Why the New MINI Cooper JCW Moved to a Single Exhaust Pipe

The single pipe. The one pack. The solo stove. Call it what you will, but what you’re looking at is MINI’s new Cooper JCW exhaust layout. We’ve been reporting that we’d see this design for over a year, and earlier in the week MINI confirmed that with the official release of the F66 MINI JCWs. But why did MINI make this change? We have some answers.
MINI has moved to a single exhaust for several reasons. The first is about design and MINI’s new minimal design language that’s reduced much of the ornamental elements like side scuttles and the fake hood scoop. With that mindset, MINI also wanted to rethink the exhaust, making it more true to its functional design.
One thing that most don’t know is that the MINI Cooper S and JCW have had a single muffler system since the R56. The fact that two outlets came out the back has primarily been for aesthetics. The move to a single exhaust with the F66 JCW is meant to be a more honest design that mirrors the actual functionality of the system itself.
Second, this follows the design MINI has used for its JCW Cooper race cars for years. MINI has used this layout for its race cars globally for years, as it’s both more power-efficient and slightly lighter. All things you want in both race cars and road cars.
This begs the question: wouldn’t MINI have always had a single exhaust? It comes down to marketing and the very simple concept: two exhaust pipes mean more power than one in the eyes of the car-buying public. In fact, we see this on the quad-exhaust JCW Countryman.
What do you think? Should MINI have gone in this direction, matching its race cars and simplifying the design? Or do you miss that classic two-pipe design? Let us know in the comments below.
13 Comments
Also worth mentioning the 2011 MINI Rocketman Concept which also had a single center exhaust
The rocket man was a very cool design that truly wanted to bring back the original mini I. Terms of size and weight. Sadly, the subcompact segment is continually shrinking. Still something I don’t quite understand. The market keeps producing bigger and heavier cars when government is pushing for efficiency.
Overall the design of the new jcw is appealing. Still looks like a mini. I understand the need to simplify production in order to stay competitive and move towards zero emission while simultaneously phasing out the ice cars. However, although I like the new taillight design I feel it takes away from the roundness that is prominent in the design. It also complicates the simple hatch shape by adding the cutout to go around the light assembly. Just doesn’t quite work. Nonetheless this is still a fun car to own and experience and remains a unique and iconic car.
I think I would have liked it more if they went with that oval shape they used in that picture of the #60 car you have. The circle doesn’t look bad, I just think the oval looks better.
The circle looks like the car has an anus. The oval doesn’t give that impression as much.
I don’t really care if it’s one or two pipes as long as it sounds good. I’ve owned six JCW MINIs over the years and since 2021, MINI has been quieting the sound of the JCWs making them sound boring and completely average. The best sounding JCWs, IMO, were produced from 2016-2019 with lively pops and burbles as long as the sport button was engaged. Add the JCW Pro exhaust and those model years were auditory bliss for the sporting car enthusiast. Loud but not too loud. And I don’t want to hear some lame excuse about European sound standards because BMW M cars, Porsches and other mass produced cars still sound great and loud too. MINI listened too much to a few complainers that the JCW was just too loud. Seriously? You’re buying the top end performance model of the brand. What did you expect? I still have a bitter feeling about the lame and all too quiet sound of my 2022 JCW Countryman. It’s caused me to opt for the zero sound of the Countryman SE which is currently on order. I still love MINIs but much of what gave me a thrill from my first Cooper S in 2003 was the raw and sporty sound of the cars. I’ll reserve judgement until I hear the new JCW with single exhaust in the coming months but I am not that optimistic that an enjoyable and audible note will emanate from the single JCW pipe. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
No, it’s totally about the European Union noise limits — all new passenger vehicles must emit no more than 68dB by 2026.
<a href="https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1124281_new-european-regulation-means-future-sports-cars-wont-be-as-loud" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1124281_new-european-regulation-means-future-sports-cars-wont-be-as-loud</a>
dB issues aren’t actually connected to the number of pipes. See the extremely quiet, quad exhaust JCW Countryman as an example. The information in the article was sourced from people inside MINI and dB restrictions weren’t part of their reasoning.
Bring back choice of options, not packages, the 6 speed manual, the functional hood scoop & the twin exhaust. Schnitzel already has a twin exhaust for the F66. I’m an original owner of a pure silver 2002 Cooper S
I am really interested in the new JCW Hardtop, but I have reservations about the dash layout.
I like the one exhaust approach. Twin exhausts are fine two but IMO four exhausts just look silly and over the top like on the Golf R and Audi S3
I saw over the internet that F66 JCW has 2 exhaust pipes although only one is visible. The second one is hidden similarly as in non-JCW models.
Gabe, could you please confirm that? I can’t post the photo here, but it looks so insane.
Yes it has a hidden pipe on the left side.