MINI will officially unveil the third-generation version of its performance drop-top, the John Cooper Works Convertible, in March.
The car, on sale in April at prices from £26,630, employs the same powertrain as the already launched Hatch, a 2-litre four cylinder TwinPower Turbo engine with 231bhp and 236lbft of torque, the latter on tap from 1250 to 4800rpm.
The output is 20bhp and 44lbft improved over the previous JCW Convertible and
39bhp better than the stock Cooper S variant, achieved mainly by the development of a new more temperature-resilient turbocharger with consequent extra boost.
Put through the standard six-speed manual transmission the JCW Cooper S will complete the 0-62mph sprint in 6.6 seconds, three tenths quicker than its predecessor, while the Steptronic automatic gearbox shaves a further tenth from the time. Top speeds are 149 and 150mph respectively. Improvements have also been made to the efficiency figures ? the 43.5mpg combined cycle fuel economy is two mpg better than the previous JCW Convertible, while the automatic is boosted by 9.2mpg to 47.9mpg. CO2 emissions are 152g/km manual, 138g/km auto.
Chassis upgrades to the McPherson strut front/multilink rear suspension include extra rigidity and weight savings added by high-strength steel wishbones and axle supports and swivel bearings in aluminium. The rear axle also gains high-strength steel for extra rigidity while the whole system is set up for precise and agile handling while according to MINI n...