Road Test: Mini Hatchback 1.6 John Cooper Works 3dr

With clouds hanging overhead as ominously as if the Arc of the Covenant had just been opened up, I'm faced with typical weather conditions for a traditional trip to the British seaside. My purpose for heading to the south coast isn't to sit there shivering on a deck chair, however, but to pay a visit to the home of Mini tweakery, John Cooper Works near Littlehampton in West Sussex.

The late John Cooper was the engineer responsible for the creation of the radical rear-engined F1 cars that won World Championships in '59 and '60, plus the Works Mini Coopers that famously took victories in the Monte Carlo Rally in '64, '65 and '67 (and that would have won in 1966 too, had the organisers not fixed the result). I'm here to drive a Works Mini Cooper S of a very different sort. John Cooper's son Mike now runs the family business and has linked up with BMW to bring us the most potent officially-sanctioned Mini of the lot.

A huge amount of effort has gone into creating the conversion. A new, increased-efficiency Eaton supercharger replaces the one bolted to the standard Cooper S's 1.6-litre engine, while an easier-breathing cylinder head and exhaust are added alongside a different air filter and ECU calibration.

Save for 'John Cooper Works' badges attached to the lower front grille and tailgate, the rest of the car is left exactly as standard. A particularly spawny group of engineers, including Mike himself, covered over 75,000 miles hammering around circuits including Miramas in the south of France, Spa, the Nürburgring, Brands Hatch and Goodwood, to ensure engine reliability and that the existing brakes, gearbox and clutch could all cope with the extra performance. As a result and unlike the Hartge-converted Mini tested last issue, the five years servicing for £100 deal and the three-year warranty available for all Minis still stands, while the kit itself is set to be offered by every Mini dealer worldwide.

A look at the spec sheet reveals plenty for the standard car's mechnical bits to deal with. Power output is increased from 163bhp to a stonking 200bhp, while torque is up from 155 to 177lb ft. That's sufficient to lop 0.7 seconds off the claimed 0-62mph time and to add 6mph to the top speed.

With such excitement impending there'll be no getting distracted by the Mini's wacky interior or, indeed, by such attractions as Littlehampton's crazy golf course. The South Downs are where I'm presently headed.

A dual carriageway stretches out before me. I step on the throttle, an action accompanied by some distinctly different sound effects from both ends of the car. First there's the exhaust note - never intrusively boomy, yet more aggressive than in the standard 'S'. The new supercharger also produces a more intense shriek as it sets to work, its rotors spinning away at a frenzied 14,000rpm as they help to compress the air being forced through the engine's intake manifold.

The shove of this car's increased torque can clearly be felt, though a neck brace won't quite be called for here. The power delivery is smooth and measured, building steadily towards its peak at 6,950rpm - where the non-Works-ed car would have delivered its best by 6,000rpm. I jab the slick gearbox up through the last of its six ratios and pause to flick a look at the plate-sized speeedo in the centre of the dashboard. I shouldn't confess to what it's reading, save to say that the car is so stable and refined that the velocity it's travelling along at hasn't adequately sunk in.

The engine's additional punch can be felt more obviously as I twist my way across the Downs over tight backroads, making use of the greater responsiveness and flexibility

available to propel the car away from tight corners. The traction control element of the S's standard-fit Dynamic Stability Control system subtly helps the bulk of the 200bhp to be served up over varying surfaces, with little steering wheel tug or threat of melting the tyres. Switch it off and all manner of mis-behaviour risks being unleashed, mind.

The greatest amusement is provided by the safe, near-instant manner in which dawdling traffic can be overtaken, plus the looks of bemusement on other drivers' faces provoked by the realisation that such a seemingly innocent small car should be capable of such antics. The Mini's relatively discrete appearance threatens only to be altered by massive 18-inch wheels and a bodykit also now available as optional extras, but not fitted to our test car. Better to restrict costs to the £14,600 list price of a Cooper S plus the £3,500 required for the conversion, promising the finest ratio of grins per pound.

Peter Grunert