BMW_Dude

This is the new Mini Cooper S, captured undisguised for the first time before its launch later this year.

Although the car's styling is familiar, it is all new, with a fresh nose and tail and more prominent wheelarches.

Perhaps the most significant change for the range-topping Cooper S is under the bonnet, with the old 1.6-litre supercharged engine being ditched in favour of a more sophisticated 1.6-litre turbocharged engine. There have also been substantial alterations to the Mini's suspension, allowing greater wheel travel.

The new Mini One, Cooper and Cooper S are due to go on sale in the UK this September, with a new soft-top following in June next year. Also in the pipeline is a new Traveller - a slightly larger estate version of the Mini with twin side-hinged boot doors - which is due in September 2007.

Source = Autocar