John Cooper Works Kit Now Factory-Installed

MINI has now made the popular John Cooper Works performance upgrade available as a 2006 factory-installed option for the MINI Cooper S. In addition to the engine performance upgrade, the factory installation adds the John Cooper Works sport brake kit and a limited-slip differential. Along with the expanded line of John Cooper Works tuner accessories, MINI USA will continue to offer the dealer-installed John Cooper Works engine performance kit for the MINI Cooper S.



Checkmate Package Highlights New 2006 Options

For 2006, MINI USA now offers even more ways for owners to individualize their MINI. Available on MINI Cooper S, the Checkmate package features an exclusive exterior appearance with special Checkmate side decals, a rear spoiler and bonnet stripes. The custom Checkmate interior offers uniquely patterned cloth / leather sport seats, leather wrapped wheel and a high-gloss, specially patterned dash panel. An exclusive performance wheel and tire package, Dynamic Stability Control and font fog lamps round out the package's sporty orientation.

MINI USA also expands its line of optional equipment for 2006. New interior options for the MINI Cooper S include English Leather upholstery, a MINI "Seven" interior surface trim with a high-gloss patterned dash panel and a MINI "Park Lane" interior surface trim option with a high gloss piano black dash panel. Exterior options include roof, mirror caps and bonnet stripes now available in silver, a new Royal Grey metallic paint.



2006 MINI Cooper S Performance
Compact and Powerful

The driving force beneath the beautifully curved bonnet of the MINI Cooper S is a four-cylinder power unit, which in naturally aspirated form offers outstanding responsiveness in the MINI Cooper. In 2006 MINI Cooper S, this 16-valve unit's performance is further enhanced by a mechanically driven supercharger and intercooler. The supercharger compresses the fresh air drawn in by the engine to an overpressure of 0.8 bar. Since the air warms up in this compression process, it is then cooled by an intercooler before entering the combustion chambers, thus ensuring a significant increase in engine charge, output, and performance. At 6,000 rpm, the compact 1.6-liter transverse-mounted engine develops a maximum output of 168 horsepower.

Delivering the performance required in a MINI Cooper S results in increased thermal and mechanical loads on the power unit. Therefore a number of components such as the crankshaft, pistons, valves, radiator, and engine management parameters have been specially modified for this model.

Compression, in turn, has been reduced from 10.6:1 on the MINI Cooper to 8.3:1 on the MINI Cooper S. Bore and stroke are exactly the same as on the MINI Cooper. A throaty performance exhaust system produces a distinctive, sporty note.

Driven by a toothed belt, the compressor, unlike an exhaust gas turbocharger, does not have the usual time-lag in its response, but rather builds up torque until peaking at 162 lb-ft at a very useable 4,000 rpm. Benefiting from drive-by-wire technology, the unit uses an electric impulse instead of a conventional throttle cable to operate the throttle butterfly, thus making the engine extremely responsive.

This arrangement gives the nimble four-seater a level of performance otherwise offered only by the most dynamic cars in higher segments of the market. The top speed of the MINI Cooper S is 134 mph with the 6-speed manual transmission and 137 mph with the new automatic transmission.

The combination of brisk acceleration, top speed, and impressive torque under all conditions gives the MINI Cooper S its fun-to-drive characteristic. The genuinely "beefy" torque curve has 80 percent of its maximum torque between 2,500 and 6,500 rpm.

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