Mini Paceman JCW Review

Mini is a very interesting brand. As a marketing case study, it’s fascinating to see how a car company can sell a lifestyle along with a vehicle and the entire range is aimed at the young and young-at-heart. I spend a week with the Mini Paceman JCW.

Mini – Not So Mini Anymore

Personally I quite like how Mini as a brand has broadened its appeal with newer and bigger models. The Cooper S hatch is a terrific piece of kit, but a tiny boot and near useless back seats render it impractical for many fans of the brand. Enter the Countryman, essentially a bigger and more practical vehicle aimed at the family market. I drove this vehicle on launch back in 2010 and was rather impressed with its All4 all-wheel drive system and extra interior space. Roll on 2014 and I find myself behind the wheel of the latest in Mini’s arsenal – the two-door Paceman, here in John Cooper Works guise.

It’s quite a looker if I’m honest. I spent about half an hour admiring it from different angles and its funky shape makes most other road vehicles citizens of Blandville. Perhaps it was a combination of the Chili red paint and John Cooper Works fast bits like wheels and black bonnet stripes which made the Paceman stand out.

Mini Paceman JCW – Power

You’ll have noticed I’ve said John Cooper Works a few times already. Simply put, you see a Mini with a JCW badge and you know it has been tuned to be a bit of a rocket. In JCW guise, the Mini Cooper S becomes a road rocket with ridiculous performance. Does the JCW added goodness make the Paceman fast? Sadly, no.

It may have 160 kW and 280 Nm from its 1.6-litre turbocharged motor, but the dimensions and mass combine to penalise the out-and-out performance of the Mini Paceman JCW. That mass and the gearbox then work together to destroy the claimed fuel consumption. The best I could get was 11.5l/100km.

Gearbox and Sport Mode

Don’t be disheartened. The Mini Paceman JCW is still an entertaining drive, provided you drive it with Sport mode engaged and the auto gearbox is set to Sport too. The result is a sharper throttle response, heavier steering plus delicious exhaust backfires and pops when you come off the throttle. Nothing turns heads quite like a backfiring, bright red Mini driving through Sea Point.

Speaking of gearbox, the steering wheel gearbox paddle design really has to change. The modern world has grown accustomed to the ethos of pull right paddle to shift up, pull left paddle to shift down. Not this pull left or right to change up, push left or right button (linked to the paddle) to change down.

All-wheel Drive Ability

What makes this particular Mini Paceman JCW quite entertaining is its all-wheel drive system. It’s called All4 and is quite useful. While I didn’t push the car hard enough around corners to feel it work, I did however do a bit of beach driving. The looks you get from serious offroad vehicle owners is priceless. While it may lack ground clearance, the system works fine and firmer beaches are navigable. Gravel roads are a dream, but don’t expect to get out of the softer sand though…

Interior

The interior is unmistakably Mini. Which doesn’t bode well if you’re not familiar with the arrangements. For a first timer, the Mini centre console is dominated by a massive speedometer which incorporates the excellent iDrive system from parent company BMW. The iDrive system is controlled using a tiny stalk located near the oddly shaped handbrake. Old school aircraft-style switches are a cute touch. Leather seats are nice, but I would expect sports seats given the nature of the JCW. The thing here is the interior, while funky and cool, feels a tad cheap. Cheap isn’t something you want to hear when you’re paying a large amount of money for a car.

Optional Extras Galore

That said, you large amount of money does get you loads of kit as standard, with plenty of options to tick. As standard, you’re getting run-flat tyres, multifunction steering wheel, a basic sound system and automatic air conditioning which isn’t bad. However this is a media vehicle which has been specced to the hilt.

There’s a pano roof for the driver and rear passengers, sun protection glazing, anti dazzle mirrors (handy at night), park distance control, integrated compass in the rearview mirror, rain sensitive wipers, automatic adaptive xenon headlights, heated seats for driver and passenger, Harmon Kardon audio, satellite navigation, and some very cool Mini connected smartphone integration.

