From MINI UK Press:

From October, the hatches on the Oxford production line will be a little hotter than before. For the first time, the 210bhp John Cooper Works (JCW) engine tuning kit will be available as a factory fit option when ordering your MINI Cooper S in either hatch or convertible form. The cost of proud ownership of the most powerful and quickest official MINI on the road will be an extra £3,600 (inc. VAT).

A MINI Cooper S fitted with the tuning kit is capable of generating a top speed of 143mph and reaches 0-62mph in 6.6 seconds. The ‘Works’ features a modified cylinder head with higher compression, modified engine electronics and increased throughput injectors. The factory option will also include the following JCW products as standard: air filter system, 16″ disc brakes and calipers, exhaust pipe finisher, front apron and tailgate badges, certificate of authenticity. A limited slip differential is also included in the cost.

Mike Cooper, managing director of John Cooper Works, has been heavily involved in the introduction of the kits at Plant Oxford. He said: “I’m pleased that the partnership with the new MINI has been such a success. The kits offered as a factory fit option shows how closely we work together and will provide us at John Cooper Works more time to develop further high performance products.”

The JCW kit will still be available to MINI Cooper S owners as a retrofit offered by all 157 UK MINI dealerships and John Cooper Works garage in West Sussex. Cost is £2,999 (inc. VAT, plus 10 hours labour). The retrofit does not include the additional specification included on the line of JCW sports brakes and limited slip differential.

MF Analysis: While this should all be old news to MotoringFile readers, it is nice to finally see an official press release on the topic for the UK market. One would imagine that MINIUSA will be releasing their own official information on the topic in the coming days. Even if we did scoop all the US specific info awhile back!

Related:

[ 2006 MINIUSA Pricing/JCW Option Info ] MotoringFile

[ Factory JCW Kit Confirmed ] MotoringFile

We’ll have more on the new JCW options for 2006 (including photos of two new 18″ wheels) tomorrow.