Mini John Cooper Works

The petrol-powered JCW lives on – for now. But in its latest incarnation, has this supermini survivor become too feisty for its own good?

- YOUSUF ASHRAF

YOU CAN'T MISS THE MINI JCW. EVEN ON a day when there's a BMW M5, Boxster GTS, Audi RS6 and other big-ticket performance cars in the evo car park, the dinky, Chili Red, racing-striped John Cooper Works holds your attention, staring back at you with its bug-eyed headlights and wide-mouthed expression. It looks chirpy and fun sitting still, and comes with a real sense of anticipation behind it.

That's because fast superminis on the whole are dying out, and this could be the swansong for hot petrol Minis, with the brand pivoting towards an all-electric line-up in the coming years.

Unless there's a new GP waiting in the wings, we could be looking at the final flourish for fast Minis as we've always known them, before focus completely shifts towards the battery-powered Cooper E, Cooper SE and JCW that are currently offered alongside the petrol cars.

It may look fresh, but this F66-generation car is familiar under the skin. It's a heavy development of its F56 predecessor rather than an all-new car, and as such rides on BMW's UKL1 architecture – totally distinct from the EV-specific platform that underpins electric Minis. As in the previous model, BMW's B48 turbocharged four-pot engine is stuffed in the JCW’s nose. Peak power is unchanged at 228bhp, but torque has increased significantly from 236lb ft to 280lb ft. This gives a 0-62mph time of 6.1sec - 0.2sec quicker than before - and a 155mph top speed. The electric JCW is even more powerful at 254bhp and a couple of tenths quicker again to 62mph, but the petrol car has weight on its side, coming in at 1330kg where the EV has a not-so-mini 1650kg to lug around. The petrol JCW is also £1640 lighter on your wallet at £33,265.