Latest news with #delta4x4
The Advertiser
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Advertiser
'Beastly' Mini Countryman eats sand dunes for breakfast
A muscled-up Mini Countryman concept has been served up with a raft of hardcore desert-destroying mods after being transformed by two German off-road legendary outfits. Dubbed 'The Beast', the 2025 Mini Countryman SUV concept is the work of the delta4x4 tuning house and the X-raid rally team – who have teamed up with great effect before including winning the grueling Dakar Rally six times. The Beast sits a whopping 50mm higher than a standard Countryman – meaning 252mm of ground clearance – using 'rally-tuned' suspension and 18-inch Hanma beadlock alloy wheels wrapped in 255/55 R18 Loder AT #1 off-road tyres. They sit within wheel-arch extensions on seriously pumped front and rear guards, with the front-end led by a rally-spec batch of 10 spotlights, a nudge bar, and bonnet pins, all following a flat-grey and searing orange colour scheme. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. There's a fifth beadlock wheel as a full-size spare on the roof, where two jerry cans, recovery boards and ladders are stowed for when The Beast hits trouble. The rear side windows have Land Rover Defender-style pannier boxes, too, for even greater cargo-carrying capacity. There's no mention of any upgrades to the powertrain, and – while the jerry cans suggest petrol is on offer – whether 'The Beast' can be also ordered with the battery-electric powertrain available in the Countryman. In its most potent John Cooper Works (JCW) ALL4 spec, the petrol Countryman uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 233kW/400Nm using a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive for a claimed 5.4-second 0-100km/h time. The electric version uses a pair of electric motors to make 230kW/494Nm for a 0-100km/h time of 5.6 seconds Revealed on social media there's not a lot of additional detail – nor any indication of customer pricing – for the Dakar treatment beyond a batch of studio images and a brief description from delta4x4. The company currently offers a kit for the Ford Ranger for €2378 ($4152) – and an identical package at the same price for the Volkswagen Amarok – as well as suspension and wheel upgrades for the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 from €899 ($A1570). While delta4x4 doesn't officially offer its parts in Australia, some off-road suppliers do sell components and parts from the German company here – meaning 'The Beast' could be jumping sand dunes in a local desert in the near future. MORE: Everything Mini Countryman Content originally sourced from: A muscled-up Mini Countryman concept has been served up with a raft of hardcore desert-destroying mods after being transformed by two German off-road legendary outfits. Dubbed 'The Beast', the 2025 Mini Countryman SUV concept is the work of the delta4x4 tuning house and the X-raid rally team – who have teamed up with great effect before including winning the grueling Dakar Rally six times. The Beast sits a whopping 50mm higher than a standard Countryman – meaning 252mm of ground clearance – using 'rally-tuned' suspension and 18-inch Hanma beadlock alloy wheels wrapped in 255/55 R18 Loder AT #1 off-road tyres. They sit within wheel-arch extensions on seriously pumped front and rear guards, with the front-end led by a rally-spec batch of 10 spotlights, a nudge bar, and bonnet pins, all following a flat-grey and searing orange colour scheme. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. There's a fifth beadlock wheel as a full-size spare on the roof, where two jerry cans, recovery boards and ladders are stowed for when The Beast hits trouble. The rear side windows have Land Rover Defender-style pannier boxes, too, for even greater cargo-carrying capacity. There's no mention of any upgrades to the powertrain, and – while the jerry cans suggest petrol is on offer – whether 'The Beast' can be also ordered with the battery-electric powertrain available in the Countryman. In its most potent John Cooper Works (JCW) ALL4 spec, the petrol Countryman uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 233kW/400Nm using a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive for a claimed 5.4-second 0-100km/h time. The electric version uses a pair of electric motors to make 230kW/494Nm for a 0-100km/h time of 5.6 seconds Revealed on social media there's not a lot of additional detail – nor any indication of customer pricing – for the Dakar treatment beyond a batch of studio images and a brief description from delta4x4. The company currently offers a kit for the Ford Ranger for €2378 ($4152) – and an identical package at the same price for the Volkswagen Amarok – as well as suspension and wheel upgrades for the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 from €899 ($A1570). While delta4x4 doesn't officially offer its parts in Australia, some off-road suppliers do sell components and parts from the German company here – meaning 'The Beast' could be jumping sand dunes in a local desert in the near future. MORE: Everything Mini Countryman Content originally sourced from: A muscled-up Mini Countryman concept has been served up with a raft of hardcore desert-destroying mods after being transformed by two German off-road legendary outfits. Dubbed 'The Beast', the 2025 Mini Countryman SUV concept is the work of the delta4x4 tuning house and the X-raid rally team – who have teamed up with great effect before including winning the grueling Dakar Rally six times. The Beast sits a whopping 50mm higher than a standard Countryman – meaning 252mm of ground clearance – using 'rally-tuned' suspension and 18-inch Hanma beadlock alloy wheels wrapped in 255/55 R18 Loder AT #1 off-road tyres. They sit within wheel-arch extensions on seriously pumped front and rear guards, with the front-end led by a rally-spec batch of 10 spotlights, a nudge bar, and bonnet pins, all following a flat-grey and searing orange colour scheme. