A real car enthusiasts car: The 2012 Mini Cooper John Cooper Works, 1.6 L Turbocharged, straight 4 cylinder engine, 6-speed manual transmission with 223 BHP to the wheel is more than anyone could ask for. This car not only accounts for nearly 60 years of racing heritage but also maintains that sheer rawness and lack of digital aids that make it different from all others.

John Cooper, the owner of the Cooper Car Company, designer and builder of Formula 1 and rally cars, saw the potential of the MINI in competitive racing. The modern (2012) John Cooper Works resembles the original rally inspired “mini monster” that went on to conquer the tough mountain terrain and demanding rally stages to take its first victory in the Tulip Rally, Germany, in 1962 with their Morris Mini Cooper (later to be the John Cooper Works). The crucial concept that distinguished the Mini from all other was the idea of making a front wheel drive (FWD) car, much smaller than others and with a smaller engine, that combined with its lightweight body it could take turns faster and allow the pilot more space in narrow roads.

Today we still fill John Cooper’s mark in history with the 2012 John Cooper Works. Even though MINI was bought in 2001 by Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, better known today as BMW this wasn’t a bad thing at all. BMW managed to keep Mini’s principles and what came out of that was a beautiful 1.6 L Turbocharged, 4 cylinder, manual transmission monster that can go around the Nurburgring Nordschleife Track in Germany in 8 minutes 28 seconds. Impressive for a very affordable “hot hatch”.  

The Fiat Abarth 500, Mini’s direct competitor in the line of “hot hatches” does fight a great battle against the Cooper. The car has a 1.4 L Turbocharged, 4 cylinder engine with a 5-speed manual transmission that gives the compact FWD car only 160 BHP to the wheel. Even though the Abarth is better than the MINI in areas like the soundtrack (how the exhaust system sounds), and how compact it is, impressively more than the MINI, the Cooper has nothing to envy it’s rival. The Abarth goes from 0-60 (MPH) in 6.9 seconds when the Cooper does only 6.0 seconds. The Abarth also comes with regular unbranded factory brakes while the MINI comes with original Brembo brakes on the front wheels. With all of this being said, the starting price of the Abarth is around $21,000 USD while the MINI JCW starts at a whopping $32,000. Even with its very high price point, the MINI has nothing to envy his rival.

The MINI’s biggest downsides are how hard the ride is and how cheap the outside construction of the car can feel sometimes. The suspension is great for racing but for the regular chap that wants to use his MINI as a daily the Cooper S is the one to go. Given it’s racing orientation, it is a tough car built for very well paved tarmac with no bumps or inconsistencies at all. On irregular paved roads like the ones in Medellin, Colombia the car feels sometimes uncomfortable to use as a daily. Lastly, due to the rigidness of the ride, the outside construction has to be readjusted periodically because of the hard suspension.

Even though I did not find this car to be perfect, it is very close to it. The ride feels like you can go hard on the throttle even when taking a pronounced turn and that in the straights, the faster you go, the more the downforce and stability. It is quite convenient for city parking and comes with all the necessary gadgets like Bluetooth, a navigation system. The car is better than great and ideal for anyone with no kids and a car/racing enthusiast by heart.