MINI is extending all-wheel-drive capability to its Clubman model.
In a busy week for the brand, also unveiling the new John Cooper Works Convertible, the MINI Clubman All4 has been revealed ahead of a UK on-sale date in April.
It is the first MINI to offer all-wheel-drive outside of the Countryman SUV and the first all-wheel-drive version to be built at MINI?s UK factory in Oxford ? Countrymans are built under contract by MagnaSteyr in Austria.
MINI says that the All4 system is a newly developed all-wheel-drive transmission that is compact and lightweight, thus ensuring minimal fuel consumption and emissions increases over front-wheel drive variants.
Power passes as standard to the front axle differential and can be diverted by a bevel gear to a propeller shaft leading to the rear axle. Power transmission to the rear axle differential is continuously managed via a hang-on clutch ? this allowing the rear to be disconnected in normal motoring so the car can run in front-wheel-drive form saving fuel. The unit is connected to the Driving Dynamics System (DSC) that continuously calculates the ideal power distribution between the front and rear wheels.
Changes are made in fractions of a second, the system taking into account wheel rotation speeds, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, road speed, accelerator position, engine torque and steering angle.
The Clubman All4 will be offered in two forms, either as a Cooper S or Cooper SD variant. The Cooper S offers 189bhp from its 2...