Scoop: MINI Sells a 163 HP Cooper S in Belgium

A couple of years back, the British automaker made headlines by upsized the engine from 1.6 to 2.0 liters and also increasing the horsepower from 184 in R56 to 192 HP in the F56, which is the current car.

However, we just recently realized that there is a 163 HP Cooper S model being sold in Belgium. Unless we're mistaken, that's the output of the Mk1 version, the one with the supercharger.

Why the decreased output? Well, there are certain power output benchmarks, expressed in kilowatts, that taxation is based on. The more power the engine makes, the more you have to pay.

So many automakers just de-tune the engine's horsepower, leave the torque intact and offer their customers something they can afford to own. That's why in the past we discussed 211 HP versions of various Porsche models. They include the Boxster, Cayman, Panamera, Macan and Cayenne, all of the equipped with restricted versions of their base petrol or diesel engines.

Coincidently (actually, it's the exact opposite of a coincidence), 163 and 211 HP are both pretty common outputs for European automakers: the old Golf GTI, the BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics.

And rumor has it the next generation of 318d, as well as the Golf 8 2.0 TDI, will have 163 HP instead of their current 150 HP. So in Belgium at least, they will be on par with the MINI Cooper S. I suppose you could call it the not-so-hot hatch.

We wouldn't have known about the MINI were it not for the work of BR-Performance's division in Belgium. Thier well equipped Cooper S with lots of JCW accessories just made 260 HP and 400 Nm of torque on the dyno. Hopefully, they don't have to pay extra taxes because of this.