MINI Cooper JCW 2022 Review: See WHAT’S NEW in this FACELIFT!

[@CarSauce]

JCW or i30 N - which would be your pick? 🏎

[@jayden793]

I30 more reliable and not bmw price to fix

[@CarSauce]

@@jayden793 time will tell! Hopefully both last forever 😂

[@semyon74]

I30N all day. Probably the sedan (prefer it’s interior).

[@mpsftmfw]

Gr Yaris 👌🏼 .. but mini or i30 definitely the i30

[@jwilli7634]

i30N all day everyday, and I'm not biased because I have one. 😂

[@necromancer1970]

Nice review 👍Beeing here in Europe, having configured&bought an orange LCI 1 (facelift version 1) JCW new in 2018 (which sounds meaner & goes quicker than this new version - due to no particulate filter and claimed 231hp, showing actual 245hp on the dyno w/o any tuneup), blacked out around including beltline with all OG parts (think of KTM X-Bow colour scheme) for 4 years now: Yes, it's a love or loathe thing. And if you want it, you have to have the money. And for maintenance/parts/mechanics - it sure helps to be on the same continent as the manufacturer - many forget that, so a EU/US/Asian car can be perfect (or a nightmare) simply depending by where you are. And sure, if you are after pure "going from A to B", cost/bang for buck ratio, or after pure numbers or sole performance (for weekend on racetracks) - plenty of better options out there. So the ultimate reason for me getting - and keeping it for good - is: uber nice ambiente and quality (for a car that size!), an iconic shape, absolutely unique design and details, customizability, all focused on fun and driving, yet refined and grown up enough to make long 2-3 person trips, or 240km/h+ blasts on the Autobahn, or plowing through winding alpine roads in a seemingly perfect rounded package. With the BMW B48 engine in the A20O1 variant also a marvellous, really reliable and very good choice (in fact so good it was since 2014, and still is, the current BMW 4cyl. gasoline engine used in every new BMW, and also the new 2025 Gen.4 Mini, with only very few&minor optimisations needed in all those years - which is an indication for a brand, that essentially was, and is, an engine maker hence it's name since 1916). With only 1200kg to pull - in a time, where almost every car is 1500 or 2000kg+ (and thus not fun or sporty by physics alone - thus requiring more of all, power, diffs, rims/tires etc. to compensate) - the reason it drives so well&refined. So in 1 sentence: it's like a sportsbike that touches you emotionally, and it's the car you already start smiling even when thinking of getting into it to drive. Like drive a Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki - or drive a KTM, Ducati, Harley - if you try, you know there is a difference. There are tons of other cars that are objectively better in this or that metric - but seriously - most of them are "mainstream designed to please everybody and his grandma" = which is certainly not attracting me, boring, dull, uninspiring, all too serious or too comfortable - but in essence certainly not something you REALLY look forward to driving. That's why JCW (and the Cooper S) is a niche of its own - and a nice, premium yet uniquely/funky/silly designed, daily-able fun car, between the pure but painfully archaic lightweight performance cars (i'm talking BAC Mono, KTM XBox, Caterham Super7, Ariel Atom), the IMO bluntly-lame-as-can-be-designed, can-do-be-all-but-be-nothing-special-by-itself-allrounders, not more than overly fat and weighty sporty versions of mum's shopping car (Golf, Hyundai and all the others) - or really serious/focused cars (like the GR Yaris) which sacrify style/quality/niceness/"daily comfort" for cheap plastic and pure function, and the expensive/luxurious side of performance cars (the high powered 3 german brands, and Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren etc.) - you can't even dare to have fun on public roads, either by speed limits/laws, or the risk of a tiny mishap - as a custom front splitter, carbon bumper or 1 body panel alone costs more than a fully specced JCW... 😉 ps. In my other 2 cars - i also have 3 doors and frameless windows. 4/5 door/SUV? Yikes.... ps2. The 18" alloys are too much and beyond the border of diminishing returns. 17" rims/tires are the way to go if you want the best out of a Cooper S/JCW. ps3. Even if you put 1500hp in a i30N - it's still a dull soccer mom car. It's not all about function/numbers/metrics/perfectiosn - it's about "the perfect blend", and that's why icons are icons, and last in memory forever (the OG Audi S1 Quattro, the perfectly designed Porsche 911, the OG VW Beetle, the Lancia Stratos, the old SL Merc's, the C1 and C2 Corvettes etc. - and the Mini....) - whilest the 9th iteration, for the 13th time radically "optimized" version of mass product X is sooner forgotten than you can spell it's brands name. If you need to google up to know, how the 3rd version of car X looked like: then it's one of those. ps4. Mazda Miata. That's a different body style, but good contender/comparison for the JCW. ps5. 2024, 6 years - still running like on day 1, and still loving it like on day 1. It will not be sold. Probably never.

