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MINI John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4 Dakar Limited Edition

It’s another MINI limited edition model – the MINI John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4 Dakar – this time to celebrate MINI’s Dakar successes. We all know MINI loves a special edition, and it’s got to the point where there seem to be more ‘special edition’ and ‘limited edition’ MINI’s rolling out of showrooms than the bog standard car. But this limited edition – the MINI John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4 Dakar – really is a limited edition, produced to celebrate MINI’s Dakar triumphs in the last couple of years, as there will be just 11 made.

Fiat 500 gets Stop-Start

Flavour of the month, stop-start, and here’s another to add to the list. The Fiat 500 gets Start&Stop (I’ve lost count of the different monikers) as an option on the 1.2 Lounge, using Bosch technology to beef up the system to make it reliable. The Stop/Start also gets another Fiat moniker – Blue&Me – which gives the driver EcoDrive to aid emissions and adds hands-free phone and an entertainment system.

BMW i3 EV to get BMW motorcycle engine as range extender?

BMW i3 to get motorcycle range-extender engine? The only real way to make an electric car – any electric car – come close to being a viable replacement for an ICE car is to fit it with a small engine to extend its range and charge its batteries when reserves get low. The range extender is the technology the Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera use to make their cars suitable for more than just short urban commuting, and it’s something BMW are planning as an option for the i3.