Driving.Ca Reviews the MINI John Cooper Works

Expect to see a rush of more factory JCW reviews as the car begins to hit the streets of North America and Europe in the coming weeks. Here is a more favorable review of the factory JCW MINI coming from our friends north of the border at Driving.Ca.

Some notable excerpts:

“This feeling of performing beyond its dimensions, engine size and heft is endemic to this the sportiest of Minis. Immediately after picking it up, I found myself cruising at 160 km/h, so quiet was the cabin and stable the ride. Considering the penalty for such flagrant flouting of Ontario’s speed limits, I, again, hoped that the JCW’s speedometer was indeed optimistic.”

And another…

“To be 100% truthful, I didn’t think I’d like the new JCW. You see, I’m truly enamoured of the first-generation version. It’s a wicked little piece, its supercharged, 1.6-litre fourbanger blatting out big horsepower for its small size and making the most delicious supercharger whine. It’s a raucous beast that makes driving fun and, well, I thought the new turbocharged version of the JCW would be just a little too civilized.

Indeed, the motor is much smoother. Where the old one is rough, thenew direct-injection four — still displacing 1.6 litres — is relatively quiet and much more sophisticated. Where the original roars, its successor just purrs.”

First Drive: MINI JCW / Driving.Ca