[@taol3944]

Can’t believe no one liked your comment, perhaps it was too long XD, anyway, I’m receiving my LCI2 in 2 weeks. The only concern to me is that the space in front of the radiator iis so big. Probably need to attach some plastic mesh with zip tie to protect a little bit

[@johnidoctor9826]

Omg what a comment ❤❤❤

[@leeandjancruise]

I always have a laugh when the reviewer of any MINI comments on how small the boot is or the rear leg room, it's a MINI, it's a small car it's a MINI, what do they expect Dr. Who's Tardis?

[@pablo23davis34]

Exactly.... Then they say the mini isnt a mini anymore coz its become too big!

[@RobertoRevillaLdn]

Great video Matt - I have a Cooper S 4 door and just ordered a three door JCW (well as you said you can only get it in three door!). Owner experience of the Cooper S after a year - can’t fault it. It’s a hoot of a car combined with a quality cabin and having done some long drives, like 350 mile round trips, it’s surprisingly comfy, even more than my previous Range Rover which is a shock. Sad to let go of this car but I can’t wait to get my hands on my new JCW… after a Twitter vote specced it in Rebel Green with the Chili Red roof and mirrors, and they’re also swapping out the chrome belt line for the piano black as well. I stuck with the 17” alloys as having done the same on the Cooper S, the non run-flat 17s just add that bit of extra comfort and reduced road noise. SAUCE CORNER!!

[@davidc.7838]

I have owned 2 minis, 1 cooper r56 and a cooper s f56, the latter with multiple issues, right now I’m looking for a JCW, how’d you rate your experience with yours?

[@debraang36]

Just got my 2023 JCW LOVE IT !!!

[@JK-gn9qi]

cant believe seeing ppl here saying they choose the i30n above the mini. Mini is just much more premium and status and i30n looks just like a normal car..

[@T_K_W]

Having test drive both, the Mini is a far more premium car. i30N and GR Yaris feel very "cheap" in comparison to the Mini. Yes, the Mini is more expensive, but you can feel it when you drive it. Awesome car.

[@lindonandlisa8114]

The jcw is always been the dream car and that's mainly because of the price I'm voting for the sauce corner

[@brycem0]

Great review, just missed the money shot with not opening the bonnet. Showing, how it wraps around the headlights. Train spotters are left waiting for the last shot. 😀

[@CarSauce]

I actually had it as my thumbnail way back when I reviewed the MINI Countryman! (Total flop of a video sadly)

[@ej9432]

Hey Matt. Being a diabetic I appreciate you showing a spot for your insulin pump in the Mini. HA!

[@lumeo6955]

Does the new model have pops and bangs?

[@oobs35]

Nice review. Love the humour

[@CarSauce]

Thank you!

[@akifui8100]

Really The best cost benefit for a sport car ! lovely car and you forget to say about harman kardon system sound !very premium sound for this category of car !!!

[@DCB2018]

In the car review with Yuri from The StraightPipes as a guest, I joked about you missed taking that car thru Cliche corner, you replied saying, you might call yours Sauce Corner, I think Saucy Corner sounds the better, but either is fine.

[@CarSauce]

Thank you for the inspiration! You can be proud of that 😀

[@chillax_me7820]

try jcw gp next time

[@CarSauce]

Would love to!

[@justchilling9442]

Its rebel green not British racing green

[@oobs35]

How about a review or reviews of the amg merc hot hatches?

[@ASecureLab]

Thing is this car have no competitor but the fiat abarth. no other cars feel like a go kart like that. comparing it to a golf or veloster is like comparing a lincoln continental with a veloster

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

16:38 - He gets this wrong. Um, yes it is the best driving hatch on the market.

[@robertceroli3512]

Excellent pocket rocket but if I had to sink my own money would be a GR Yaris or i30n be more reliable long term those mini when they age BMW (break my wallet)

[@fana406]

It’s a mini and doesn’t compete w/ the other regulars

[@ASecureLab]

exacly, I hate when people compare. mini isnt exacly a "hatchback" its a "gokart style" and the only competing with it is Fiat abarth. If you want a mini, a golf/veloster wont do, if you dont mind not having the "toy" / gokarty feeling, then dont look at mini, simple as that

[@cleysoptique8749]

tune car and it makes 280whp

[@ggegeRGr]

Jesus, and I thought the GTI was overpriced..

[@CarSauce]

Yeah was quite shocked when I saw the price I’ll admit!

[@aerienix]

@@CathodeRayNipplez GR Yaris?

[@brycem0]

@@CathodeRayNipplez not hard, there is 68 for sale on carsales. 30 are under 50k. 😀

[@aerienix]

@@CathodeRayNipplez you can’t buy new. At least, nothing new is being advertised. But you didn’t really specify “new” on your OG comment. Although the GR is (for now, at least) a limited run so the Mini’s got that over it.

[@brycem0]

@@CathodeRayNipplez 4 with 100km or under. So you can 😁

[@Moonface00z]

How tall are you ?

[@sarmand777]

Sauce

[@DEATHSTARER]

i30N EVERY day of the week.

[@CarSauce]

I must say the i30 N is my faourite hot hatch atm

[@Telecasterland]

The moment you didn't see him reach down to shift is the moment I left. 12 seconds.

[@JackiePrime]

You’re hard core