2007 Mini Cooper on 2040-cars

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Mini John Cooper Works Paceman is a potent little hot hatch in a fat suit

If there's one thing we're never going to complain about, it's that Mini has found it necessary to put the John Cooper Works treatment on every single one of its models. We love the JCW package across the board, and the final installment of the high-performance chapter (for now, anyway) comes in the form of the John Cooper Works Paceman, debuting here at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.
The John Cooper Works formula hasn't been altered in any way here, and like the JCW Countryman on which the Paceman is based, it comes standard with Mini's All4 all-wheel-drive system. We're sure it'll be a total hoot, and with 218 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque on tap, how could it not?
Look for the Mini JCW Paceman to hit dealerships in March of this year. Need to know more? Scroll down.

Mini JCW Paceman vs. BMW M135i in family faceoff

Over the last year, we've had the chance to drive two of the most exciting hatchbacks in the BMW family - the BMW M135i and the Mini Paceman John Cooper Works - but Autocar has managed to get the two corporate cousins together for a head-to-head comparison. Just like our initial impressions of the Paceman JCW, Autocar has little to complain about this new 215-horsepower hatchback... until it begins to factor in the faster, better-mannered and similarly priced M135i.
Despite laying down an extra 100 hp and delivering a 0-60 time that is almost two seconds quicker, the M135i carries the same price tag of 29,535 pounds in the UK; US pricing for the Paceman starts at $36,200, while it still isn't even clear if the US will be getting the M135i. Even more surprising is the fact that the Paceman falls short of the M135i in regards to rear seat and cargo volume, and just barely squeaks out a win in the fuel economy department. Scroll down to watch the BMW versus Mini hot hatch battle.

2013 Mini John Cooper Works

Location, Location, Location
Back in February, Mini invited me to come try out its brand-new Paceman coupe-crossover-hatchback thing in Puerto Rico, and not long after, I spit out a Quick Spin detailing my impressions of the little-big two-door. But here's what I didn't tell you: Mini also let me loose on those fine, curvaceous, tropical roads in its hottest hatch, the John Cooper Works GP. And while that behind-the-wheel gigglefest would have no doubt made for a story laden with positive notes and warm regards, the truth is, I only drove it for 15 minutes, so I couldn't in good conscience offer much of a story to you. (European Editor Matt Davis also got a short stint behind the wheel of the GP late last year.)
So for the sake of due diligence, I buckled down and spent a full eight days with the JCW GP back home in Detroit, just as springtime was starting to stick here in southeast Michigan. But after my time with the Mini, I was wishing that I could have just been left with my GP memories from Puerto Rico, where I was pushing the little hotbox hard around smooth corners and flexing every one of its muscles to eke out the full JCW GP experience in only a short timeframe.