Tag Archives: John Cooper Works

Automobiles

Report: Mini Clubvan ready for boutique chic delivery duty from $25,985

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By John Neff

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The light commercial vehicle market has exploded in recent years. With a too-large full-size van no longer the only option for small businesses looking for an enclosed cargo carrier, options like the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Ford Transit Connect and now this, the Mini Clubvan, are now available to suit every size need.

Unveiled at last year’s Geneva Motor Show, the Clubvan will soon be on sale here in the US and we finally have details about what that transaction will cost you. Motoring File reports that the Clubvan’s price will be $25,985, which includes the so-called “chicken tax” and a $700 destination and handling charge.

Other questions that were answered include whether or not the Clubvan can be ordered as a Cooper S or even John Cooper Works model, and the answer is no (why do need to deliver cakes that fast anyway?). Also, Mini has confirmed you can’t take the shortcut of creating your own Clubvan by purchasing a standard Clubman and removing the rear seats. The factory Clubvan features steel side panels instead of vinyl coverings over the rear windows, as well as a fully flat load floor and a safety cage protecting front seat occupants.

The Clubvan’s price slots in just above the $25,100 Clubman Cooper S model (a standard Clubman starts at $21,400). It has a payload capacity of 1,102 pounds and will consume about 30.37 cubic-feet of stuff in its cargo area, which features six attachment loops and is fitted with 12-volt sockets. The Clubvan, of course, also features the Clubman’s unique arrangement of five doors that includes a mini front-hinged door behind the front passenger’s door, and two side-hinged vertical doors in the rear.

Mini Clubvan ready for boutique chic delivery duty from $25,985 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 23 Mar 2013 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Automobiles

First Drive: 2014 Mini John Cooper Works Paceman All4

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By Matt Davis

2014 Mini John Cooper Works Paceman All4

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The One Mini Should Have Taken Rallying

It needs to be said: Mini using the Countryman as their World Rally Championship racer’s bodystyle of choice has done them no favors on the marketing front. And that’s what it’s all about in motorsports these days: marketing and image. We have just driven the 2014 Mini John Cooper Works Paceman All4 through Frankfurt’s surrounding rural areas, and even in thick snow where few souls dared to tread, it has singularly rekindled some faith in the John Cooper Works sub-brand – a glorious name whose credibility has been threatened by portly and somewhat pointless products like the JCW Countryman.

The JCW Paceman is a little quicker than its Countryman relative, a little lighter, hunkered down lower, and better looking. We can’t say we’re crazy anymore about the stock Chili Red details and black exterior they keep showing us at these launches, but that’s just paint. Then there’s that projected pricing of $36k-plus that puts us on the verge of yelling “¡No mas!” But the All4 system on our 215-horsepower Paceman worked extremely well when paired with a set of exceptional Pirelli Sottozero Winter 210 Serie II tires (sized 205/55 R17 91H all around). The combination of all-wheel drive and good rubber encouraged us to gradually up the average speed and enthusiasm the further we drove along.

And the JCW hunkers four-tenths of an inch lower on its standard sport-tuned dampers and springs. This is just the start of why the hip point and yaw point – and all those other points – render the Paceman JCW‘s driving so satisfying. Whereas the electro-assisted steering on some of the lower-slung Minis has suffered slightly since the very first incarnations of those models, the Paceman seems to work with it. We were forcing oversteer coming into several of the day’s curves, and the steering and sheer physics of the chassis readily obliged. Just get your inner ear in sync with the 3,252-pounder’s lateral momentum and you’re golden. The odd center handbrake is calibrated not to really snap the car around at will, but we learned to muscle it and deal with the onboard chorus of chimes warning us that we were using the handbrake as a handbrake.

Continue reading 2014 Mini John Cooper Works Paceman All4

2014 Mini John Cooper Works Paceman All4 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Automobiles

Maximizing Mini’s Lineup: Hybrid and New EV Likely, New Hardtop Set to Debut in November

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By Erik Johnson

2013 Mini Cooper S Paceman

Tribbles, rabbits, Antonio Cromartie—whatever your preferred analogy for abundant reproduction, go ahead an apply it to expansion of the Mini lineup. What began with only the basic three-door hatchback more than a decade ago has ballooned to seven offerings with the recent introduction of the Paceman. The others are the Clubman, Countryman, convertible, roadster, and coupe, and an eighth Mini will hit streets shortly in the form of the Clubvan cargo hauler. And there are, of course, additional variations available for each model: Cooper, Cooper S, John Cooper Works, all-wheel drive, etc.

Expect more to come. Mini’s BMW overlords said a couple of years ago that the brand’s litter could include as many as 10 kittens, and we had the opportunity to speak with Mini’s U.S. product planning manager Patrick McKenna regarding the possibilities.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the next new models will include a new body style, although McKenna didn’t so much as bat an eyelash when we brought up the possibility of a Paceman convertible. Our take: Such a car would be low volume, sure, but also low investment, so don’t rule it out. You can, however, forget about the Rocketman, which previewed an even smaller Mini—that’s dead.

