MINI John Cooper Works Clubman
— Auto review, photos and spot presentation
Building an enthusiast’s performance version of a stretched coupe that was designed to appeal to small families seems like a contradiction in terms, but that’s exactly what Mini did with the John Cooper Works Clubman, and after a week with the car, we think that, in many ways, this is the perfect Mini. Enough interior space for four adults, reasonable ride comfort, great gas mileage for a performance car, and more driving fun than any previous Mini. What more could you ask for?
The “John Cooper Works” trademark was recently sold to BMW by owner Mike Cooper, son of famous English race car builder John Cooper, and is now the label of the Mini inhouse tuning operation, producing performance accessories and the Mini equivalent of the BMW M-Series. After building a series of Mini coupes for the European Mini Challenge race series, as well as adapting the stretched Clubman version for use as safety cars for the series, the inhouse division has just introduced John Cooper Works costomer versions of the race and safety cars.
Factory production of these practical but track-ready cars starts by building a version of the turbocharged Mini engine that will produce 208 horses while still delivering fuel efficiency of 28 miles per gallon (using premium grade fuel) in combined driving. The click-slick Mini six-speed manual Getrag transmission is upgraded to handle the additional performance. To finish the package, the car is mounted on sport-tuned suspension with extra-quick steering response, equipped with 12.4 inch Brembo brakes. We drove the JCW version of the Clubman version of the Mini, but if you don’t ever have to carry life-size adults in the back seat, the JCW car be ordered in the shorter Cooper S version.
Photo gallery
Studio and action shots of the MINI John Cooper Works and MINI John Cooper Works Clubman. These new versions of the iconic small car will be unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show (March 6-16, 2008).
