MINI Countryman VIP Track Day - Bedford Autodrome - 26th August 2010

[BigShow]

Fantastic day with MINI at Bedford Autodrome which included some 'soft' off-roading, pursuit trials, track work and 2 flying laps in a German spec MINI challenge car.

The day was superb from start to finish laid on with MINI's usual creative flair and I will be providing a full write up tomorrow on my thoughts having now driven the Countryman in Cooper Auto, Cooper Diesel and Cooper S All4 guises off road and on track and the results might surprise you.

However, here's a few random taster pics:

Nicely specified Countryman S All4 with aerokit







Sneak peak at new Roadster Concept, video walk around on its way.



Hot R56 MINI Challenge Laps, even in the wet they corner like you wouldn't believe...



Few sneaky shots of the new Coupe Concept, not being launched in the UK until September 2011 sadly.




Nice silver R56 JCW Calipers



Facelift John Cooper Works, MINI have listened to our love of GP style dials






And yes, this is how dirty the rest of the group got their Countryman after two laps of the off-road course, they were all clean before...



And this is how dirty Team MT got it once we told our Palmersport guide that Adam Foster was an MT member and he taught us everything we knew, to which he replied "Traction control off and lets see you drift it with the handbrake and as much gas as she'll take...." two laps later and it ended up like this...



Full review of the entire day including a write up of the Cooper Auto, Cooper Diesel and Cooper S All4 coming shortly so check back soon.

[blaze6]

so what was it like to drive?

[MiniOneSam]

Nice Gutted I couldn't make it!

[BigShow]

so what was it like to drive?

I'll explain all in the write up, just too exhausted from today to do it justice so will get a full review up tomorrow. Got a bit of video to edit too inclduing a sneaky up close and personal view of the Roadster Convertible after breaking through the barrier when no-one was looking... she sooo pretty!

[CHUBB]

hahahahahaha that last pic cracked me up. nice work! Who was out on that jolly then?

[t16msy]

the blue ones the coupe dude, ur right ur too tired to do anymore typing lol

[Vhyper]

Looks like you guys had a blast today!

First off that White Countryman S looks nice someone do it a favour though & photoshop it slammed then it would be even better! How did the Countryman handle the fields then when you weren't going sideways? i still wanna test one in the snow mind after the beginning of this years weather farce.

Nomnomnom Coupe..... must ... have, looks like MINI have timed it right releasing it in September with my JCW getting to 3 years old Nov/Dec next year the Coupe could be a worthy replacement....

Also why is it on the concepts they have very little wheelgap yet when you look at the facelift JCW it's wheelgap central..... WHY? why can't MINI release cars with less gap again?

[BigShow]

Bit of thrown together video, we need a dedicated MT film crew!

[Anthony_h]

Looks like you guys had a blast today!

First off that White Countryman S looks nice someone do it a favour though & photoshop it slammed then it would be even better!

Best i could do.

[Anthony_h]

Parkers have some performance data too.

1.6 Cooper S ALL4 (Chili Pack) 5d 7.6 s 130 mph 181 bhp

MINI Countryman (10 on) - Facts & Figures - Parker's