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The John Cooper Works Hardtop provides a step up in performance over the Mini Cooper S, but it comes at a price.
Dare to be different! In an automotive world where all cars look relatively alike, Mini Cooper dared to make completely unique vehicles. There is nothing about Mini Cooper that resembles any other car in its segment or beyond. Mini Cooper makes you rethink using the word “compact” so freely. In fact, this hatch redefines compact. For years, the Cooper has been the ultimate compact hatch, the coolest hot-hatch, and the car with the most character on the market. While the Mini Cooper S is cool, the John Cooper Works badge makes it that much cooler. The question is: does this badge make it good enough to still compete in this segment? Or is Mini Cooper just a cool thing from the past? We find that out with our 2022 Hot Hatch Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Hardtop two-door review.
The 2022 Mini Cooper John Works sports a TwinPower 2.0-liter turbocharged inline 4-cylinder engine. Don’t confuse the TwinPower with twin-turbo. BMW’s TwinPower is basically another name for a twin-scroll turbocharger. Twin-scroll turbos have tons of benefits, most notably throttle response and efficiency. The hardtop version offers a manual transmission option, but our loner came with the 8-speed automatic. The direct-injection 2.0-liter engine and 8-speed automatic send the power to the front wheels. This more performance-oriented Mini Cooper makes 228 horsepower at 5,200 RPM, and 235 lb-ft of torque at just 1,450 RPM. The low-end peak torque is a partial result of the twin-scroll turbocharger technology. With the Cooper only weighing 2,951-pounds, it’s able to sprint to the 60 mph mark from a stop in just 5.9-seconds. If you're a fan of the EV movement, keep your eyes open for the 2023 Mini Cooper Electric coming out soon.
For decades and generations since 1959, the Mini Cooper only came as a two-door hatch. It took years before the company started offering vehicles like the Clubman and the Countryman, but whenever you think Mini Cooper, you always think of the short wheelbase, wide stance, and nimble handling of the two-door variation. After all, this is the body-style that dominated Monte Carlo four-years in a row thanks to F1 builder John Cooper. John Cooper’s “works” continues today, with this special trim-level offering true performance upgrades. The John Cooper Works gets you 39 horsepower and 29 lb-ft of torque more than the turbocharged Mini Cooper S. This gives the John Cooper Works half a second advantage in the 0 to 60 mph department. This trim-level also adds F1-style paddle shifters for the automatic, a far-better roar from a sport exhaust, and the optional Nitron adjustable suspension. This edition also improves aerodynamics with a full-body kit. The JCW still finds homes on tracks around the world, and the legend continues.
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It’s quite rare when we use the word “timeless.” I learned a long time ago that what is timeless today is usually outdated tomorrow. However, the Mini Cooper has proved otherwise. For years, the Mini Cooper was able to pull-off that wide, short, bulldog-like design, until they started releasing more models. Over time, the design became more elegant, while staying true to its roots. In 2014, the Cooper became actually modern. It lost the outdated design elements and the poor interior, and truly impressed with new technology, quality interior, and sleeker exterior that I had to buy myself one. Well, there has been almost no changes since. The taillights of the John Cooper Works have this Union Jack design implemented within them, while the headlights have modern LED rings around them. All in all, the design of the Mini Cooper is playful, silly, and feels like a car that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Which is exactly why people fell in love with it originally.
Getting into the cabin was quite disappointing. I sold my 2014 Mini Cooper in 2016, and I expected more from the German-made vehicle. Instead, the only changes are a new BMW shifter, slight changes in the steering wheel controls, and wireless Apple CarPlay (which was a huge bonus given 2022 Lexus models still haven’t incorporated that). The airplane-like switches are still a thing in this vehicle, and while it was really cool in 2014, it’s far overplayed today.
The seats are still manually-operated, and even the beautiful panoramic sunroof shades are manually-opened by hand. The instrument cluster changed to a digital screen. While many car enthusiasts love the Mini Cooper for its interior, I feel a change is critically-important for the brand’s evolution. This could be because I’ve driven hundreds of cars since my ownership of the 2014 Mini Cooper, feeling like all other cars have evolved while the Cooper stayed almost exactly the same. All in all, the cabin is “cool,” but it is definitely time to get to the next level if this car can compete with the hot-hatches of today, like the Hyundai Veloster N.
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If you’ve ever driven a Mini Cooper, you know it’s a unique drive. The Mini Cooper has always been as fun as a go-cart. It’s light, it’s nimble, and it can handle like there is no tomorrow. The John Cooper Works sport exhaust makes a huge difference in sound. This model actually sound throaty and sporty. The ride is rough and loud, but it’s one of the things that add to the experience of the Mini Cooper. It’s like buying a motorcycle - you know it won’t be as comfortable as a Camry, but you still get it.
The engine will give you mixed feelings. Often times, it feels loud and peppy. It is not slow by any means, but other times, it just feels like it’s missing a step. It feels lazy, but not all the time. Usually, we would blame the transmission for this type of laziness, but the 8-speed automatic wasn’t actually bad. When you put it in manual mode, it shifts crisply and quickly.
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Around the corners, the John Cooper Works will always put a smile on your face. Thanks to the extra wide stance, this car grips the road intensely with suspension specifically-tuned for such fun. The sport suspension is punishing, however, and they’re especially so when you go over potholes. This is surprising given the Mini Cooper JCW gets Adaptive Suspension. There isn’t anything you can go over that you wouldn’t feel inside the car, often times rattling every piece of trim inside the cabin. The brakes are much more capable than they need to, which is always a great thing.
All in all, the Mini Cooper still has its character. It’s a truly fun car to drive. While it’s not the most comfortable, driving it hard is what makes it OK. This type of driving will reward you with precise handling, great braking, no body-roll, and decent performance. The cabin offers near perfect visibility all around, and fuel economy is rather decent at 28 mpg of combined driving.
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The reality is, the Hardtop Mini Cooper 2-door is competing with the likes of the Golf GTi and the Hyundai Veloster N, which offer far more modern technology and much more performance. However, this is not what it’s about. With the Cooper, it’s about the Mini Cooper. No one buys the Mini Cooper because of its cargo space. Instead, buyers seek its fun performance, its unique, cute looks, or they simply want to be different. The Mini John Cooper Works excels at different. This is a car that has evolved enough to offer the necessities, like the wireless Apple CarPlay, yet stayed true to what made it the legend it is.
With a starting MSRP of $40,325 for the John Cooper Works, we can think of 30 better deals. If you really want this iconic hatch, we would recommend considering the Mini Cooper S instead. It offers the same funny persona, unique characteristics, and toy-like handling at a starting price-point of $32,200. However, if you’re a full-on Mini Cooper fan and you know it, the John Cooper Works is a huge step up in performance over the Mini Cooper S. In the end, the Mini is history on wheels, and if you choose to own one, it will force you to have some serious fun.
Bassem has been writing in the automotive industry since day one of his career. The love for any machinery with wheels has been embedded deep into his heart at a tremendously early age by his father. Bassem has created content for a variety of sources in numerous styles, from pure entertainment to the most technical of topics. His work can be found on newsstands, websites, and social media, reaching millions of enthusiasts.