MINI Malaysia has announced the upcoming
introduction of a new model, which from the teaser images that have been
provided reveal it to be the F57 MINI Convertible facelift. The car, which
premiered alongside the hatch in Detroit last year, arrives here a year after
the hatchback made its local debut.
Based on that gleaned from the image set, it looks
like the Convertible – which will be officially unveiled on July 19 – should be
of a similar specification to the F56 3 Door in its Cooper S form, with no JCW
bodykit on. As shown in the photo set, the car will sit on 17-inch Rail spoke
alloy wheels.
As with the 3 Door, motive power is provided by a
new 2.0 litre turbocharged petrol engine, which in its Cooper S guise offers
the same 192 hp and 280 Nm of torque as before, but with much improved fuel
efficiency. The mill is paired with a seven-speed wet dual-clutch transmission,
which is claimed to provide smoother, faster shifts with zero interruption
compared to the six-speed automatic it replaces.
Along with the teaser, MINI Malaysia also
highlighted how it recently celebrated the 60th anniversary of the brand with a
vehicle-shaped formation outlining ‘MINI 60’. The company gathered a number of
MINIacs and Friends of MINI folk to get them to form the number 60 with their
MINI vehicles on a tarmac canvas, set against the backdrop of the Kuala Lumpur
skyline.