Mini Paceman JCW Price in South Africa

This particular Mini Paceman JCW is understandly pricier than the standard model. The Mini Paceman JCW Steptronic retails for R482 900, whereas this particular test unit with its myriad of extras comes in at a hefty R532 650.

Summary and conclusion

Think of the Mini Paceman JCW as the latest version of the Apple iPad. It’s good to look at, feels nice and it’s a cool toy to have. Do you need it? Probably not. For almost R500 000 there are many cars out there which offer better everything, including some from the parent company itself. A base model BMW X3, or a fully-kitted BMW X1 offer just as much car with arguably a more luxurious interior. Can these two offerings touch the Mini Paceman JCW for cool factor? Not a chance…

MINI Paceman JCW Specifications

Engine 1.6 litre turbocharged inline-4 petrol
Power 160 kW @ 6 100 rpm
Torque 280 Nm @ 2 100 rpm
Transmission Six-speed automatic steptronic
Wheels 18-inch
0-100km/h (Claimed) 6.9 seconds (claimed)
Fuel economy 7.9l/100km (claimed on the combined cycle)

We like:
– Quirkiness / Cool factor
– Rip-roaring snorting engine
– All-wheel drive
– Smartphone integration. The MINI App for iPhone is simply brilliant.

We dislike:
– Indecisive gearbox means you can’t exploit the car’s engine and chassis fully
– Terrifying price tag once options are loaded
– Very few men drive Minis. No idea why.

MINI Paceman JCW Also consider
BMW X3
BMW X1
Citroen DS5

MINI Paceman JCW Gallery

Volkswagen Polo Range Updated For 2014

Volkswagen will be introducing a number of their updated sub-compact Polo models at next week’s Geneva Motor Show.

The updated Volkswagen Polo line-up features new EU-6 engines that help lower fuel consumption by up to 21 percent. The cars also treat drivers with new infotainment and assistance technologies, features that are normally found on larger and pricier vehicles.

Volkswagen Polo TSI BlueMotion

Volkswagen Polo Lineup

The Polo TSI BlueMotion is equipped with a three-cylinder, 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine developing 66 kW of power. With a combined fuel consumption of 4.1 L/100 km the company claims it’s the thriftiest petrol-powered five-seater in the world.

Volkswagen Polo TDI BlueMotion

The Polo TDI BlueMotion on the other hand makes use of a three-cylinder 1.4-litre with 55 kW and consumes 3.1 litres-/100 km on the European driving cycle. The model also delivers 1400 kilometres of driving range.

Volkswagen CrossPolo

Volkswagen Polo Lineup

The 2014 sub-compact crossover vehicle gets refreshed with a new set of 17-inch alloy wheels, body cladding on the lower areas of the bumpers, sills and around the wheelhouses, new colours in its paint palate and fresh seat materials.

There’s also a new steering wheel, updated gear and parking brake and silver inserts on the roof rails mirror housings and both bumpers new wheels and smoked rear lights.

Volkswagen Polo GTI BlueGT

The range-topping BlueGT derivative benefits from a lowered ride height, 17-inch rims, more muscular bumpers, wider side sills and a rear spoiler positioned above the tailgate.

Power comes from an updated 4-cylinder 1.4-litre direct-injection engine that now delivers 110 kW instead of the previous 103 kW. It benefits from the cylinder shut-off mechanism/active cylinder management which allows the model to return 4.8-litres/100 km with the standard six-speed manual transmission.

Volkswagen Polo Lineup

Technology

All of these new Polo models including the Polo TSI BlueMotion, Polo TDI BlueMotion, Polo BlueGT and CrossPolo models – offer a range of driving, convenience and safety technologies which are unique in this class. These comprise of a new electro-mechanical steering system which improves the drive; City Emergency Braking, Automatic Post-Collision Braking and a Driver Alert System. Drivers can even get electronically-controlled dampers on the Polo GT.

The infotainment line-up was also reconfigured and it consists of three radio/CD systems (Touch, Colour, Media), and a radio/CD navigation system (“Discover Media”).

