Would you believe that a small-capacity 170-horsepower supercharged 1.6 engine can not only withstand 311 thousand kilometers without a major overhaul in 16 years, but also help win races? And under the hood of the Mini R50 series.
– Nand what he is not R50! Only Minis with atmospherics were designated that way, – Sergey Rybak, the owner of the car, immediately corrects me. – And the Cooper S wore the R53 index. However, in many spare parts catalogs, the designation R50 is still found …
The history of the creation of the first Mini by Alec Issigonis, introduced in 1959, is now known to everyone. And Issigonis’s catchphrases like “a designer should develop machines exclusively for himself” today might easily disperse into memes. But the neoclassical Mini with the internal designation R50 / R53 of the 2001 model, as time has shown, is no less valuable for mother history.
In 1994, the Germans from BMW bought the Rover Group, as they say, with giblets – including the production of “classic” Minis and, more importantly, with all the rights to commercial use of the brand. The Bavarians then, in the 90s, got into the taste so much that they later coveted the Rolls-Royce. And not just bought it, but made it commercially successful! But with the Rover from the very beginning it did not work out. Things did not go further than the Rover 75 sedan and the use of BMW engines on Range Rover and Land Rover SUVs.
Although it is now obvious that the two-way move with the purchase of the Rover Group and the subsequent discord was undertaken by the Germans with the sole purpose of civilly “squeezing” Mini from the British. After all, they sincerely did not understand why invest huge amounts of money in the development of the heir, albeit a cult, but long outdated car. And BMW had not only an accurate marketing plan, but also its own fairly successful developments in front-wheel drive. And if the Rover 75, as they say, did not go – the version with the V8 engine did not help either – then the Mini just flew!
The front suspension of the Mini R50 / R53 is no different from most classmates: McPherson struts, L-shaped levers and a rear lower steering rack mounted on the same subframe with the suspension
In terms of technology, the Mini R50/R53 is exceptional primarily as a compact front-wheel drive with rear multi-link. Or rather, with a three-lever. Fans of old Hondas must grimace here: the Civic of the EK series, which was born even earlier, had not only a multilink at the rear, but also a double wishbone front suspension. And Mini was content with trivial McPherson struts. And yet he rode just fantastic!
Three-link is not the best suspension scheme in terms of kinematics, but BMW engineers succeeded in it: it is still used in the modern UKL Mini-platform and its derivatives
The headlines in the Autoreview of those years are the most eloquent evidence. “Illegitimate Children of Love” – this is how Podorozhansky described the basic Mini One and Mini Cooper. “The Perfect Toy” – this is Golovanov regarding the compressor Cooper S.
Sergey, by the way, made his choice, including on the basis of those articles. At that time he was the commercial director of a cotton mill and did not think regarding participating in races at all. Although I have been sick of motorsport since childhood, that is, since Soviet times.
The native steering wheel is not “bald”, the plastic to match the body has not peeled off, the upholstery is not greasy: the New Mini was made according to BMW premium standards and did not save on materials
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