John Cooper Works Diesel

[pbarclay]

I have drooled over the pictures of the new JC Works Minis in the past week. They look gorgeous and hopefully will drive just as beautifully.

I traded in my MINI Cooper S last year for a Cooper Diesel - easy to justify moving from 28 mpg to 60 mpg when just commuting to work. The Dooper has a fair amount of torque but still lacks that high end grunt as it is missing 60 bhp!

VW/Audi seem to have no problem developing high performance diesels and now use their diesel engine by choice for Le Mans - the increased fuel economy means fewer pit stops which more than makes up for any reduction in performance.

This makes me think there is a strong case for the JCW people turning their attention to those of us with oil burners. Wouldn't it be fantastic to have a highly tuned diesel engine that kept under the magic 120 g figure when set for economy but then added an extra 40 or 50 bhp when the sport button was pressed (plus the usual changes to throttle responsiveness and steering input). The body kit would also bring it more into line with more sporting MINIs.

I guess the engine bay in the MINI is too small for the Alpina D3's 2.0 litre 197 bhp with 302 lb ft of torque but the Peugeot engine must have a few more bhp available.

Would people pay the extra? If the sporting image was right and the car maintained its green credentials, I think it would be a winner.

What does everyone think?

[dlpruk]

I wouldn't refuse another 40/50, if it stayed in the £35 road tax band.

But I don't think it's just a question of turning the Peugeot up a bit as I doubt if the clutch or gearbox would be up to the job and you'd probably need a LSD too. I think Lohen's are playing with their Clubman D so it would be good to hear their thoughts - and others too, of course.

[R99]

I think it would sell well in theory. But I wonder if BMW would be willing to put the John Cooper Works name they paid £££ for next to a diesel model? It comes down to badge snobbery really.

I personally would like to see a high powered diesel model in the range. The likes of VAG have been doing it for years, and SEAT especially have especially benefited sales wise from such models. Such as their 1.9 160bhp Ibiza Curpa which delivers 243 lb ft torque. It gets to 60 in 7.6 seconds, and the torque makes for very impressive in gear times, which in the real world count for more than the 0-60 sprint.

If they offered a Cooper S 'D' or even a diesel JCW then such an engine would be the perfect candidate. However as it belongs to the VAG group then I think its fair to say that will never happen.

And as with all VAG group diesels even the 1.9's / 2.0's still have plenty of scope for more after market power. I think AntFR on here will no doubt testify to that.

I am not familiar with the engine range BMW have access too, but from memory I don't think the Cooper D's engine has that much scope for OEM power. By that I mean I don't think 160bhp ish from that engine could be offered from the factory due to emissions and/or reliability and I don't just mean the engine. The gearbox might not be up to the job either.

I'm willing to be proved wrong though.

[R99]

So in short if MINI could shoehorn one of BMW's higher power diesels into the engine bay, then the car would be a stonker. Or any other engine they have access to for that matter...

Although it would still sound like a tractor though!!

[Lolance]

I was thinking the exact same thing today!

Pushing the USELESS sport button, giving the engine 30/40/50 brake would be awesome. Will never happen tho, can you see BMW investing the time and money into something like this?? I don't think there is a large enough market tbh!

[Tommo]

I used to have a Seat Ibiza Cupra TDi as my company car and apart from the interior looking a bit cheap and dated it was a great car with a huge slug of torque that made overtaking a breeze.
The thought of a Mini with that kind of power and torque would really make me think about a change to a dooper from my S.
You never know it may well happen, Audi have launched a Diesel TT and the Seat Ibiza and Leon's have always sold more diesel than petrol. The VW Golf's are always a strong seller in TDi form and even Honda are rumoured to be working on a Civic Type R Diesel !

[Ant FR]

I too am a an Ex Ibiza Tdi owner, with nigh on 200 bhp and 330 lb/ft torque it was a monster. In gear performance was amazing, yet still returned up to 65 mpg on long runs.

I loved it so much that i will be moving abck to one at the end of the year when i come to sell my MCS. ( especially as tdi 130 Sport ibizas are now starting at 3k for high milers :-)

However i doubt you will achieve those figures from a mini 1.6 diesel. Its just too much of a different engine. Plus the more power they squeeze out of it the more the emissions will go up, you can't have it all.

[Tommo]

I wonder if you could get the 1 series 118d into a Mini ? I think it 's about 140 odd brake as standard. Surely that could be mapped up to around 160bhp which would be great in a dooper ?

[Paul]

I reckon they could get something based on that in a MINI.

Maybe they will do so quite soon.

[Tommo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul (original)

I reckon they could get something based on that in a MINI.

Maybe they will do so quite soon.

Is that a Paul special, "I may know something but I'll underplay it." type post

[Paul]

[Stiggy]

Why not use the existing 136bhp 2.0-litre HDi engine in the Peugeot 307?

Quote:

Technical Specification
Fuel type Diesel
Cubic capacity (cc) 1997
Max Power bhp (Kw) at rpm 136 (100) @ 4000
Fuel Tank (litres) 60
Maximum speed (mph) 129
Acceleration 0-62 mph (sec) 10.1
Combined drive cycle mpg (litres/100 km) 51.4
Carbon Dioxide (CO²) emissions (g/km) 125

[Ant FR]

the answer will be Wight, surely they will not want to blunt handling with a heavier engine chucked in there

[Lolance]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul (original)

hmmm...

[Fin]

Certainly one of the BMW light weight aluminium twin turbo diesel engines would be cool.

I wouldn't want some cast iron lump just shoe-horned in though. It would probably ruin the handling as AntFR says.