Car of the Day - Mini John Cooper Works Challenge Edition

Car of the Day - 2010 Mini John Cooper Works Challenge Edition

Mini has a special place in the heart of many Australians. Long before we had the almighty V8 Supercars pounding Bathurst, the Mini used to embarrass the hell out of many a V8. It is therefore no real surprise that we get more than our fair share of limited edition models to satisfy our thirst for more Mini.

For 2010 it doesn’t get much better for Mini fans in Oz than with the release of the John Cooper Works Challenge Edition. The rest of the world will be envious as essentially this is the top of the line factory Mini in terms of performance with all the nice bits from the Mini Challenge race cars. This includes the aero kit with rear wing, the aluminum strut tower brace plus Alcantara and Carbon trim bits. Plus of course the obligatory badging. More importantly though it gets the same engine configuration as the MINI CHALLENGE race cars with the twin-scroll turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder developing 155kW and 260 Nm of torque All good for an impressive 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds.

While all the extra pieces are available as options, they would total out at $7000, which means that the extra $2500 being asked for the factory badged limited edition presents somewht of a bargain and will undoubtable be recouped at re-sale.

Rod Halligan