The 170kW/320Nm 2015 MINI Cooper S John Cooper Works has broken cover ahead of its official debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January.
THE THIRD-GENERATION 2015 MINI Cooper S John Cooper Works has been revealed ahead of its official debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January. It’s expected to go on-sale towards the end of 2015 in Australia, although there’s no word yet on pricing.
Based on the three-door MINI Cooper S, the John Cooper Works variant gets plenty of styling, power, ride and handling enhancements as befitting its name.
Under the bonnet is a tweaked version of the standard Cooper S’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that produces 170kW between 5200 and 6000rpm and 320Nm of torque from just off idle at 1250rpm through to 4800rpm. That’s enough oomph to get the MINI Cooper S JCW to 100km/h in just 6.3 seconds. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, with a six-speed Steptronic transmission also available as a cost-option. Fuel consumption is a claimed 5.7L/100km for the auto.
The MINI Cooper S JCW continues the tradition of low centre of gravity, short front and rear overhangs, wide track and a tight-as-a-drum body. The sports suspension from the old model has been poked and prodded a bit but sticks with the single-joint spring strut axle at the front and a multilink rear axle.
While there’s no limited-slip differential, the Cooper S JCW gets Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), Electronic Differential Lock Control (EDLC) – which acts as an electronic locking function for the front axle differential – and Performance Control, “which supports agile turning when taking bends at speed”.
In terms of design, there’s a new-look hexagonal grille, there’s a new front bumper with bigger air ducts, pumped wheel arches, a bigger spoiler at the back and two centrally-mounted tail pipes. The John Cooper Works logo is slapped on just about everything.
We’ll have more market-specific details and hopefully pricing after the Detroit Motor Show.
