MINI has introduced a new app that adds extra functionality to its navigation system and has predictably given it a funky name: it's called Connected XL Journey Mate.
The MC XL JM (which looks like a load of Roman numerals to us) app assists with basic navigation functions, but also supplies individually tailored information on the journey - remembering a driver's preferred route, reminding them when it is time to refuel, monitoring traffic updates, helping to find parking spaces, messaging its occupants about impending appointments or scheduled phone calls and even providing the final stage of navigation on a given journey by being transferrable to a phone so the driver can be guided on foot to the ultimate destination.
It does all this because the new F56 MINI's operating system can fully integrate with an Apple iPhone, meaning Connected XL Journey Mate can be used both in-car and on the smartphone. It works as soon as the phone is connected to the car at the beginning of a journey, working out if there is enough fuel for the trip (and highlighting service stations both en route and also locations that are just a minor deviation from the planned course), an expected time of arrival, the weather at location and real-time traffic information between current whereabouts and the destination.
The system is navigable via the new MINI Touch Controller and multifunctional steering wheel buttons. Completed trips can be stored and then later amended, with the MINI Connected XL Journey Mate updating the trip with any new information.
Anything else?
Connected XL Journey Mate is available for the new MINI from this month. To use the app, the vehicle must be equipped with the Wired package, which includes the Professional Navigation System.