Tuesday 14th January 2014

Mini JCW Concept revealed at Detroit

Mini says concept, we say coming to a showroom near you soon

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It doesn't seem that long ago we were talking about a special Mini JCW. Oh, that's because it wasn't. But the Mk2 Mini JCW GP is ancient history in the furious paced world of Mini development, as here we have the Mk3, F56 Mini JCW 'Concept'.

Well it's bold, that's for sure

We refer to it in those terms as, regardless of how Mini names its Detroit show car, the road car will surely look very similar to this concept. The bigger exhausts, wheels, intakes and spoilers are all trademark JCW enhancements, and the badges can be found on the grille and wings as per the previous models. Mini claims the body tweaks, including the obligatory faux rear diffuser, are 'designed to channel air efficiently around... for optimised aerodynamic balance at high speeds'.

In fact the whole of Mini's bumph for the JCW Concept is crammed with lots of creative description without many details or specs. It will be lighter than the standard Cooper S but there is no power output confirmed yet. Mini has promised an 'enticingly sporting aura' as well as an 'irresistible go-kart feeling and genuine everyday usability'.

Even with the car out on the show floor, no further info is yet available. It will be here as soon as we have it. A cursory glance through JCWs in the classifieds shows the earliest R53s around the £6K mark and the outgoing R56s beginning at around £9,000. And something a little more odd, how about a JCW Clubman? Predictably quite rare, the only ones we could find were nearly new and a rather scary £25K+.

 

 

[tadaah]

Looks like its crashed into Halfords.

the front and rear are so over-styled its silly

[Dr Interceptor]

The engine stats will be the interesting one, when they get revealed.

Running the 2-litre turbo petrol, I'd guess we should be seeing 225-230hp? That'd make it a big step up from the Cooper S at 190-odd hp.

[oilit]

i think the mini is a victim of its own success and as such if I were in the market for such a car (which I'm not!) I think I would rather take a Citroen DS3 THP 155 6-speed manual DSport in black @ £18420 OTR and save myself £2k:-

Edited by oilit on Wednesday 18th December 09:50

[Silent1]

They never improved on the R53 JCW IMHO

Edited by Silent1 on Thursday 19th December 15:21

[weez123]

oilit said:

i think the mini is a victim of its own success and as such if I were in the market for such a car (which I'm not!) I think I would rather take a Citroen DS3 THP 155 6-speed manual DSport in black @ £18420 OTR and save myself £2k:-

Edited by oilit on Wednesday 18th December 09:50

100% with you on that one, that mini just looks awful. The DS3 looks miles better although ink blue with a grey roof please.

[Dr S]

This looks plain horrible. Since the first gen new Mini, the design has only gone downhill. It gets more cartoonish with every "update".

[worsy]

The wife has a Clubman JCW. It's a 10 plate and the previous owner who had it 4 months from new specced everything. Even got a TV Fab car and makes a brilliant noise. They are north of £25k new though which is frankly ridiculous for a hot hatch.

[dave7692]

Looks like they wanted to make the front look like a MK5 GTI, then realised it looked too much like a MK5 GTI and changed it a bit.

Other than that and the wheels I quite like it, personally I think the back is nice.

[KTF]

There arent enough vents on the front of it. MINI need to add some more.

[jcl]

tadaah said:

Looks like its crashed into Halfords.

the front and rear are so over-styled its silly

Totally agree and you could say that for so many cars these days. New BMW M4 for example. Desperately trying to make them look aggressive enough to compete with the next tasteless design.

As others have said the design has got uglier and uglier since the introduction.

[Frimley111R]

I'm with people on the awful images of the new MINI but this doesn't look anywhere near as bad IMO.

[JustADay]

KTF said:

There arent enough vents on the front of it. MINI need to add some more.

Absolutely- if there's one thing this car is lacking it's vents at the front.

[Daidumpvalve]

Love it! at least Alec issigonis can rest in peace as they have cracked
It with this one. Make sure it's got 250bhp+ and sounds like a beast!

[Daidumpvalve]

tadaah said:

Looks like its crashed into Halfords.

the front and rear are so over-styled its silly

Surely if it crashed into halfords it would be covered in orange paint and brickwork ... deerrr!!

[Root Ginger]

One thing I've noticed, that I didn't notice before on the 3rd Gen MINI, is that the fuel flap is now on the wrong side.

This does look better than the standard car but it still looks wrong.

[Janesy B]

Too fussy, looks rubbish.

[the_g_ster]

I agree with the post above, the mini is now a victim of it's own success.

It appears that someone (as with many cars these days) has just plugged the car in a garage airline and pumped it up abit, tricky task for the design team though.

[jonm01]

I like the side view, front is way over styled though.

Anyone who thinks a DS3 is a better bet should drive one first, was majorly disappointed when I tried one.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Why is pistonheads so bummed out on the GP2, every other publication rates it as one of 2013's best cars

[Dr Interceptor]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Why is pistonheads so bummed out on the GP2, every other publication rates it as one of 2013's best cars

You're the first one to mention the GP2 in this thread