New photos have revealed that British engineering firm Prodrive is busy at work creating a high-performance MINI Countryman model, presumably for future production.
Prodrive has extensive experience working with the MINI Countryman as the chief engineers behind the current World Rally Championship MINI Countryman vehicles. Both Prodrive and MINI have hinted at producing a performance-oriented Countryman, and the move would fill a void in the Countryman lineup left by the absence of a JCW option.
“Mini obviously has the Cooper and John Cooper Works brands and it will want to work out ways of harnessing this campaign, its rally heritage and those giant-killing acts of the 1960s through its road cars,” said Dave Richards, Team Principal, Prodrive.
Aesthetically, the Prodrive Countryman features an athletic body kit and a large, rear carbon-fiber wing, resembling the one found on the current WRC Countryman. Underneath the hood, the MINI Prodrive is believed to boast 230-hp - an upgrade of almost 50 ponies from the current Countryman S model. The power is derived a Superchip-tuned version of the same 1.6 liter turbocharged engine found in the Countryman S. A Milltek performance exhaust rounds out the Prodrive Countryman upgrades. Prodrive wants to add even more power to the Countryman, and may consider using an alternate engine. The Prodrive Countryman also features the ALL4 AWD system.
(Photos from Autocar.co.uk)
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