Monday 20th August 2007

Cooper S Works Kit Price Announced

Standard Mini too slow for you? This one won't be...

---

See that tiny badge? That means MORE POWER

The Mini Cooper S is a quick car, don’t get us wrong on that, but we always thought it could hack more power than the standard 175bhp.

Well, wait until September and then hand over the princely sum of £1095 and you can have your Cooper S upgraded to 192bhp.

The kit not only ups the power by 17bhp, but you also get 184lb ft of torque and 199lb ft on overboost (both 7lb ft up from standard).

All the extra grunt will propel the Works Cooper S from 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds and keep it going to a top speed of 144mph.

The impressive figures are achieved with a new sports exhaust, sports air filter and a revised ECU.

As well as the under-bonnet tinkery JCW will put badges on the front and rear of the car, but they also offer cosmetic tweaks like bigger wheels and a sportier bodykit at extra cost.

We’ll take one in white with a black roof, thanks.

[2dr evangalist]

I`ll take mine fitted to my 207 GTi........

[wab172uk]

"All the extra grunt"

What grunt? 17BHP? 7lb extra Torque

"The impressive figures" Must have misread that bit.

So the old mini works is more powerful than the new mini works. That's progress for you

Edited by wab172uk on Monday 20th August 13:35

[philbf]

Looks tasty - sounds like a good price for what you're getting too.

You and your Minis, A1....

[Digsy]

IIRC this is a fair bit cheaper than the old Works kit.

[Hughesie II]

Digsy said:

IIRC this is a fair bit cheaper than the old Works kit.

only because the old works kit included the cosmetics as well IIRC

[havoc]

192bhp in a c.1200kg car...hmmm weren't Honda doing better than that 6 years ago...hell, 10 years ago! Weren't MINI doing better than that 4/5 years ago.

Progress, German-style...

[robinoz]

1985 - mk2 golf GTI - 920KG & 139hp. Progress indeed...

[2dr evangalist]

`99 WRX STi = 280hp in 1250kg.... and thats BEFORE u add boost etc ...

[turbochrisgti]

2dr evangalist said:

I`ll take mine fitted to my 207 GTi........

Surely the body parts would fall off the Peugeot if you put that much power in it?

[bigweb]

Just drove our new one the difference is more than the figures suggest. Its at least as quick as a R53 works just does it with less drama

[havoc]

lets see...1.6 turbo in this MINI...so without getting out-of-scope...

N-Aspirated (not the turbo the MINI uses)
'92 Honda CRX - 160bhp 1.6, c.900kg.
'96 ITR - 187bhp 1.8, 1,100kg (WITH catalytic converter!).

Turbos
'74 BMW 2002t - 170bhp, 2.0T, 1,060kg
'81 Renault 5 - 160bhp, 1.4T, 989kg
'85 Maestro Turbo - 153bhp, 2.0T, <1,000kg
'91 200SX - 180bhp, 1.8T, <1,200kg
'94 Impreza Turbo - as above
'02 Seat Leon Cupra R - 225bhp, 1.8T, 1,320kg

Sooo...HOW much progress?!?

ALL the cars above, except for the Maestro, have better bhp/tonne. The OLD JCW MCS was superior...not just on paper, but in terms of delivery also (turbo can't compete with a supercharger, except in the oh-so-boring 'mid-range torque'!)

[woof]

it's slower than the current Works !!

Despite the ongoing row I'm having with Mini about the airbags deploying without any impact/crash (see topic in general gassing) why would anyone what to buy a slower version of JCW works and for that matter the GP ?!

[turbochrisgti]

havoc said:

lets see...1.6 turbo in this MINI...so without getting out-of-scope...

N-Aspirated (not the turbo the MINI uses)
'92 Honda CRX - 160bhp 1.6, c.900kg.
'96 ITR - 187bhp 1.8, 1,100kg (WITH catalytic converter!).

Turbos
'74 BMW 2002t - 170bhp, 2.0T, 1,060kg
'81 Renault 5 - 160bhp, 1.4T, 989kg
'85 Maestro Turbo - 153bhp, 2.0T, <1,000kg
'91 200SX - 180bhp, 1.8T, <1,200kg
'94 Impreza Turbo - as above
'02 Seat Leon Cupra R - 225bhp, 1.8T, 1,320kg

Sooo...HOW much progress?!?

ALL the cars above, except for the Maestro, have better bhp/tonne. The OLD JCW MCS was superior...not just on paper, but in terms of delivery also (turbo can't compete with a supercharger, except in the oh-so-boring 'mid-range torque'!)

So which one of these would you have? And which (including the MINI) do you think is the most desirable? Surely an old Maestro can't be compared against a 2007 Model MINI? An Impreza is rally car rather than a hot hatch anyway. I'm not slagging these cars off in any respect and would love to own some of them, but it's not all about having the highest bhp figure now, it's about how these cars deliver it on the road, and about torque. And believe me, the R56 JCW Cooper S packs far more of a punch than the figures would suggest. The old Supercharged MINI Cooper S gives me 26mpg, the Turbo: 34mpg. There are reasons why MINI have used a turbo. I guess it suited Peugeots needs also.

[Antj]

Hughesie II said:

Digsy said:

IIRC this is a fair bit cheaper than the old Works kit.

only because the old works kit included the cosmetics as well IIRC

What cosmetics did it come with, not aware of anything.

People need to bear in mind that this is the first JCW kit, when the first JCW kit came out on the phase 1 it was only 200 bhp then upped to 210 a year or so latter.


However i am more than hapy in my 230bhp phase 1 Mini cooper S and would never my supercharge whine for the mundane PSA boring engine in the new one.