Bentley Continental GT Speed For 2015

The next generation of the powerful Bentley Continental GT Speed has been launched internationally. The aim is simple and that’s to provide near-supercar performance without compromise. Refinement and high build quality standards are a given too.

Bentley Continental GT Speed engine

At the heart of the Bentley Continental GT Speed is the tried-and-test 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 motor. Thanks to some tweaks, it now pushes out 467 kW as well as an eye watering 820 Nm of torque. It has a top speed of 331km/h, meaning it is the fastest production Bentley in history.

Subtle Speed touches

Visually the flagship Continental GT Speed is different to lesser Bentleys through the use of a sharp front splitter, discrete side skirts and elegant rear diffuser which are finished to match the exterior paint colour. The new Bentley Continental GT Speed’s wheels are given a dark tint finish.  Red-painted brake callipers and a stylish chrome “Speed” badge fitted to the front fenders round off a subtle, yet powerful look. There’s also a new signature Speed paint colour of Candy Red.

Having driven a Bentley Continental GT in 2006, I can attest to how brutal, refined and beautiful these machines are. They’re also rather thirsty when it comes to petrol. That said, if you can afford to buy a Bentley, you can afford to feed her.

Bentley Continental GT Speed 2015 Gallery

Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition Now In SA

The new specially customised Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition model has just been introduced to the South African market.

Exclusive styling cues

Available in two- and four-door variants, the Polar Edition models are based on the architecture of the Jeep Wrangler Sahara models.

The front grille gets the gloss black treatment, while the 18-inch aluminium wheels get painted pockets and polished outer edges.

There is also a body-coloured hard-top with tinted glass, the Mopar “Moab” bonnet with mountain motif and the Mopar fuel-filler door. The rear of the model is finished off with a new hard spare-wheel cover.

The exclusive cabin of the Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition features heated leather seats with embroidered logos, while the leather steering wheel gets pearl accent stitching and high-gloss white-painted treatments on steering wheel spokes.

Additional features include ventilation bezels, passenger grab-handles and instrument cluster dials. The entire look is completed with Mopar slush mats and the in-car entertainment is provided by the Uconnect navigation radio as standard.

The Jeep Wrangler Polar Editions will be available in three colours: Hydro Blue, Billet Metallic and Bright White.

Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition price in South Africa

Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition 3.6 V6 Auto – R482 990

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Polar Edition 3.6 V6 Auto – R522 990

Prices include a three-year or 100 000km warranty and maintenance plan.

Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition gallery

Volvo Concept Estate Leaks Ahead Of Geneva Debut

Images of the Volvo Concept Estate have leaked ahead of the vehicle’s official debut at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

Showcasing Volvo’s new SPA scalable platform, the Concept Estate builds on the Coupe Concept and Coupe XC Concept that preceded it, and is essentially a shooting brake version of the two-door Coupe Concept shown at Frankfurt last year.

Advanced styling features

The Concept Estate has an elegant exterior with flowing lines and gently curved surfaces. It also features a prominent grille flanked by distinctive headlights with T-shaped LED daytime running lights, a tailgate mounted spoiler, a dual exhaust system, as well as attractive alloy wheels.

Not much has been revealed about the concept but reports suggests the car will be equipped with leather upholstery, grey wood trim and numerous metallic accents.

There’s also a digital instrument cluster, a slim centre console, an infotainment system with a large display and a three-spoke steering wheel, orange seat belts and plaid covered seat backs.

Check back for more details on the concept when it is launched next week at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

Volvo Concept Estate gallery

Opel Astra OPC Extreme Ready For Geneva

An even madder version of the hot hatchback from Opel will be shown off at the 2014 Geneva Auto Show. It’s called the Opel Astra OPC Extreme and it fully lives up to its name.

