The latest on the "Johnny" from the
MotoringFile.
MotoringFile's Gabriel Bridger writes:
As we predicted last year, the JCW Trim design we’ve seen on the standard J01 MINI Cooper will form the basis of the full JCW model. So much so that they will be very hard to distinguish for the average consumer.
So, as I feared, unless the J01 JCW gets special wheels, the only way to tell it from a regular J01 with the JCW trim package will be to take a chip of the Chili Red paint from a brake caliper and have it analyzed to see if it's real MINI paint or just red paint from a rattle-can the owner bought at Ace Hardware.
The Johnny doesn't get a bigger battery, so it will offer less range than the slower J01, but at least it won't weigh much more. An interesting addition is a paddle to the left of the steering column that offers a 10-second power boost. No word on how long the driver must wait before giving the power paddle another tug. Will Bimmercode let you turn the pull-to-pass paddle into a toggle switch?
Mr. Bridger speculates about other aspects of the car, such as its weight and 0-60 time, but the only words from someone who's actually driven the J01 JCW come from a MINI engineer:
Patrick Haussler, the J01 MINI Cooper’s head of chassis dynamics. At the recent Australian launch of the Cooper SE, he let slip a few intriguing details; “
I think everybody is quite happy with how the [regular MINI Cooper Electric] cars turned out and the Johnny [the J01 JCW], is nearly finished, so there’s not too much refinement left to do. There’s still some work [beyond the handling dynamics] but I already like it very much. The things that you like with the Cooper SE, you will like it even more with Johnny.”