The 2015 Mini John Cooper Works is expected to make its debut at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show.->ke222 Seeing as there’s still some time left before the JCW heads to the Motor City, our spy photographers captured the car almost completely undisguised, except for the swirly-camouflage beard, undergoing testing in Munich.
Unlike the spy shots from May 2014 that had the JCW doing test runs using a Cooper S body, this model appears to be as close to the final production model. That's hardly surprising since Mini->ke57 has pretty much spent the entirety of 2014 developing the new John Cooper Works in time for its debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2015.
The 2015 John Cooper Works is expected to receive a four-cylinder turbo engine that produces close to 231 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque. Should that be the final number, that’s going to represent a modest bump from the 218 ponies powering the outgoing model. It should also be enough to clear 60 mph in about six seconds.
Click past the jump to read more about the 2015 Mini John Cooper Works.
Why it matters
The 2015 John Cooper Works is about as ready as a Detroit-bound production model is going to be. A lot of the production model's details look to be in place, as it appears as if you can peel off that bumper camo and the car is pretty much ready to hit the auto show floor.
It seems as if all Mini is doing here is putting the model through its final paces before giving it the green light to hit the auto show circuit. Now we just need to countdown the days till its January 2015 debut.
2015 Mini John Cooper Works - Spy Shots
A lot of the final design details are clearly visible now, including the new front bumper with new air intakes configured similarly to the ones used on the 2014 John Cooper Works Concept.
A quick peek behind the rather modest alloy wheels also reveals pretty large brake discs with red calipers to help bring this hot hatch to a halt. The bulging disc-like side sills are also present and the rear bumper, even though it’s also sporting the yellow camouflage, still shows a similar design to the JCW Concept.
Noticeably absent from these photos are interior shots. However, our spy photographer commented on the absence of the extra pack of dials sitting on the left top side of the dashboard that a previous prototype had. Don’t be surprised if these dials end up as an optional kit.
You may also notice that this prototype lacks the typical JCW decals. Don’t worry about that because Mini’s probably holding those off until the auto show. No need to advertise that the prototype is a JCW.