We at Cars.co.za loved the Opel Astra OPC during its week-long stay and the prospect of a more hardcore version is very exciting. The Opel Astra OPC Extreme was developed and refined on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, which means it’s very capable at carving through corners. Mechannically it’s rather similar to its out-and-out racing sibling, the Opel Astra OPC Cup. This car however aims to bring that touring car race experience to the road.

Upgraded power in the OPC Extreme

It’s all racer when it comes to the Opel Astra OPC Extreme details. It’s 2.0-litre turbocharged motor has been tuned and is good for no less than 225 kW according to Opel. This engine is now the most powerful four-pot unit ever made by the manufacturer. It’s interesting to note that tuners have been getting big power out of these motors for awhile, and 225 kW really isn’t that big a number. However the car has been put on a diet and is 100kg lighter than its normal counterpart, which gives it a dynamic edge.

Carbon composite details

Carbon composite is used extensively in the Opel Astra OPC Extreme. The material is used for the aerodynamically-optimized rear wing, the diffuser, front spoiler, hood, suspension cross-bracing, the engine cover, complete wheels, rear wheelhouse ventilation and roof. The carbon wheels are 20kg lighter than their aluminum counterparts. Gone is the steel roof and in its place is a carbon fiber version. That alone saves just over 6.5kg. As Lotus cars demonstrate on a regular basis, light weight equals high performance.

The Opel Astra OPC Extreme will be shown off at the 2014 Geneva Auto Show and if it proves to be popular with the masses, we may see a small run of Extreme models hitting the road.

Opel Astra OPC Extreme Gallery

Jaguar XFR S Sportbrake Announced For Geneva

The luxury British manufacturer has announced plans to introduce the 2015 Jaguar XFR S Sportbrake at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Engine capability

The Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake joins its XFR-S saloon sibling in the exclusive 300km/h club and is a vivid expression of Jaguar’s longstanding and legendary sports saloon lineage.

It’s equipped with the same 5.0-litre V8 supercharged engine as the Sedan version and delivers 405 kW of power and 680 Nm of torque and is mated to an eight speed automatic gearbox fitted with Quickshift technology which is also found in the F-Type.

With that technology, the increase in engine output allows the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 300km/h.

Exterior features

On the styling front, the model is distinguished by a flowing rear window graphic, rising waist and estate roofline, broad-shouldered stance, while the extended roofline affords rear-seat passengers an additional 48mm of headroom and the seats offer both a 60:40 split fold function and integral ski hatch.

It also boasts all the same aggressive cladding as its four-door counterpart and rides on 20-inch lightweight Varuna forged alloy wheels and has received a new roof spoiler, carbon fibre inserts on both bumpers, along with bespoke 265/35 front and 295/30 rear Pirelli tyres.

Customers can choose from an exterior palette comprising five colours: Ultra Blue, Ultimate Black, Stratus Grey, Polaris White and Italian Racing Red.

Interior features

Exclusive interior materials include carbon leather and contrasting highlight micro-piping and stitching on the seats and doors. The seats are further embossed with the R-S logo and finished with a choice of contrast colour micro-piping and stitching in either red, blue or ivory.

The same subtle enhancement runs across the top of the dashboard, the fascia of which is finished in a Dark Aluminium unique to the R-S, complete with badging.

Jaguar XFR S Sportbrake gallery

2014 Citroen C1 Revealed

Images and minor details about the new 2014 Citroen C1 have been released ahead of the car’s official debut at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

New model lines

The new Citroen C1 looks a lot different than its previous model with its compact exterior dimensions. The model measures 3.46m long, 1.62m wide and 1.45m tall and a turning circle of 4.80m. Boot space is rated at 196 litres and when the rear seats are folded, boot capacity increases to 780 litres.

The French model will be sold in three- and five-door body styles as well as an open-top with the “Airscape” nameplate and a roll-back fabric roof.

There are eight body colours including black, grey, brown white, blue and red says the automaker. It also comes with 14-inch or 15-inch wheel covers and 15-inch alloys.

Brightly coloured interiors underline the car’s dynamic character, such as on the dashboard, the multimedia panel, air vent trim and gear lever base, while the door panels include body-coloured inserts.

