MINI JCW Convertible 2016 Review

MINI JCW Convertible
Local Launch
Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Four-seat convertibles are not known for sporting competence. They usually ride and handle like a bowl of blancmange. But MINIs are different. Enhance the performance of the Cooper S Convertible and you have an enjoyable soft-top small car that will run rings around any other four-seater under $60,000 – not that there's a lot of competition in that sector of the market. The latest offering is the $54,900 MINI JCW Convertible – MINI's most powerful convertible ever.

Don't be fooled by its cute looks, its urban-friendly packaging and its front-wheel drive layout, the MINI JCW Convertible is a punchy, pugnacious little car, equally at home on the track as cruising down the boulevards of prosperous suburbia.

It's not that light though (1385kg for the manual, plus an extra 10kg for the auto), but the JCW's 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces plenty of firepower to offset the weight, and its 0-100km/h time is 6.5 seconds – not V8-beating, but respectable all the same.

What distinguishes the JCW engine from the Cooper S mill is a new turbocharger, uprated pistons and sports exhaust. The engine delivers an explosive soundtrack that smacks of SU carbs, lumpy cams and hot-dog exhausts – but it's all turbocharged and injected for modern-day environmental sensitivities.

To that end, the JCW convertible posted fuel consumption figures hovering around 8.8L/100km for the auto, and 8.9 for the manual during the course of the local media drive programme earlier this week. Although the MINI was receiving a good flogging during the drive programme, it also spent plenty of time on the open road, so the fuel economy figures posted don't seem all that convincing.

Other features that set the JCW Convertible apart from the Cooper S include 18-inch wheels (17-inch for the Cooper S), run-flat tyres, big brakes and dynamic dampers. Inside, the JCW variant comes with Navigation System Professional – with 8.8-inch touch screen and voice recognition – 12-speaker Harman Kardon audio with digital radio, head-up display and parking sensors front and rear.

MINI in Australia offers the JCW Convertible with the six-speed automatic transmission by default, but the six-speed manual is available to special order, for no extra cost.

A manual car was there to test at the launch, and it impressed with its higher level of enthusiast focus. The shift quality was light but slick for rapid changes, and the pedal placement was appropriate for heel-and-toe or double declutching.

But that's not to take too much away from the sequential-shift auto, which promises potential racetrack stardom with its frenetic shifting, when using the paddles.

Still, the engine and the manual transmission make for a finer match. The final drive ratio for the manual JCW is lower than the auto's, and the slushbox dampens the car's performance somewhat. But it also smooths over the highs and lows of the engine's power and torque curves.

This was quite noticeable changing from Sport to Green mode on a slight uphill incline. There was no discernible difference in the case of the auto, but the torque retardation was immediately apparent in the manual car, which felt marginally more sluggish and demanded more throttle to maintain pace.

Power delivery was an able partner to the car's passive dynamics and it was simplicity itself to apply power – sparingly at times – without spearing off into the scenery. MINI's UKL platform is impressively competent as a partner to the powerhouse drivetrain. For all the car's performance potential, there was little torque steer evident, compared with earlier JCW models.

Body reinforcement ensured the convertible always felt taut and lithe over bumps and in corners. Even in Sport mode the ride comfort was acceptably good, but naturally too, the MINI turned in very sharply and both steering and brakes proved highly communicative. In the damp conditions prevailing, the MINI showed a tendency to step out at the rear on a trailing throttle. For a hard-core hot hatch, that's a clear virtue.

Driveline noise was more prevalent than any other source with the roof raised, although the 18-inch Pirellis were audible on coarse-chip bitumen too. Overall, however, NVH was surprisingly subdued in the MINI's cabin.

The seats were very comfortable over the course of the 400km+ drive programme, and held the occupant securely in place when the driver was pushing harder into corners. Yet they weren't so aggressively bolstered that entering or leaving was made difficult. Adjusting recline and height was by means of two small levers by the side of the seat. Personally, I would prefer a knob to recline the backrest. For the money, furthermore, electric adjustment wouldn't be unwelcome.

The driving position was on the money for the relationship to pedals and wheel, but only if you fold the centre armrest out of the way. While it's not actually much of a concern with the automatic version, which will likely account for the vast majority of cars sold, the lidded armrest and storage bin underneath certainly hindered the manual gear shift action if left horizontal.

As is often the case with MINI switchgear, it takes some time to work out where everything is and how it operates, but this latest generation is more rational than previous MINI models. I still find the top of the steering wheel obstructs my view of the speedometer at open-road speeds.

It is possible to sit in the back if you're an adult but it is tight back there with the roof up and the front seat set to suit a driver of average height or taller. There are no adjustable vents for the rear seat either, which may not pose a problem in warmer weather, with the roof lowered.

On that subject, the roof folds up or down in 18 seconds and MINI claims it will do so with the car on the move at speeds up to 30km/h. And there's a mini-sunroof panel to allow the sun in without lowering the whole roof or the side windows. In a departure from the previous MINI Convertible design, the F56 model features pyrotechnic-actuated rollover protection that projects upwards within 150 milliseconds of the vehicle starting to turn turtle.

The boot lid of the MINI folds down to reveal enough space inside to accommodate two hefty backpacks. There would be significantly more space still with the roof raised, of course. MINI claims that the 160-litre capacity expands to 215 litres with the roof raised, representing a 25 per cent increase over the previous convertible's luggage capacity.

As we head into the warmer months, we're looking forward to subjecting the JCW Convertible to a tougher test on home turf, but since the hard-topped hatch version acquitted itself well during this year's running of ABDC there's little doubt the Convertible will be equally well received.
2016 MINI JCW Convertible pricing and specifications:
Price: $54,900 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder
Output: 170kW/320Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic standard, six-speed manual optional
Fuel: 6.2L/100km auto, 6.8L/100km manual (ADR Combined)
CO2: 143g/km (auto), 157g/km (manual)
Safety Rating: Four-star (ANCAP, 2013)

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