2009 Mini John Cooper Works

Give Me One with the Works

The John Cooper Works-tuned Mini takes an already fun-to-drive car and makes it even more invigorating.

A new crop of modified Minis from the company's in-house performance division John Cooper Works shows that fun and frugality do in fact mix.

The Mini John Cooper Works edition is named after John Cooper, who first teamed up with Mini in 1961 to launch the Mini Cooper brand. The car born from this partnership turned the industry on its head with a then-novel front-wheel-drive layout and tiny size — if you think today's  Mini is small, check out the original from the early 1960s.

The Cooper Works shop upholds John Cooper's performance tradition and is now led by his son Mike.

The Mini John Cooper Works hatchback and its larger variant, the John Cooper Works Clubman, use the same engine as the standard models, a small 1.6-liter four cylinder, but benefit from a larger turbocharger, intake pipe and air filter. This means more air flows into the engine, yielding more torque for stronger acceleration and top-end speed.

The engine is small for a performance car and sips fuel as long as you don’t floor the gas pedal all the time.

The Mini John Cooper Works models pack 207 horsepower and goes from 0-60 mph in 6.5 seconds. They also feature suspension modifications, larger wheels and aggressive cosmetic touches inside and out.

In short, these Minis have some serious fizz under the hood to go along with their funky spirit.

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