The Citroen C1 will also be available with a seven-inch Touch Drive Interface, together with Mirror Screen technology which allows the motorist to copy smartphone content onto the interface for easy display and control. Optional features include keyless entry and drive, reversing camera and hill-start assist.

Engine line-up

A choice of two petrol engines will be available from launch. One of them is the 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol VTi 82 unit makes 61 kW/118 Nm with a claimed fuel consumption of 4.3-litres/100km and 99g/km CO2 emissions.

According to the French automaker, weighing just 840 kg, and shipping with new-generation petrol engines, the new 2014 Citroen C1 ranks among the best in class for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Citroen will unveil its new C1 at the 2014 Geneva Auto Show in March, and will apparently arrive here in South Africa in September 2014 with both new engines.

2014 Citroen C1 gallery

Production-Ready MINI Clubman Concept Revealed

The MINI Clubman Concept has just been revealed just before its auto show debut in Geneva next week.

Some MINI test mules were spotted in South Africa not so long ago, and the MINI Clubman was amongst them.

Plenty of space for characteristic dynamism

The near production ready concept is said to be the largest model MINI has ever made. It measures over 4000 mm longer that the current model. It is also 1844 mm wide and 1450 mm tall and features four frameless front-hinged doors along the side panels while the split rear doors have been retained.

Even with larger exterior dimensions, the MINI Clubman Concept is still recognizable as a typical MINI. It is further equipped with a pair of recessed headlights with daytime running lights, large 19-inch alloy wheels and bigger horizontally positioned taillights to emphasize the added width (+170mm) of the car.

The Clubman concept additionally comes with hexagonal radiator grille, side scuttles, the black band, short overhangs and elliptical front and rear headlights which ensure high recognition value from every angle, as well as ‘air curtains’ which are positioned on the outer section of the front apron providing the wheel arches with an ‘aerodynamically optimised closure.’

Interior features

The interior of the MINI Clubman Concept has also grown larger in dimensions as it’s fitted with five fully fledged seats, and also large circular centre screen in the middle of the dashboard.

The design further incorporates typical MINI shapes and colours and has combined premium materials like wood trims and leather with chrome touches on the controls to give the concept an effortless and elegant combination of high-end quality and functionality.

MINI hasn’t given any other technical details aside from the dimensions, although the production version is expected to use the same engines and transmission as the new Hardtop model.

The new MINI Clubman will probably reach showrooms before the end of the year so chances are the production model will be shown in October at the Paris Motor Show.

MINI Clubman Concept gallery

Hennessey Venom GT Sets Top Speed Record

The sleek and super-expensive Hennessey Venom GT has just set a new speed record of 436 km/h at the Kennedy Space Centre.

The road car world speed record was previously held by the unrestricted Bugatti Veyron, which set its top speed of 435 km/h back in July 2010 at Volkswagen Groups Ehra-Lessien track near Wolfsburg, Germany.

However, because the Venom GT uses a modified chassis and other components from the Lotus Exige and it didn’t do two runs, one in either direction, and also because only 11 have been produced so far — the Guinness Book of Records has not recognised the Venom as ‘the fastest production car.’

An official Guinness record is established by doing an average of the top speeds achieved in those two runs. So since the Venom GT did only one run, the Veyron SS still holds the official top speed record for a production car.

“The Hennessey Venom GT attained a maximum speed of 435 km/h as measured by our VBOX 3i GPS system,” said Racelogic engineer Joe Lachovsky.

“The VBOX GPS data showed that the Venom GT was still accelerating at an average rate of 1 km/h per second as it took just 10.1 seconds to go from 418 to 435 km/h. The record run was made over a distance of 3.8 km, which allowed the Venom just eight-tenths of a mile to stop. Thankfully, its Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes were able to haul the car down from 435 km/h well before the end of the runway’s 304.8m threshold.”

Watch the world’s fastest car hit 435 km/h

Hennessey Venom GT gallery