The all-new 2012 MINI Countryman Cooper S
All4 John Cooper Works gets a shining review.
Article and photos source: [
autoblog.com]
As
part of the ongoing master plan at Mini to attract distinction-seeking
buyers who still have some disposable income left, we present the Mini
Countryman Cooper S All4 John Cooper Works: the Mini CUV with the mighty
long name.
This latest Mini JCW will get its world
premiere at this March's Geneva Motor Show, but we've just enjoyed a
pre-holiday drive in the remote mountain lair of Kühtai, 6,600 feet up
in the Austrian Alps. As you'd expect, there was snow and rocks and
animal skin sweat lodges and hot wine, but the Countryman All4 JCW got
us out of there and back to our families in the flatlands. Our drive
consisted of a two-lane road loop with plenty of overtaking chances and a
decently long off-road parcours etched into a local abandoned ski
hill.
Thus far, Mini's strongest JCW model has been
gifted with a 208-horsepower version of the BMW/PSA turbocharged
1.6-liter direct injection in-line four-cylinder, dubbed "N18" as it's
assembled at Mini's Hams Hall UK factory. Head of chassis development
for BMW Group, Heinz Kruche, tells Autoblog that the Countryman will get
"around 15 more horses and the same for torque" to help deal with the
Countryman's additional weight. Thus, this 3,200-something pound "Mini"
should pack somewhere around 223 horses at 6,000 rpm and 207 pound-feet
of torque between 1,850 and 5,600 rpm when it arrives Stateside this
June. Good. But is it good enough?
As we attacked the
slippery alpine climbs and descents, we couldn't help notice that this
Countryman feels lighter than its heft would suggest. The added power
and torque certainly helped, yes, but the Sport chassis stance that
lowers the JCW Countryman down four-tenths of an inch versus the
standard Cooper S All4 deserves some credit for the additional driving
security. We're guessing the winter wear 17-inch Bridgestone Blizzak
tires mounted on our prototype's heavily drilled-out (and awesomely
purposeful) steel wheels helped too.
Another much
appreciated trick of the elfin folk at Mini's happy All4 workshops in
Graz, Austria, are the JCW's larger diameter front and rear stabilizer
bars. One millimeter more might not seem like much, but with this size
vehicle, it can have a hugely pleasing effect, and that's exactly the
case here. The 23-millimeter broad front stabilizer bar and 17-mm bar in
back worked their wonders on the lowered sportier chassis, filling us
with confidence as the snow fell thick and other motorists became
legitimately tentative. That Mini uses a heavily modified version of
this exact vehicle for its rather successful Mini World Rally squad
suddenly makes good sense.
At the heart of this
driver security and bad weather boldness is what is essentially a
bolt-on electro-magnetic rear differential supplied by GKN. The addition
renders the Countryman a very capable all-wheel driver that nearly
feels like a full-bore four-wheel-drive setup. Whereas BMW's xDrive
technology is electro-mechanical, comes from a separate supplier and is
meant for much heavier duty, the compact and lightweight All4 solution
is rightly matched to this Mini's more modest needs. In the end, it
feels exactly as agile as a mechanical self-locking differential while
adding a negligible amount of weight - and it's quicker to act. We have
rarely felt a more pleasing multi-plate wet clutch in operation under
such trying circumstances as those faced in Ski Central. When we return
to cruising the drier and easy-going byways, however, even the All4
Countryman returns to being a front-wheel
driver.
For the off-road
bits, the robust all-wheel-drive setup on the Countryman All4 JCW
benefits from exactly this lightning-fast thinking of the GKN unit.
Granted, we thought the system might be right at the limit of its
capabilities given the Countryman's weight, but any such notions were
dismissed over the course of our drive. We switched off Dynamic
Stability Control and Dynamic Traction Control, turned on the Sport mode
to summon quicker throttle response, increased steering weight and a
throatier sounding exhaust, and there was nothing this wee powerhouse
refused to do. Having the added lunge on tap thanks to the JCW's quicker
throttle made dispatching iffy bits of road or wagon trail mere child's
play. With just 5.5 inches of ground clearance with the sport chassis
setup, you'll still want to stay clear of the truly hardscrabble stuff,
however.
Another appreciated upgrade are rear brake
discs that measure 11.7 inches versus the Cooper S All4's 11.0-inch
units. Coupled with the 12.4-inch Brembo front discs, they atone for the
additional heft and workload of the rear axle and electro-magnetic rear
differential. To its confidence-building credit, feedback from the
brake pedal consistently proved just right for the circumstances. While
130 miles per hour remains the top speed cutoff, acceleration to 60 mph
will dip just below 7.0 seconds - more than quick enough for this sort
of transportation.
But, let's face it, this is a big
road warrior in a small package and the All4 setup is meant to face
skiing traffic in bad weather - at most. If that's the type of foul
weather and rough road duty that defines your upper limit, then the Mini
Countryman All4 Cooper S JCW is practically overkill it's so good,
leaving you to make your buying decisions based on how much cargo or
passenger space you have to have, how you like its looks, and whether
the price is within your budget.
As to the latter of
those three factors, cost, this JCW certainly isn't cheap, which should
come as a surprise to exactly no one.
But then
again, Minis aren't built to be cheap, nor age as a cheap car often
does. If you're looking for a model exactly like our prototype test car,
your bank vault should be ready to trim off about $34,000 at least
(i.e. pre-options list) - or just over 20 ounces of the gold you're
hoarding.
As to design questions, the Countryman has
always struck us as a bit gawky, but like the pocket-protector geek who
secretly goes to the gym, that's just part of its charm. The lowered
suspension helps the look of Mini's bulldog a lot, as do the various
aero bits tacked on to give it some hair on its chest. The interior is
what we've come to expect of any JCW - black leather that feels good,
red piping on all the edges, and plenty of JCW logos. At this point,
Mini (along with its mass of customers) has wholly embraced kitsch as
the new normal, so we'll spare you the reiteration of our various
ergonomic quibbles. The cargo range of 16.5 cubic feet up to 41.3 cubic
feet remains strictly unimpressive, but, again, it's normally more than
sufficient for two people and their stuff.
Engineer
Kruche hinted with shrugging shoulders and grins that we were not far
off the mark in anticipating that the Countryman would be the first John
Cooper Works edition to have the $1,250 Aisin six-speed automatic with
shift paddles available as an option, especially seeing as the
percentage of two-pedal Countryman setups has proven especially high
worldwide. Though this option typically peels away a couple miles per
gallon, the average for this JCW automatic should get an EPA rating of
25 mpg. Personally? We'd definitely stick with the manual six-speed
since it is better in every way, unless having to move your arms and
legs in bumper-to-bumper traffic threatens your couch potato
existence.
While our
long-term
Mini
Countryman has left some of us a little chilly both in the
performance and price departments, the JCW kit has the potential to deal
with our largest complaint: a general lack of engagement. The Sports
suspension and 18-inch rollers of our long-termer have proven more stiff
than sporty, but the added power, reworked All4 system and larger
anti-roll bars give this JCW variant some much-needed pop over the
standard model. But is it enough? We'll wait until we test a full
production-spec model to see if impressive first impressions last, but
thus far, the Mini team has done what was required: making the maxi-Mini
dance like a proper Cooper.
End of article.
For more
information on MINI
Countryman, MINI
John Cooper Works, and MINI
Cooper S, call your favorite Virginia Beach
MINI dealer, Checkered Flag
MINI, at (757)490-1111.
