Mini's Big Embarassment

I am not sure how many of you have been following this week's amusing publicity stunt gone wrong from Mini USA, but I'll summarize it for you.  Basically, Mini's marketeers (not to be confused with Mouseketeers) thought it would be a bit of snarky fun to challenge Porsche to a race, just to prove that their modestly priced giant-slayer could take on Germany's finest sports car.  They proposed the venue of Road Atlanta, and wanted to pit a Mini Cooper S against a stock 911.  Seems like a bad idea by Mini, right?  BUT, rather than racing on Road Atlanta's legendary road course, they set up a lame autocross track in the infield that is more of a go-kart course than anything else.  Porsche declined to take the bait since they clearly have nothing to prove given their illustrious racing history, and thousands of car buffs proceeded to mock Mini on Jalopnik and Mini's facebook page for trying so blatantly to stack the deck in their favor.  But that didn't stop them from trying the stunt anyways using a Porsche 911 they apparently brought themselves!  Here is the result:  Even on this Mickey Mouse parking lot track, the Porsche wins by 2 full seconds.  I don't know why they even bothered.  My favorite comment on Jalopnik encouraged Porsche to bring a 914-6 instead of a new 911.  I would wager good money that the 38 year old 914-6 could STILL beat the Mini on this course. Just pathetic. I think if Mini wants to run with the big boys, they should look back in their own history, and go back to Rally. I would love to see Mini take on Subaru, Peugeot, Ford, Mitsubishi and the rest on the WRC circuit.  But the new Mini is apparently more interested in cheap publicity stunts than real racing credibility.

Automobiliac video of the week: Vintage Porsche 911 2.0 cuts like a power oversteer knife through Spa qualifying traffic!

This Porsche 911 driver really has a sense of how to get the most of his car's handling characteristics.  911's are notoriously tail happy, but he doesn't seem over-concerned about that as he confidently powers through the fast bends at Spa with a healthy dose of opposite lock.  This is committed driving at its best.  The fact that he can blow away that Porsche 904 (1:11), not to mention 2 other 911s really demonstrates how much speed he is carrying.  Watch how quickly he closes in on that Ford Falcon as he exits Eau Rouge (0:45).  It is almost as if they Falcon driver hits the brakes! And the 3-abreast pass (2:32) around the E-type and what looks like an MGB is pretty hair raising also!