CNET
When it comes to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, you can’t be too careful. Beyond the the negative affects of the COVID-19 virus itself, the term “coronavirus” alone is causing some problems, including forcing Mini to rename the super cool “Corona Spoke” wheels on its new electric Cooper SE. “
The wheel was renamed from ‘Corona Spoke’ to ‘Power Spoke’ out of sensitivity to the COVID-19 situation,” a Mini spokesperson told Roadshow on Thursday, following a report from InsideEVs earlier this week. “Although the wheel design was named well before the current pandemic, a decision was proactively made to change the name in advance of any feedback being received.”
“Power Spoke” makes perfect sense, as the wheels are said to resemble the design of a UK power outlet. (Despite being owned by a German company, Mini loves to flaunt its British roots.) These 17-inch wheels come on the Cooper SE’s highest “Iconic” trim level. More
Anybody else sick and tired of all this choking of the Corona chicken?
For Christ’s sake, give it up. Any entertainment value this shit had is gone. I’m halfway through my six pack and on my second cigar, watching PBR reruns. I have washed every Goddamned window and mirror in the house twice this week and have had enough of this shit.
Whutcha call ’em doesn’t matter! Those wheels just look like shit!
With an estimated driving range of “about 110 miles”, you can probably cut that to a more realistic range of 75 miles. This thing will spend most of its life on a charger!
Now for Power Spoke, California and Power Spoke beer.
Jesus H Christ the gun club is closed, every fucking source of Airgun pellets is telling you they are a week behind in shipping orders, I am getting low on Airgun ammo and it won’t be long before the Barack Obama shooting gallery in the basement isn’t even an option. This shit is getting on my Goddamned nerves.
Minis are crap anyway. Lousy transmissions, and the engines use oil. As in a LOT of oil. As in ALL the oil, with resulting trashed engines. And yeah, those wheels are hideous.
Where is that goddamned open thread BFH promised? We need to RANT!
(Just kidding, I never rant. But the Scot in me complains a lot, sometimes.)
rename it ‘Corona Woke’, or ‘Corona Joke’
maybe … ‘China Spoke’, ‘Cooper Mini: Joke’, ‘Can Opener Spoke’
@ Jimmy APRIL 24, 2020 AT 6:58 PM
He promised me a pony for Christmas. I bet you get your thread before I have to worry about hay and oats.
Renaming “Corona Spoke” wheels to “White Power Spoke” would have been a PR disaster.
Is Mini going to rename their engine “the coolant puking power plant from both ends”?
My Mini went out of warranty one February with 48k miles on it. Nine months and $6000 later after replacing the thermostat housing, 2 coil packs, water pump, TPMS board, and anti-theft board which were all out of warranty. I fixed everything and managed to sell it for $12k – It had a MSRP 5 years earlier of $39,800. I have never had a car depreciate so much in 5 years.
@Tsquared: My ex-son-in-law was a service writer at a Mini Dealer. He told me LOTS of horror stories like yours. Can’t believe these things are still being sold.
@ Tsquared APRIL 24, 2020 AT 8:41 PM
“My Mini…”
Something tells me that I will never have to deal with….
9 thousand + for the transmission rebuild.
I would never let a family member buy one. You can’t work on them yourself.
AFAIK they are owned by BMW. I had a girlfriend in the 1980s who had a brand new one. The damnable thing was in the shop more than it was on the road. She told me: BMW makes a great car, they just need a lot of attention. I told her: I buy a car to serve me, not for me to serve the car. Any car that a needs a lot of attention is a piece of shit in my book.
FWIW, she idolized her father who also owned one of the pieces of shit. I think what ended our relationship was when he told me his BMW was much faster on a road course than my Mach 1. Not just faster, but much faster. We went up to Seattle International Raceway on a practice day and I never saw that piece of shit again until I lapped it less than six laps later on a 2-1/4 mile course. After the first quarter mile, as soon as I entered turn one, I couldn’t even see the piece of shit in my rear view mirrors.
The Goddamned things are an overrated piece of shit if ever there was one. It would be one thing if they were reliable, but I wouldn’t trust one to make a trip from Los Angeles to Seattle in without having a towing company on retainer.