MINI Cooper S JCW Test Drive Review

Driving Dynamics – When you make a car which has wheels on the corners (all cars have wheels on corners but MINI prides itself to have them on the extremes), a wider track, low ground clearance and optimal weight distribution, you expect to go around corners like lightning just struck your pants and the Cooper S does just that with supreme levels of sharpness and accuracy (heck, it sounds like I am talking mathematics here). Body roll is an unknown concept, but rolling with laughter inside is all that you do because the checkability around corners is just so unreal. It is just point and shoot, and the steering has just the right feel and feedback, W-O-W. If you buy one, make sure to say goodbye to the Runflats as soon as possible and opt for even better rubber.

There is no concept of ride and handling balance here, it’s just so freaking stiff

But all is not well because the ride quality is so bad that it’s unbelievable, I keep telling myself that the low profile tyres are to blame but when I do the mandatory walk around to admire the Cooper S, I realise this car runs on decent profile rubber, it’s just that the suspension is so freaking stiff that you feel every unevenness on the road and sadly our roads have more unevenness than the Moon. With Maruti Swift sized 195 mm tyres, you would expect grip to be good but it is somehow excellent and the brakes are more than up to the job to keep doing 0-100-0 km/hr all day long which we did (the hazard lights are too sensitive and turn on even when you apply 80% brakes), so my head is spinning a bit but it was all worth it. The Cooper S remains glued to the road but hit a bad patch and you have to correct on the steering. NVH levels are far from on point as there is a lot of wind noise and suspension noise due to the design of the car and of course the short spring suspension.

Safety and After Sales Service – A few days back, we reviewed the Clubman S and the Cooper S is similar to the former in safety features and identical in after sales service, so rather than me doing a control + C and control + V job here, let me just tell you, all is well here and you need not worry, just buy a Cooper S if are a petrolhead and have the dough, anyway, it ain’t gonna be your first or only car in the garage so why worry so much about service?

Verdict – The MINI Cooper S JCW has spun my head, I look around banks to see if they would lend me half a million rupees to indulge in madness but the interest rates make me stay away and the lack of practicality of this car convince my mind that the heart shouldn’t always be followed. But if your pocket can afford to buy and run a Cooper S, there is nothing else out there that offers this levels of thrill while also standing out of the crowd, this is the MINI to buy, thank you John Cooper.