Classic Mini Mayfair. 998cc Right Hand Drive on 2040-cars

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Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

Future Mini JCW models likely to be electrified

High-performance Mini Coopers need to be small, nimble, and relatively quick. One thing they don't necessarily need to be, according to the company's U.S. leadership, is gasoline-powered.  In an interview with Motor Authority, Mini USA Vice President Mike Peyton said that electrification is on the table for the range-topping John Cooper Works variants, which have traditionally been powered by a high-output turbocharged engine. The latest and greatest in the lineup, the 2020 Mini John Cooper Works GP, takes the formula to a new extreme, pairing a 301-horsepower mill with out-of-this-world aero. Peyton says that powertrains don't necessarily have to sound or feel the way traditionalists expect in order to be fun. It certainly doesn't have to feel that way in order to be fast; Tesla drivers can attest to that, as can those who have been fortunate enough to pilot some of the latest electrified hypercars.  He also acknowledged that while the future may be electric, that future is still a ways off. Mini is still waiting for advances in battery technology that will allow its performance models to deliver on other key expectations — namely handling. Minis are expected to be, well, miniature, and the additional weight of a current-generation, high-capacity battery is antithetical to that formula.  The take-away? The future of Mini performance is electric, but that future is still distant. So while the Mini Cooper SE and Mini E Countryman plug-in hybrid may give us a taste of Mini's approach to electrification, it could be some time before we see the company's highest-performance variants dabble in same space. 

2017 Mini John Cooper Works Clubman ALL4 | Pint-size performer with a premium price

Last September, Mini revealed the Clubman John Cooper Works (JCW). It applied the same general JCW formula used on the regular three-doors to the longest Mini by giving it even sportier suspension and the potent 228-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. But from there, Mini gave the Clubman JCW even more torque than other JCW models, and the most of any Mini model, with a total of 258 pound-feet. It also fitted standard all-wheel drive. On paper, it sounds like the ultimate performance Mini, and it doesn't hurt that it's about the most practical model. So how did it hold up in practice? First of all, this Mini has a serious weight problem. You might be tired of alarmist auto journalists whining about the increasing size of vehicles, but it's a major issue with this Mini. It actually weighs more than a V6 Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro weighs 3,435 pounds, and the Mini weighs 3,450. That's for the manual transmission version, too. Our automatic-equipped test car weighed more than that. As a result, it feels noticeably slower than the competition, despite making 228 horsepower and the aforementioned torque. There's an area in which the Clubman JCW could easily lose some weight, and that's in the all-wheel-drive system. It's a Haldex-style system that only kicks in when the front wheels start to slip, so it's only beneficial for traction in bad weather, not for improving the driving experience by, say, reducing the car's understeer. That's fine for more mainstream Minis, but the JCW line is all about performance and speed, so if the all-wheel-drive system doesn't improve the driving experience, it should simply be dropped to make the car lighter. Despite the Mini's prodigious portliness, there are good points. The engine is very smooth, and power comes on almost instantly. In more aggressive driving modes, the exhaust pops and burbles almost every time you lift off the gas pedal. T he eight-speed automatic paired with this engine was equally up to the task. Shifts were fast and smooth. And it even worked well leaving it in automatic mode. It held gears smartly, and it would downshift while braking to ensure you had the right gear when taking off again. The Clubman JCW also has the brand's trademark corner-carving skills. Body roll is nearly absent in the normal driving mode, and what little was evident is removed when switching to Sport mode. The car responds immediately to each steering input, and it has tenacious grip through corners.