COMMENTS (2)

Mini Cooper offer maximum fun

By Jenny White
Cox News Service

Monday, March 30, 2009

Most people who buy the Mini, do so because they love the way it looks. And most Mini owners will tell you they love their car just the way it is and would never buy anything else.

But evidently there are a few Mini buyers who want even more Mini for their money.

BMW has come up with a performance Mini and I got to test drive it for a week.

When I could get it away from my husband.

The Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop is for those who find the regular Mini Cooper too pedestrian.

John Cooper Works (JCW) edition takes the Mini fully into the sports-performance mode. This ultimate Mini offers 208 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque. All this translates into a top speed of 148 mph and a claimed 0-to-62-mph time of 6.5 seconds for the three-door hardtop Mini.

I didn’t drive it at 148 mph (and I pray no one else in my family did), but I firmly believe this little car could produce the kind of power its manufacturers claim.

Really, the John Cooper Works Mini is a regular Mini Cooper S, but with a few minor changes that make a big difference.

There’s the same 1.6-liter engine that powers the Cooper S, but in the JCW, there’s a revised cylinder head, a bigger turbocharger and slightly different intake plumbing. The turbocharger is essentially the same unit found on the Cooper S but with a slightly bigger exhaust housing. An enlarged catalytic converter and downpipe help evacuate exhaust gases into a brawnier back exhaust pipe.

Another way the John Cooper Works model Mini differs from a Mini Cooper is the souped up model has lightweight alloy wheels, and a modified transmission.

Driving this car does remind you of all the good things about manual transmissions. When you’re speeding up fast, it’s fun to shift gears.

The JCW still offers pretty good gas mileage with 25 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway. That’s excellent when compared to some of its performance car competitors like the Acura TSX or the Volvo C30.

Inside the JCW, everything is typical Mini Cooper themed – lots of black, bright back-lights, round-framed gauges and hard to operate heat and radio controls. Seats are very comfortable for a sports car and all materials are of BMW quality.

The back seat is pretty useless. Even the boys in the neighborhood didn’t want to climb back there more than once for a ride around the block. I found no adults who wanted to try out the back seat for me. It’s a two-door car and getting to the backseat is quite an exercise.

Trunk space behind the rear seat is severely limited, but folding down the 50/50-split rear seat creates a useful square-shaped cargo area.

For those who want a sport-performance car, the Mini JCW is one of the most enjoyable to drive and the gas mileage is surprisingly good.

The Mini John Cooper Works is very competitive price-wise with the TSX and C30, coming in at $28,550 for a base model. This pretty much has everything you’d want, but a few extras like a moonroof, Bluetooth and iPod adapter or racing stripes are available as options.