheels in similar sizes are all very close in weight. Its really the run flat tires that account for the the combo being soo heavy.
As far as I know yes, they are all made in Europe.
The old S Lites are made by Ronal and are made in the Czech Repulik. All of the 16 inch wheels I have looked at all say Made in Germany. There are also a couple styles made in Austria. I have not seen anything stamped with anything other than a European location.
The BBS post was submitted by a friend and yes, should be a good one!
Looking fwd to the BBS thread. For some reason there was a bunch of rumours about the R121 being only 16.5 lbs. I doubted that too, but the MINI2 site that has the 'official' weights of all the rims, still hasn't posted an update yet for the R121. I'm hoping to justify new wheels based on weight savings. LOL
ReplyDeleteCurious, is the charge pipe and particularly the discharge pipe for the engine now a more direct flow? I noticed the inlet tube leading to the turbo is a rigid pipe, just like on the JCW, so Im wondering if they've done anything re: air-flow for the other pipes? With so many after-market versions of the discharge pipe and the improvements shown on various dyno's I'd be surprised if MINI didn't get the hint?
ReplyDeleteYeah the intake pipe is different. The big difference between the N14 and N18 is the PCV. If you live in the East the PCV system on the N14 would freeze up with when there was excess moisture in the system and would cause a lot of different problems. I don't know how much power you could gain on the intake pipe but the old hose was pretty restrictive.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The rims look better and the new front bumpers are a bit more aggressive with the chrome trimmed air inlets.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if I could feature this post on our automotive community? http://www.atomicreach.com/microsite/bumpertalk
Feel free to email me back at annettewong@atomicreach.com
Looking forward to hearing from you soon,
Annette
Hey Annette,
ReplyDeleteYes, feel free to post the article on your website as long as you give credit to the Ultimate Automotive Blog.