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2015 Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop First Drive [w/video]

In its previous iteration, the Mini John Cooper Works three-door was a bad little mother. It looked like an engorged puffer fish facing down a shark, sounded like squadron of hornets with even the tiniest provocation of the throttle, and turned corners like it was angry at them. It was hard riding and ill mannered in all sorts of daily driving situations, but supremely satisfying when used in the all-out-attack mode for which it was designed. I dug every minute I spent in one, when really concentrating on driving. (As a commuter or passenger, not so much.) It only took fifteen minutes of driving on the lilting, tree-lined roads outside of New Haven, CT, to realize that the 2015 Mini JCW Hardtop was a lot less pissed off. And with more power, refined ride quality, a better interior, and an available automatic transmission, a lot more suitable for a wide variety of drivers. The little hellion has matured. On that grownup tip, the first of the many '15 JCWs I sampled was fitted with a six-speed automatic transmission. Cue collective shocked gasp. I'll forgive you if you didn't know an auto was going to be available equipment on the JCW, as Mini product planners had to remind me that it had been offered for the first time on the model-year 2013 car. Even then, the manual trans saw an impressive 75-percent take rate, so it's not as if many of the auto-shifters made it to the street. That could change in this new generation, where the 6AT acquits itself quite well. Wheel-mounted paddles offer near immediate response to requested shifts, and programming for the sport setting causes gears to be held up to the top of the tach. The manual is far more engaging, even if the automatic is quicker than the human hand. The six-speed Getrag manual transmission is still the better option, even the car is two-tenths of a second slower to 60 miles per hour with it (6.1 vs. 5.9 seconds), and less fuel efficient in the city (23 vs. 25 miles per gallon). The manual uses a long-levered shifter that still feels positive going between gates, and a short-travel clutch that's got nice weight and an easy catch point. It also offers defeatable rev matching, smoothing out even very aggro downshifts. Mini measures the manual as slower than the auto, but I had a lot more fun using it to harness the increased power of the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine.

Mini could go even bigger with next Countryman

We recently reported that the new family of Minis could balloon from eight models to ten or more, but it's not only the model line that's expected to grow: so too could the largest model itself. That, of course, would be the Countryman, which is already bigger than anything else ever to wear the Mini badge. But if you think the current Countryman is already big enough, the latest reports suggest that it could get even bigger. Apparently parent company BMW feels a larger Mini crossover would better compete with more mainstream models in the marketplace.
The Countryman, however, will only be one of the new variants to spin off of the new third-generation Mini. Expect the new Hardtop hatchback introduced in LA to be followed by a new Cabriolet, Roadster, and Paceman. A five-door version of the base hatchback will also join in addition to the new Clubman, which is tipped to get a split tailgate instead of the single hinged aperture on the current model. The jury's still out on the Mini Coupe, which has largely failed to impress, while a convertible crossover could be back in the mix along with the rumored plug-in hybrid version.

Mini Aceman concept previews a funky, flashy EV below Countryman

Mini has big plans for its future, and it all revolves around electrification and fun, funky design. Some of that has been shown with ambitious concepts such as the Mini Urbanaut micro-van, but now we're getting a look at what's coming soon with the Mini Aceman (a name curiously similar to the ill-fated two-door Paceman). It's still very much a show car at this point, but it does hint at a production electric SUV. The overall shape is clearly Mini. It's a boxy little thing with a contrasting roof, wraparound glass, fender flares, big headlights and a big grille. But everything is now beveled and angular. The grille has distinct sides, as do the headlights, which match the angles. The wheel arches are squared off, and the whole body has more chiseled panels. It gives the whole thing a more rugged shape than the usual Mini, which fits its crossover bodystyle and mission. And because it's an EV, it has a filled-in grille and flush door handles. All of these aspects are likely to show up in a production Aceman. Probably not appearing in the production model is the flashy LED grille that can display all kinds of colors and patterns. It's also matched with similarly animated puddle lights. We also doubt the production model will feature the bright orange covers over the external speakers that provide safety sounds but also welcome sequence sounds. The Union Jack taillights, though, those are probably happening, since they're already on the current production Mini lineup. That Union Jack roof rack wouldn't be out of the question either. Mini also noted that the production Aceman will slide between the Mini Hardtop and the Mini Countryman in the lineup. The size seems to back that up. It's about an inch longer than the four-door Mini Hardtop and about six inches taller. And all those numbers come in well below the bigger Countryman, save for height, which is similar. The interior is even more interesting than the exterior. Mini says they've applied the idea of "Charismatic Simplicity" to the car, and this is where it really shows. It has just a simple dash pad ahead of the funky green velour steering wheel, and mounted to it is a circular OLED touchscreen infotainment display. It continues the design idea laid out by the original Mini revival of the early 2000s, but very decluttered.