[turbochrisgti]

Antj said:

Hughesie II said:

Digsy said:

IIRC this is a fair bit cheaper than the old Works kit.

only because the old works kit included the cosmetics as well IIRC

What cosmetics did it come with, not aware of anything.

People need to bear in mind that this is the first JCW kit, when the first JCW kit came out on the phase 1 it was only 200 bhp then upped to 210 a year or so latter.


However i am more than hapy in my 230bhp phase 1 Mini cooper S and would never my supercharge whine for the mundane PSA boring engine in the new one.

230 BHP! Fair play to that!

[Hendry]

Antj said:

Hughesie II said:

Digsy said:

IIRC this is a fair bit cheaper than the old Works kit.

only because the old works kit included the cosmetics as well IIRC

What cosmetics did it come with, not aware of anything.

People need to bear in mind that this is the first JCW kit, when the first JCW kit came out on the phase 1 it was only 200 bhp then upped to 210 a year or so latter.

But it upped when the housepower of the standard car went from 163 to 167, so was just showing a pro rata improvement. With the standard new car at 175bhp one would have expected a bit more of a boost than they have delivered.

I wonder what it has to do with thi sbeing developed entirely in house, rather than by John Cooper Garages (warranty concerns etc)?

[Oddball RS]

But the article did mention you got badges.......


Come on the Mini ceased being a proper 'sportscar slayer' a long time ago.

Now its a very successful 'quick' marketing machine.

There has been a genuine whole in the market for a back to basics light weight 'hot' hatch at the lower end of the price market (not £15k+) for a long time now.

Surely 850kg 150Bhp £12k should be do able?

[havoc]

turbochrisgti said:

So which one of these would you have?

:cough: Check my profile! :cough:

turbochrisgti said:

And which (including the MINI) do you think is the most desirable?

...it's not all about having the highest bhp figure now, it's about how these cars deliver it on the road, and about torque. And believe me, the R56 JCW Cooper S packs far more of a punch than the figures would suggest. The old Supercharged MINI Cooper S gives me 26mpg, the Turbo: 34mpg. There are reasons why MINI have used a turbo. I guess it suited Peugeots needs also.

Desirable...and now we come to the MINI's raison d'etre...not to be the best hot-hatch, but to be the most desirable :cough: 'premium' hatch. But for me, that's a turn-off - I'm no sheep, and I couldn't give two hoots about 'desirability' (I'd rather pick a leftfield choice just to be different), except insofar as it affects residuals.

Delivery...agreed...which is why I've stuck with n/asp engines...turbo's just don't do it for me, esp. half-arsed ones like the Pug-BMW 1.6.
And all this b'll'cks about 'mid-range' is just making drivers lazy...a truly involving car will make you work for the performance, not hand it to you on a plate...

Economy...now that is a very good point! But I can get 32-33mpg from my old 'teg, which I'll venture is clearly quicker than the stock MCS and comparable to the JCW MCS. And that's an old engine set-up to be thraped mercilessly on a daily basis...

Reasons for turbo / suits Pug's needs too...absolutely...and it's all to do with mundane stuff like emissions and component-sharing.


Don't get me wrong...I think the original MINI was a very good driver's car. Not driven the new one. But I do think this is pretty poor show after the last JCW, price notwithstanding...

[turbochrisgti]

havoc said:

turbochrisgti said:

So which one of these would you have?

:cough: Check my profile! :cough:

turbochrisgti said:

And which (including the MINI) do you think is the most desirable?

...it's not all about having the highest bhp figure now, it's about how these cars deliver it on the road, and about torque. And believe me, the R56 JCW Cooper S packs far more of a punch than the figures would suggest. The old Supercharged MINI Cooper S gives me 26mpg, the Turbo: 34mpg. There are reasons why MINI have used a turbo. I guess it suited Peugeots needs also.

Desirable...and now we come to the MINI's raison d'etre...not to be the best hot-hatch, but to be the most desirable :cough: 'premium' hatch. But for me, that's a turn-off - I'm no sheep, and I couldn't give two hoots about 'desirability' (I'd rather pick a leftfield choice just to be different), except insofar as it affects residuals.

Delivery...agreed...which is why I've stuck with n/asp engines...turbo's just don't do it for me, esp. half-arsed ones like the Pug-BMW 1.6.
And all this b'll'cks about 'mid-range' is just making drivers lazy...a truly involving car will make you work for the performance, not hand it to you on a plate...

Economy...now that is a very good point! But I can get 32-33mpg from my old 'teg, which I'll venture is clearly quicker than the stock MCS and comparable to the JCW MCS. And that's an old engine set-up to be thraped mercilessly on a daily basis...

Reasons for turbo / suits Pug's needs too...absolutely...and it's all to do with mundane stuff like emissions and component-sharing.


Don't get me wrong...I think the original MINI was a very good driver's car. Not driven the new one. But I do think this is pretty poor show after the last JCW, price notwithstanding...

Fair enough! I just guess it's down to what people want from a car. As much as I love my Cooper S I'd swap it for a Superlight Caterham anyday.
Having spoken to many MINI owners a lots of people do wish the R56 was more like the R53. (So do I!) Nice cars by the way, I've been lucky enough to drive a DC2 and would love to own one- it's one hell of a car.
PS I hope your Cough gets better.

[havoc]

turbochrisgti said:

...I'd swap it for a Superlight Caterham anyday.

PS I hope your Cough gets better.

1) Best drive I've ever had was in a Superlight around Donny...need to do that again soon.
Can't fit the shopping in a Caterham though sadly...and I'm not sure what NCAP would make of it...probably a baked-bean can!


2)