The Mini Moves On

Mini has been bought by the big German car maker BMW and they have tried to capture the old Mini flair and presence in the new model that has been developed substantially.

BMW released a sporty Mini Cooper S that offered a much more sporty and racy experience for those who wanted to enjoy a much more immersive driving experience. But this was still not as demanding or crazy enough for some people and that is where the Mini John Cooper Works comes into the picture.

Famous for his F1 team back in the early to late 50’s and 60’s, John Cooper retired from motorsport but then rekindled his interest by founding the John Cooper Works tuning company. He immediately approached one of the legendary small cars of any time the Mini Cooper.

Shortly after however he passed away but left the company to his son Michael Cooper. He developed the idea of tuning a Mini to make it more powerful and a much sportier car and the first designs were put down to make the John Cooper Works Mini.

BMW managed to buy out the whole company in 2007 however, meaning they could continue the development of the car and create the “ultimate” Mini. They determined that the John Cooper Works Company was strong enough to be developed as a good sub brand to the original Mini company and meant that they could give a car to the customers that wanted a lot more racing immersive experience with the new car being more powerful and hold the road better or for a few a race track.

To make the Mini Cooper more of a little race car the engine has been fiddled with and had some new accessories added to it. The result of this tuning process means that the new car produces 211 hp from the supercharged 1.4 l engine and 0-62mph time has been sliced down to 6.5 seconds which means they have cut over 0.5 second from the standard Mini Cooper S. The top speed has been raised slightly to 148 mph, but even though the speed and power has increased, the efficiency hasn’t. The John Cooper Works car has an average fuel consumption of 40.9 mpg and this is because BMW have been able to implement their knowledge of their efficiency system from their standard models and put them into the revised car.

As well as the engine, the chassis has been stiffened significantly meaning that the new car is a lot more agile and responsive compared to the Cooper S and this is very noticeable for example, when flying around the B roads. This means that the driving experience has been improved allowing for the customers to have more fun when driving. Apart from the chassis the suspension has also been modified to be harder and firmer meaning that the car holds the road tighter and better allowing for more corner speed and a grippier feel. To add to the racing feel many customizable options are available including carbon interior and exterior parts as well as Recaro seats and John Cooper Works leather steering wheel.

Overall the John Cooper Works Mini has been able to redefine the Mini spirit and offer a much better driving experience to those hardcore Mini fans that want that racing feel to the little icon.