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. There's a fifth beadlock wheel as a full-size spare on the roof, where two jerry cans, recovery boards and ladders are stowed for when The Beast hits trouble. The rear side windows have Land Rover Defender-style pannier boxes, too, for even greater cargo-carrying capacity. There's no mention of any upgrades to the powertrain, and – while the jerry cans suggest petrol is on offer – whether 'The Beast' can be also ordered with the battery-electric powertrain available in the Countryman. In its most potent John Cooper Works (JCW) ALL4 spec, the petrol Countryman uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 233kW/400Nm using a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive for a claimed 5.4-second 0-100km/h time. The electric version uses a pair of electric motors to make 230kW/494Nm for a 0-100km/h time of 5.6 seconds Revealed on social media there's not a lot of additional detail – nor any indication of customer pricing – for the Dakar treatment beyond a batch of studio images and a brief description from delta4x4. The company currently offers a kit for the Ford Ranger for €2378 ($4152) – and an identical package at the same price for the Volkswagen Amarok – as well as suspension and wheel upgrades for the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 from €899 ($A1570). While delta4x4 doesn't officially offer its parts in Australia, some off-road suppliers do sell components and parts from the German company here – meaning 'The Beast' could be jumping sand dunes in a local desert in the near future. MORE: Everything Mini Countryman Content originally sourced from: A muscled-up Mini Countryman concept has been served up with a raft of hardcore desert-destroying mods after being transformed by two German off-road legendary outfits. Dubbed 'The Beast', the 2025 Mini Countryman SUV concept is the work of the delta4x4 tuning house and the X-raid rally team – who have teamed up with great effect before including winning the grueling Dakar Rally six times. The Beast sits a whopping 50mm higher than a standard Countryman – meaning 252mm of ground clearance – using 'rally-tuned' suspension and 18-inch Hanma beadlock alloy wheels wrapped in 255/55 R18 Loder AT #1 off-road tyres. They sit within wheel-arch extensions on seriously pumped front and rear guards, with the front-end led by a rally-spec batch of 10 spotlights, a nudge bar, and bonnet pins, all following a flat-grey and searing orange colour scheme. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. There's a fifth beadlock wheel as a full-size spare on the roof, where two jerry cans, recovery boards and ladders are stowed for when The Beast hits trouble. The rear side windows have Land Rover Defender-style pannier boxes, too, for even greater cargo-carrying capacity. There's no mention of any upgrades to the powertrain, and – while the jerry cans suggest petrol is on offer – whether 'The Beast' can be also ordered with the battery-electric powertrain available in the Countryman. In its most potent John Cooper Works (JCW) ALL4 spec, the petrol Countryman uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 233kW/400Nm using a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive for a claimed 5.4-second 0-100km/h time. The electric version uses a pair of electric motors to make 230kW/494Nm for a 0-100km/h time of 5.6 seconds Revealed on social media there's not a lot of additional detail – nor any indication of customer pricing – for the Dakar treatment beyond a batch of studio images and a brief description from delta4x4. The company currently offers a kit for the Ford Ranger for €2378 ($4152) – and an identical package at the same price for the Volkswagen Amarok – as well as suspension and wheel upgrades for the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 from €899 ($A1570). While delta4x4 doesn't officially offer its parts in Australia, some off-road suppliers do sell components and parts from the German company here – meaning 'The Beast' could be jumping sand dunes in a local desert in the near future. MORE: Everything Mini Countryman Content originally sourced from:
Auto Express
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Unassuming MINI Countryman becomes ‘The Beast': a Dakar Rally-spec off-road monster
The style-conscious MINI Countryman is targeted more at the glamping crowd than those who like to get properly dirty exploring the wilderness, and very few of these SUVs are likely to go off-road at all. However, after heavy modifications, this new concept model has us thinking that MINI could take on the infamous Dakar Rally. Advertisement - Article continues below This rather serious-looking machine comes from the minds at delta4x4, which produces off-road parts and accessories for cars like the Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes G-Class. The firm also worked with the German rally team X-raid that has won the Dakar Rally six times to date. The two organisations have already collaborated on one beefed-up version of the latest MINI Countryman. The idea for this more extreme, but still road-legal, version apparently started as an April fools' joke, but we're told that if there's enough demand, delta4x4 will build a small number for people to buy. The only vaguely off-road-orientated features on the standard MINI Countryman are a 'Trial' mode that showed drivers a compass and some terrain incline information, plus the fact customers can order it with all-wheel drive. Naturally, the concept, which the X-raid team calls the 'the beast', gets a 50mm increase in ride height. This will have significantly improved the Countryman's approach, departure and breakover angles, but also allowed delta4x4 to fit the more aggressive all-terrain tyres, wrapped around 18-inch beadlock wheels. The dramatic wheelarch extensions and presumably wider track will help off-road performance too, and should make this version of the Countryman more stable across rough terrain. There's also a large bull bar up front for extra protection, but the faux skid plates from the regular model have stuck around. Finally, the large roof platform offers space for a full-size spare wheel, two jerry cans, a couple of recovery boards and ladders, a shovel and other storage boxes. There are pannier boxes on either side too – like you can get on a Land Rover Defender – as well as a light bar mounted on the roof and a total of 10 spotlights across the front of the car. There's no mention of what version of the MINI Countryman this concept is based on, as there are both petrol-powered and pure-electric models with the brand's 'ALL4' all-wheel drive system. Hopefully potential customers will get a choice, if they plead loudly enough for delta4x4 to actually make this car. We've got our fingers crossed. Latest MINI Countryman deals Come and join our WhatsApp channel for the latest car news and reviews...
