Another in what has been a long line of reviews. You’ve seen all the pictures, read all the complaints about the speedometer and torque steer. So, what’s left? Car Magazine would like to leave you with this.
>However, this is a special car. It signals the proper debut of JCW as a sub-brand and marks the occasion with a machine that is suitably different in character to not only the Cooper S but everything else in the hot-hatch class. It is fascinating – switching from benign to barmy in an instant and leaving a grin on your face like few other cars on sale today. Yes, we like it. A lot.
Almost all of the reviews I read were identical in saying, even with it’s faults, the JCW MINI is just a great car. And you will be able to buy in the US very soon as well. Plus, if you are attending MTTS in Chicago or LA, you will get the chance to drive one yourself!
[ Mini John Cooper Works CAR review ] Carmagazine.co.uk
Not to sound unappreciative, but the last 7 or 8 articles could be combined into “A bunch of folks drive the new JCW”.
, and add, “and they don’t like the torque steer”
Not sure when talking performance how much better the JCW Mini are versus the other hot hatches. Still betting that the Mazda 3 Speed in all its ugliness and the R32 GTI will be capable of hanging with this car.
Best line from the review though that sets the entire review into question for me though is the following.
”
There’s an uncanny amount of grip and security from the JCW, and although not as hyperactive as the loopy Works GP
”
GP loopy??? Wonder what this guy is sniffing lol
Jon, I think the writer is using “loopy” to describe the design concept of the GP, not the handling. For example, removing the rear seats and putting in a decorative “luggage restraint bar” in their place is definitely loopy.
Yeah I have to agree on the GP styling. The fristrating thing there is it wouldn’t have cost much to have made it more attractive (color) and why didn’t they make that goofy bar functional? It looks dumb. Red mirrors? I still want one though.
On the ’09 JCW, I see they filled up the big empty speedo with more “stuff” on the euro model. I’d like to see the US version. I hated the bigger speedo only because they took out the needles and kms and it looked empty/cheap. Needs more going on.
To the GP’s defense, it looks MUCH better in person than in pictures. I couldn’t stand it when I first saw pictures, but it works well in the flesh–its a nice looking car in real life.
Agreed, the GP has got to be one of the worst looking cars on film compared to real life.
Also, I just came back from Mexico city. There are a lot of new R56 on the street. How come all the R56 over there ride lower than the ones here in the US?
At first I assumed that is was just a particular MINI that was lowered, then all of the others I saw were the same (lower) height. They look much better.
I enjoyed that review
The GP might not look great, but it has a great personality.
I don’t understand all the complaints about torque steer. I just drove a JCW this morning and as long as I controlled the wheel spin it tracked perfectly straight while holding the wheel with 3 fingers.
Just because you have all that power and torque, that doesn’t mean that you can use ALL of it under every situation. This JCW apparently requires something called “skill” to drive properly.
I also expect that a large portion of these complaints would go away if there were better tires on the car. I think MINI would have been smart to go with non-runflat tires and include the inflation kit instead.
Craig, the base fact is Mini could have improved this quite a bit. Yes torque steer is something that the driver skill should be able to deal with. Whats funny is driver skill is something that can make most bad performing cars behave better, spend anytime watching Top Gear watching The Stig wrestle with cars for an example. Just because it can be controlled with good driving skills doesn’t mean that its a good setup, rather its a good driver compensating for a weak point on the car. No an ideal situation.
The big round thing is more than a speedo – its got a radio and other stuff in it. Its generic to MINI and BMW is not going to change certain generic things in MINI.
Yes, I too am tiring of reading endless news articles about the same subject. Seems like a cut and paste job most of the time. Still I guess these guys have to make a buck somehow.