MINI JCW

New 2025 range put to test on track

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Tasteful Evolution: New MINI John Cooper Works Range Retains Soul

12 May, 2025

Words by:

Cobey Bartels

Peppy John Cooper Works (JCW) range retains iconic MINI feel, but is now brimming with modern tech, too. TM takes to the racetrack for a brief taste of the new models.

A purposefully provoked rotation of the JCW Cooper into a sharp downhill bend confirms this is still a playful model at heart. The lift-off oversteer the old Minis were known for is very much still a core attribute of the new model’s mischievous personality.

We’re testing MINI’s new John Cooper Works (JCW) range at the RACQ Mobility Circuit in Queensland, using the facility’s skid-pan and road loop to evaluate the 2025 lineup – at the limit and beyond. 

MINI’s latest JCW range is as comprehensive as its ever been, since the performance-focused sub-brand was established in 2002 by Michael Cooper – son of racing legend and founder of Cooper Car Company John Cooper.

Updated for 2025, the JCW range is more refined and has expanded too – both in physical size and in the array of models.

The lineup now features the three-door Cooper hatch, five-door Countryman SUV and all-electric Aceman crossover, with Mini seemingly covering all bases for buyers wanting a JCW-fettled model.

All are fiercely fun, but the three-door ‘Cooper’ is what we’re here to taste. The SUVs act as somewhat of an entree, easing us into the MINI experience before jumping into the brand’s truest, and longest standing model. 

On the skid pan, the new electric JCW Cooper is rapid as it sends all 190kW/350Nm to the front wheels. If the surface wasn’t wet, MINI claims it’d get to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds. Not whiplash-inducing, but balanced in its power-to-weight ratio and dynamic ability. It’s just right. 

Out on the open road, the electric JCW is capable of travelling around 371km before requiring a top-up, powered by a 54.2kWh battery that can be fast-charged from 10 to 80 percent in around half an hour.

The electric model will, I was glad to discover, rotate nicely as you lift off the accelerator. This is a characteristic shunted by the regenerative braking of many (or most) EVs, but in its hottest drive mode the JCW E is willing to dance. 

While steering feels virtually identical, its inherent heft becomes apparent as the front axle pushes through tight corners, asking more from the front tyres than they’re able to offer. Dynamically, too, the added weight is felt – all 1650kg (up 320kg on the petrol model’s dainty 1330kg curb weight). 

Over at the road loop, which is akin to a Targa Tasmania stage, the petrol JCW Cooper sings as its turbocharged four-pot reverberates through thick scrub on either side of the winding course.

The added noise is a treat.

It’s slightly less potent than its battery-powered stablemate, producing 170kW of power, but it actually edges ahead for twist, with 380Nm available – which does, of course, arrive later than the electric model’s instant rush.

This equates to a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.1 seconds, down on the JCW E but delivered with far more emotion and it feels more rapid than the number suggests.

Brake hard into any of the tight, downhill turns, aiming the JCW’s front wheels end at the apex, and the rear will follow the corner for a perfect exit. Too much steering angle and it will, I discovered, over rotate before the rear treads catch and straighten things out.

It’s a thrill. A very manageable thrill. 

While more cumbersome than their sub-tonne ancestors, the new models exhibit a twitchy, point-and-go feel that is best likened to a go-kart. 

Cue Mini’s Go-Kart mode, which plays to the model’s inner child and aims to induce smiles.

“What MINI is about is creating smiles, spreading smiles, and this is what we want to achieve,” says Alex Brockhoff, General Manager of Mini Australia.

“It’s really about that go-kart feeling, it’s about a digitised community and a small footprint. When you look at John Cooper Works…this is where it’s about the pinnace go-kart feeling.”

The range is brimming with tech, too. New models score MINI’s quirky latest-gen round display, measuring a massive 240mm, as well as an enticing red ‘boost’ button on the steering wheel that switches the JCW models into Go-Kart mode on the fly.

There’s no forgetting you’re in a Cooper Works model, either, with an array of badges, red and black ascents and aero features adorning each variant. It’s all very boy racer, but I dig it, and it honours a genuine motorsport heritage.

The only other marque, in my opinion, that nails – or at least still honours – the original design brief? Porsche. Apparently, many JCW Mini owners indeed also own metal from Stuttgart. Some even opt for a rag-top JCW, over a convertible Porsche, we’re told. 

“When we look at the old generation cars, even when you’re looking at the convertible, it has the lowest consideration set of other vehicles,” says Nikesh Gohil, Head of Marketing at MINI Australia. 

“People were either looking at buying a convertible or a Porsche 911. So it just showcases the need to want to buy when looking at a JCW convertible.”

Not for a second should its featherweight dimensions suggest a lack of value, as it bucks the trend of ever-growing footprints in favour of fun, because the JCW can be had for a compelling $57,990. Care to go roofless? That’ll set you back an extra $7000.

For environmentally-conscious buyers, the all-electric JCW E starts from $63,990, but just know: it isn’t quite as fun.

The agility of a light chassis, coupled with the forgiving handling of a front-wheel drive layout, with MINI’s playful Go-Kart mode thrown in, makes the JCW exhilarating at the limit without the risk of derailment. 

If you’re after a compact city car that will encourage you to seek twisty tarmac come the weekend, with a quirky personality and genuine motorsport DNA, the Mini JCW is in a league of its own. 

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