If you opened this story hoping to read about cool colors and wheels, you're going to be in for a surprise. We're actually reporting about an all-out war between the superpowers of German automobile production.
A coupe of days ago, Audi revealed the most supermini supermini they've ever made, the S1. It has quattro, a 2-liter engine and packs 231 HP, plus 370 Nm of torque. 0-100km/h takes just 5.8 seconds.
Today, we bring you Bavaria's answer, wearing the badge of a British traitor: the brand new MINI John Cooper Works hatchback. Together with these spyshots taken up-close and personal, we can also tell you what's under the bonnet. The B48 2-liter TwinPower Turbo engine. It's been revealed today in the 225i Active Tourer. Care to guess the output? Yep, it's 231 hp. Torque is 350 Nm (258 lb-ft), though MINI will likely offer overboost, matching the Audi engine for short bursts. The new MINI JCW will likely take about 6.2 seconds to reach 100 km/h, a little slower than the quattro car. That doesn't matter as much as you'd think though, not when the JCW is such a powerful brand/marketing tool.
I find that both the S1 and JCW target a beautifully exciting new niche in the market. They show that if you don't want a big boot and a larger car, you don't have to get the Golf GTI any more. Before these two models, you just couldn't experience the power of a 2-liter turbo engine in a supermini/subcompact, only 1.4 or 1.6-liter turbos being offered. Both these cars are actually going to be faster than the GTI and I think they could take a few of Wolfsburg's customers away.
Today, we bring you Bavaria's answer, wearing the badge of a British traitor: the brand new MINI John Cooper Works hatchback. Together with these spyshots taken up-close and personal, we can also tell you what's under the bonnet. The B48 2-liter TwinPower Turbo engine. It's been revealed today in the 225i Active Tourer. Care to guess the output? Yep, it's 231 hp. Torque is 350 Nm (258 lb-ft), though MINI will likely offer overboost, matching the Audi engine for short bursts. The new MINI JCW will likely take about 6.2 seconds to reach 100 km/h, a little slower than the quattro car. That doesn't matter as much as you'd think though, not when the JCW is such a powerful brand/marketing tool.
I find that both the S1 and JCW target a beautifully exciting new niche in the market. They show that if you don't want a big boot and a larger car, you don't have to get the Golf GTI any more. Before these two models, you just couldn't experience the power of a 2-liter turbo engine in a supermini/subcompact, only 1.4 or 1.6-liter turbos being offered. Both these cars are actually going to be faster than the GTI and I think they could take a few of Wolfsburg's customers away.