Car Fule

At first glance, it is a Mini Cooper S such as one can come across on every street corner, with its original four-cylinder engine of 175 horsepower and 240 Nm of torque … And yet, when comes a little closer, some elements indicate that we are on the wrong track.

Oversized fender wideners for example, the imposing spoiler, forged rims or even the logo, signed “Vini” instead of “Mini” … With a V, like V8! Under the hood, hides a block 4.0-liter V8 borrowed from the BMW M3 E90, which develops the power of 420 horsepower : not bad for a city car of barely 1.3 tonnes. It is associated with a seven-speed double-clutch transmission, also of BMW origin.

Powerflex Vini V8: a chassis from Subaru Impreza STI

But this extraordinary Mini also hides other specificities, such as its transmission to the rear wheels, its Subaru Impreza STI chassis, its Alcon braking system, its custom MacPherson suspensions, or even its Toyo Proxes R888R racing tires.

Inside, we discover a roll bar, Cobra Motorsport bucket seats, a carbon fiber dashboard, or even specific instrumentation from competition.

This crazy project, which required no less four years of work, is the work of Powerflex, a British manufacturer of suspension systems, in partnership with many brands such as Alcon, Bilstein, Forge, Cobra, Racelogic, Braid, ED Motorsport, etc. No details were given as to the performance of the model, which was presented last weekend during the 2021 edition of the Festival of Speed from Goodwood.

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