Shocker! Porsche 911 beats Mini Cooper in "race" at "Road Atlanta"

Damon Lavrinc — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:03:00 EST

Mini vs. Porsche - Click above to view the videos after the jump

In the over-hyped and ridiculous contrived "race" between the Mini Cooper and the Porsche 911, a victor has been crowned, and as you'd expect, the blokes from BMW had their bumpers handed to them.

Despite creating a "track" at the infield of Road Atlanta designed to maximize the Mini's potential and neuter the high-speed prowess of the Porsche, the Cooper still lost the battle by a full two seconds. Naturally, Mini likes to point out that the difference was $38,000 a second, but to anyone paying attention, the additional $76k is money well spent... particularly on a real track. Maybe Mini should've reconsidered Hyundai's offer...

Hit the jump for the race and two introductory videos, including a thoroughly comical explanation about why Mini opted for an autocross track and not the full course at Road Atlanta.

[Source: Facebook]

Continue reading Shocker! Porsche 911 beats Mini Cooper in "race" at "Road Atlanta"

Shocker! Porsche 911 beats Mini Cooper in "race" at "Road Atlanta" originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Followup: Porsche turns down Mini challenge at Road Atlanta [w/video]

Zach Bowman — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:29:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Mini, Porsche

Porsche says thanks, but no - Click above to watch video after the jump

Porsche has officially put the sad trombone treatment on a challenge Mini issued to the Stuttgart-based sportscar manufacturer. As you may recall, Mini USA head honcho (and former Porsche employee) Jim McDowell called out Porsche exec Detlev Von Platen in a hilarious video made just for Facebook. While the rules of the throwdown were a little vague, we did know that the Mini crew would be rocking a Cooper S while Porsche would bring along its own 911 Carrera S at some sort of battle royale to be held at Road Atlanta.

Since McDowell threw down the gauntlet, we have heard that the competition was going to be held in the track's paddock, not out on the actual tarmac, so who knows what Mini had up its sleeves. Either way, it doesn't matter much now. Von Platen has responded in an open letter to McDowel saying:

While your challenge seems like a fun and lighthearted campaign, we'll stick to racing the way we have over the decades. We welcome you at Sebring, Le Mans, Daytona or any other sanctioned race where there is more at stake than T-shirts and valet parking spaces.

Sick. Burn.

Porsche has also pointed Mini to a particular advertisement as a reminder of the company's intent. Click past the jump to see both the video and read the full letter for yourself.

With Porsche turning the invitation down, we have to wonder, will Mini still put on some sort of event, perhaps inviting privateers with Porsches of their own in a move not unlike General Motors' Cadillac CTS-V Challenge? Over to you, Mr. McDowell.

[Source: Porsche]

Continue reading Followup: Porsche turns down Mini challenge at Road Atlanta [w/video]

Followup: Porsche turns down Mini challenge at Road Atlanta [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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