One of our favorite motoring magazines has a comparison between to of the hostest hatches out there; the new JCW MCS and the Renault Clio 197. While the MCS tested didn’t have the new JCW Suspension (or sport suspension as it sounds) it did have the newly released JCW engine package. Here’s an excerpt:

>In the MINI you can go into a corner at something other than the perfect speed and yet come out the other side without feeling it’s a wasted opportunity. It moves around, engages and involved more than the Clio. The fact that it feels significantly faster in a straight line is an added bonus that makes nipping in and out of the everyday traffic just that bit more fun.

You can find the full article on bookstores and magazine shops that sell EVO.

The 0-60 times EVO got for this particular test makes it seem like the test driver was smoking a pipe and wearing a tweed coat. Aggressive it is not at 7.6 seconds for the MCS. But the track time looks to be much more respectable getting around the EVO test track in a time of 1:30.80 – almost a full second faster than the more powerful Clio. Actually it’s faster than a number of other cars: BMW 130i, Mercedes S65 AMG, Ford Focus ST and the VW Golf R32 to name a few. It’s also almost a full four seconds faster than the standard Cooper S.

But before you JCW owners start to feel too smug, it’s still down almost four seconds to cars like the Porsche Cayman S and the BMW Z4 M Coupe.

Okay okay… you can read the article here.