Rather, with an all-new hardtop on the way (it debuts in November before going on sale around March 2014), expect Minis nine and 10 to be a front-wheel-drive hybrid and a second-generation electric Mini, both based on the three-door.

The hybrid won’t feature all-wheel drive, as seen in spy photos we published a couple of years back; regardless of propulsion type, only the Countryman and Paceman will offer four driven wheels for the time being. We also learned that the Mini EV won’t be sharing any platform or powertrain tech with BMW’s electric i3. Efficiency aficionados also will be interested in the likely diesel variant, but we’re told that, like the hybrid and EV, it wouldn’t arrive until at least a couple of years after the conventional third-gen hardtop, which is on tap to receive a turbocharged three-cylinder.

McKenna also confirmed a second-generation Clubman, which he placed among the four “core” models with the hardtop, convertible, and Countryman. And you can expect the onslaught of special-edition Minis to continue—see Goodwood, Hyde Park, Bond Street, Baker Street, to name just four recent ones—although the new hardtop won’t honor any British stuff until year two or three.

Every time Mini introduces a new model—or the threat of one seems imminent—many fans sound the same refrain: that the brand is slicing things too thin. Obviously the company doesn’t think so, and seems content to create a number of spin-offs and variants that do little more than bring people into the showroom to purchase one of the core models. Case in point: …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

Automobiles

Quick Spin: 2013 Mini Cooper S Paceman All4

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By Steven J. Ewing

2013 Mini Cooper S Paceman

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In just over a decade, Mini has expanded its modern range from the singular Hardtop model (launched in 2002) to a full range of little runabouts. The latest of these is the Paceman, and while European Editor Matt Davis gave us the full scoop on this model late last year, we recently spent time with the all-wheel-drive model just outside of Ponce, Puerto Rico.

It’s weird, this Paceman. It slots in between the Hardtop and the Countryman (on which its based) in terms of size and functionality, and Mini says that it will appeal to a more style-conscious shopper. Key competitors range anywhere from the Nissan Juke on the low end to the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque on the high end.

After spending lots of time with the Countryman, we’re convinced that maxi can still be Mini. And the same is true with this Paceman, too.

Driving Notes

  • The Paceman rides on the same platform as the Countryman, and from the A pillar forward, it’s identical. That includes all versions of the 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, which range from the 121-horsepower Cooper spec up to the 208-hp John Cooper Works that was introduced in Detroit last month. Our Cooper S model with 181 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque falls right in the middle, and just like in the Countryman, it’s a good pairing.
  • What we don’t love is the six-speed Steptronic automatic transmission. In the hills of Puerto Rico, the trans often struggled to keep us in the right gear, and the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters don’t provide much in the way of engagement. Opting for the six-speed manual transmission will solve all of these problems, but we wish a proper dual-clutch setup were offered here for people who don’t want to row their own.
  • Unsurprisingly, the Paceman drives exactly like the Countryman. That is, the steering is, for the most part, direct, though putting the car in Sport mode adds a false sense of involvement to the rack. Basically, it just feels heavier, not more engaging. But we’re happy to report that the usual go-kart driving aspects have not been lost on this portly hatchback. The Paceman performed exactly how we expected. (That’s a good thing.)
  • She’s a heavy girl, though – 3,260 pounds here in Cooper S All4 spec. That weight is indeed noticed when you’re hustling it through turns, though the excellent suspension setup and good steering feedback do a lot to convince you that the car’s a lot smaller than it is.
  • We like the implementation of All4 in the Mini, and we could really feel it working as we wound the car around the twists and turns of Puerto Rico. Give the car a boost of throttle in a turn and you can actually feel the rear wheels working to propel the car forward with poise.
  • Inside, the front cabin hasn’t changed from the larger Countryman, though new for the 2013 model year …read more
    Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
Automobiles

Detroit: Mini John Cooper Works Paceman is a potent little hot hatch in a fat suit

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By Steven J. Ewing

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Mini John Cooper Works Paceman

If there’s one thing we’re never going to complain about, it’s that Mini has found it necessary to put the John Cooper Works treatment on every single one of its models. We love the JCW package across the board, and the final installment of the high-performance chapter (for now, anyway) comes in the form of the John Cooper Works Paceman, debuting here at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.

The John Cooper Works formula hasn’t been altered in any way here, and like the JCW Countryman on which the Paceman is based, it comes standard with Mini’s All4 all-wheel-drive system. We’re sure it’ll be a total hoot, and with 218 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque on tap, how could it not?

Look for the Mini JCW Paceman to hit dealerships in March of this year. Need to know more? Scroll down.

Continue reading Mini John Cooper Works Paceman is a potent little hot hatch in a fat suit

Mini John Cooper Works Paceman is a potent little hot hatch in a fat suit originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog