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2015 MINI John Cooper Works Unveiled with 231 HP Ahead of Official Debut

Despite the official debut of the MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop being scheduled for a later date, the guys from Car Advice Australia apparently had permission to cut in line and release the official specs of the new car ahead of its time. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, allow us to show you how the JCW Mk3 Mini looks like.
2015 MINI JCW Hardtop 6 photos
Photo: CarAdvice
2015 MINI JCW Hardtop2015 MINI JCW Hardtop2015 MINI JCW Hardtop2015 MINI JCW Hardtop2015 MINI JCW Hardtop
As you probably noticed there are little to no changes done to the car’s exterior. Everything we guessed was going to be on there has shown up, leaving us somewhat disappointed.

I guess we could blame it on the Cooper S model that is already pretty aggressive and on sale for quite some time now, looking to grab a bigger piece of the market. Compared to its less powerful brother, the JCW brings a coupe of new design details.

They are mostly focused on the front bumper that has two new air intakes on the sides and the center one reshaped. Other than that, there’s also the JCW badge on the center mesh while the bonnet is also sporting an air scoop.

On the sides, the wheels feature a new JCW design (and are made of lightweight materials), hiding red brake calipers behind them, wearing the same badge. Inside, from what we can tell, the seats are the biggest difference and they look good.

Dressed in what seems to be some sort of black Alcantara and with red strips on the side bolsters, they actually look extremely interesting, to say the least. Until we get to sit on them, we can’t tell if they’re any good however.

As for other elements of the cabin, we’ve been spoiled when testing the Cooper S and we already know how the JCW steering wheel looks like. From experience we can also tell you that it feels really good to the touch and has the perfect size.

Under the bonnet

Information seems to be rather scarce for now but Car Advice confirms earlier rumors, claiming that the engine makes 231 HP like on the 225i Active Tourer. However, despite being exactly the same in size and architecture (2-liter, 4-cylinder) it makes slightly less torque, being rated at 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) instead of 350 Nm (258 lb-ft).

There are two transmissions available, both with six ratios. The manual comes as standard and will allow you to do 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.3 seconds while the auto is optional and 0.2 seconds faster. That puts the JCW behind its main rival, the Audi S1 that will do the same sprint in 5.8 seconds thanks to its all-wheel drive setup.

Up front, there’s an electronic differential lock while the suspension was specifically designed by the JCW division, featuring single-joint sprint struts while the rear axle is multi-link. Active dampers are available as optional, just like on the Cooper S.

The new car is rumored to make its live debut at Detroit, in January.
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