Shift paddles are finally coming to the new MINI Cooper in the US, albeit with a caveat. If you read our report a few months ago you’ll know that MINI didn’t just kill manuals but also eliminated the shift paddles on all cars unless they are JCWs or are equipped with the JCW style. With the US not offering the JCW Style on the F66 or U25, things looked dim for anyone wanting some interaction with their transmission without buying a JCW. Now that’s changing.
It seemingly started with MINI USA not wanting to dilute MINI’s performance brand and offer the JCW Style in the US. Why? MINI USA made the decision not to offer the JCW Trim in the US because they believed that it would take away the specialness of the full JCW and perhaps even negatively affect the JCW brand. And we agree. It’s something we’ve seen BMW offer with its M Sport kits for years and has led to general confusion from buyers around what the M brand even stands for.
But that decision has apparently cost MINI USA the chance to offer shift paddles on any non-JCW model. It would seem that MINI global isn’t giving any exception in making paddles exclusive to JCW Trims and thus no non-JCW MINI sold in the US will have shift paddles moving forward.
MINI USA’s Changing Strategy
Either MINI USA heard your voices or they realized the issue themselves. Either way it looks like things will be changing. That starts with the F65 five door Cooper which will be available with the JCW Style from launch. While that doesn’t solve the problem that many have with the JCW Style taking away for the full JCW models, it does allow for potential buyers get shift paddles. And that’s a good thing. Without the manual transmission on the order books, MINI has lost a major connectivity point with the car. While shift paddles don’t replace it, they do allow for some connection to the car and ability to control shift points.
It’s important to note that all full petrol JCW products like the forthcoming F66 MINI Cooper JCW and the currently available U25 Countryman JCW have paddles as standard. However there will be no full JCW version of the F65 five door Cooper which gives MINI USA another good excuse to bring the JCW Style to the US.
What does this mean for the rest of the range? While MINI USA hasn’t said anything official about shift paddles spreading to the F66 3 door Cooper or the non JCW Countryman, they hinted strongly that we’ll see more availability of the option in the the future.
What do you think? Has MINI USA done the right thing by offering the JCW Style on the F65 the US and thus giving buyers the option for shift paddles? Or should they have saved that look at the ability to shift yourself for full JCW products?
When I see this F66 thus assembled, I can’t help but tell myself that Mini has arrived at the end of a cycle
Man, this is getting confusing. Why can’t shift paddles just be an option for any steering wheel in the MINI lineup, not the entire JCW styling trim? Or if that’s too difficult due to fit issues (ex it needs the JCW steering wheel to fit the shifters correctly), why not just offer a “sport” steering wheel or “sport” interior?
At least with the eletronic shifter (up to 2024) you had the option to have some manual control.
I suspect this decision has little to do with the paddle shifters and more due to significant dissatisfaction with the styling on the Cooper S models, which now are virtually indistinguishable from a base model other than their red plastic “S”
I’ve spoken to two top level Mini salespeople and both said that there are widespread customer concerns around the styling and the quality of interior materials. The JCW model fixes most of the styling issues but the interior quality issue remains.
I saw the feature on the configurator. It doesn’t tell you what exterior colors are available. In the UK, they limit it. It seems that if you configure the car normally and go back and add JCW that your color choice remains. It may be that the exterior will not get JCW roof or exterior color options, only the interior along with the paddles. I have a 2022 JCW and based on the current costs of the S, I don’t know if I will be able to afford a 2025. Considering, the boost in HP on the S, the F65 with JCW interior and style with paddles might be an option. I use my paddles all the time and I will have to see if the .8 second difference in 0-60 will matter. I’m sure the handling will be different and they don’t offer the adjustable shocks on the five door. I just wish the paddles did not disappear.
Since 2021 or 2022, there have been no more electronically adjustable shocks, but rather amplitude reactive shocks that have an extra valve to reduce pressure for high frequency impacts. This is a $500 option on the regular Mini Cooper models but doesn’t show as available on the JCW trim. Looking at the brochure for the Australian model, those dampers are standard on the JCW trim, so that could explain why the configurator doesn’t show it available on the JCW trim in the US. I feel like the build configurator was released half finished.
I don’t understand why Mini continues to not offer the actual JCW package on the 5 door. Seems weird to have it across the rest of the lineup but specifically exclude that model.