2012 Mini Cooper Coupe John Cooper Works Track Reviewed by Insideline

The all-new 2012 Mini Cooper Coupe John Cooper Works was put to the test by Insideline on the race track. The vehicle is small yet very powerful. Under the hood, the MINI Coupe JCW is powered by a 1.6 liter four-cylinder petrol engine with twin-scroll turbocharger and direct injection, plus numerous technological details carried over directly from motor sport delivering 155 kW/211 hp at 6,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 260 Nm/192 lb-ft at 1,850 – 5,600 rpm (280 Nm/207 lb-ft with Overboost at 1,700 – 4,500 rpm). Acceleration from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) comes in 6.4 seconds, with a top speed of 240 km/h (149 mph). Here are the actual results from Insideline’s test drive:

Test Results:

Acceleration
0-30 (sec): 2.6 (3.0 w/TC on)
0-45 (sec): 4.4 (5.0 w/TC on)
0-60 (sec): 6.7 (7.1 w/TC on)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 6.4 (6.9 w/TC on)
0-75 (sec): 9.0 (9.6 w/TC on)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 14.6 @ 97.3 (15.1 @ 98.0 w/TC on)

Braking:
30-0 (ft): 28
60-0 (ft): 114

Handling
Slalom (mph): 68.5 ( 67.0 w/TC on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.91 ( 0.88 w/TC on)

Db @ Idle: 45.3
Db @ Full Throttle: 84.5
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 68.2

Comments:

Acceleration: (58.2 mph @ redline in 2nd gear.) Fairly dramatic throttle closure with Trac on, and very easy to light tires with Trac off means a tricky launch either way. Boost hits hard at about 2,500-3,000 rpm. To make matters more frustrating, long-throw shifter has very narrow gates and I missed several shifts (e.g. 2-1 instead of 2-3!) This could spell disaster for some. Adequate cooling as trap speed fell only slightly.

Read full review at InsideLine