Porsche Beats MINI, But Who Won The Publicity Race? Porsche? MINI? Hyundai?

The whole MINI vs. Porsche fiasco has been hilarious. From the very first video introducing the challenge, to Porsche's letter to Jim McDowell, to the reveal of the actual Road Atlanta set up, it has been one unreal trip.

But The New York Times asked a very good question today: who won the public relations campaign?

I mean, it is clear that MINI wanted to show the brand's spirit and enthusiasm for a good time while Porsche stayed true to its real racing tradition, then Hyundai came out of right field with a counter challenge.

It is kind of funny that MINI gave Hyundai the cold shoulder as Porsche did unto them. C'est la vie, I guess.

Taking all of this into consideration, who do YOU think walks away the big winner?

Mini may have lost the race, but who won the public relations campaign?

In the synthetic challenge posed by Mini to take on Porsche, the result was predictable and anticlimactic — competing on an ad-hoc infield course at the circuit at Road Atlanta, the 911 won by two seconds.

The staged event on Monday was the culmination of several rather weird turns that began earlier this month, when Mini challenged Porsche to put up a 911 Carrera S against a Cooper S. “This is not a joke,” read the headline on the e-mail message that I, as a Mini owner, received. As to the motives behind the tweak, the missive continued, “Maybe it’s because their owners wear too many pastel-colored sweaters.” Mini asked supporters to sign a push-Porsche petition on its Facebook site, and thousands responded...

[Source: The New York Times]

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Agent00R - 6/23/2010 6:02:09 PM

+8 Boost

Yeah, they were brushed aside completely.

Not even a rude letter was sent...

BondMI6 - 6/23/2010 5:38:38 PM

-2 Boost

Porsche by far.

The Panamera is red HOT right now while Mini is just, well Mini.

Until the Mini-speedster comes out the company that brought us "Motoring" needs to start picking on someone its' own size.

Say like, the Audi A1.........

bmwdrvr - 6/23/2010 5:53:33 PM

+3 Boost

It depends on Minis goal which im still missing no one really expected the Porsche to lose but based on the numbers the fact the Mini was so close to the much more powerful and Porsche saids alot about its handling abilities on an odd course like that but not sure the point of those bragging rights are...

Joe_Limon - 6/23/2010 6:24:44 PM

+2 Boost

If you noticed, the course was developed to help minimize Porsche's obvious power advantage. At the end of the day, that 2 second lead has little to do with differences in Power, it's more so a sign of how much the Mini lacks in the corners in comparison to the Porsche.

bmwdrvr - 6/23/2010 7:37:27 PM

+1 Boost

hmmm k, so you repeat the same thing I said in different words and from a different point of view..right...handling ability or not Porsche if its cornering ability is truely far superior and given its power it would have still beaten it by a larger margin. It is a large gap 0-60 dashes for these 2 cars the track though oddly designed still gives the cars time to exploit this maybe Mini was counting on its cornering ability a bit more but either way the times are very close for the differences in car.....

Joe_Limon - 6/23/2010 7:47:22 PM

0 Boost

but this is a 70 second lap... 2 seconds is huge.

SHOWTIME - 6/25/2010 1:32:42 PM

+1 Boost

Joe, you're def on point.

BondMI6 - 6/23/2010 8:29:43 PM

+4 Boost

Deboost all you want (bmwdrvr)but Mini's sales aren't off the charts right now. They've been pushing the same "motor" for 8 years now and it's gettin' old.

It's time for a new base product and new ideas. And no the Clubman and Crossman don't count. The speedster looks HOT and I can't wait to see it come out. Until then though-

Advantage Porsche.......

BondMI6 - 6/23/2010 8:30:15 PM

+2 Boost

nguyenvuminh - 6/23/2010 10:35:54 PM

-4 Boost

I think Mini lost out on both front, outcome and PR. I have a hard time believing that Mini's campaign is just to demonstrate how "fun" the company or the car is. Deep down, they were hoping they would show up Porsche, hence, the course layout.

Agent00R - 6/24/2010 12:18:57 AM

+3 Boost

Well, I think that deep down any company would want to be out Porsche.

But if you look at all of the videos, it is clear the brand is having a good time and has a sense of humor.

I mean, c'mon, these are the same guys that produced the Camden Edition. There is NO way they were totally serious with that "Mission Control" feature.

mini22 - 6/24/2010 11:04:36 AM

+1 Boost

Just for information the motor Mini is currently using is only from 2007. Thats when they changed over from the Chrysler built motor to the joint effort with Peugeot. You have to look at this as a marketing ploy by Mini only.They can say they came within 2 seconds of Porsche. The truth though is the contest is meaningless. Lots of sports car handle differently on different tracks. A Lamborghini Murcealago might not handle as well either on this type of track. Does that mean you can make a general statement that the Lambo does not handle as well. The answer is a clear no.What if the Porsche and Mini competed at VIR. It would be a clear blowout against Mini.I think it can't hurt Mini to try to compare it would Porsche. Marketing is marketing nothing else. Further it has no basis in reality.