AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Byline: GREG KABLE
Now that the new, bigger Mini is on the market, BMW will reveal the similarly bigger Mini convertible at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in January.
Sporting revised bodywork with new detailing and a reworked chassis that includes a redesigned engine bay, the 2009 Mini convertible shares its front end with the hatchback, but from the A-pillars rearward, the car has been heavily altered to accommodate a folding soft top.
Developed by German soft-top specialist Edscha, the metal and fabric structure folds and stows behind the rear seats atop the trunk in just 15 seconds, at speeds up to 20 mph. It can also partially retract to create the effect of a sunroof.
Additional rigidity is built into the car's body, but even so, Mini says, the car weighs 22 pounds less than the old Mini convertible, with the Cooper S tipping the scales at 2,712 pounds. A new single-piece roll bar behind the rear seats deploys when sensors detect an impending impact.
An odd, Mini-esque new option is the ...
Source: HighBeam Research, RAY OF SUNSHINE; "09 MINI CONVERTIBLE DEBUT WILL BRIGHTEN THE DETROIT...