What's the news?
MINI is updating the hottest model in its armoury, for 2019 - the MINI John Cooper S Works. The 231hp four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine remains mostly unchanged, but it's been re-engineered to meet the latest emissions regulations. The new figures include CO2 of 158g/km (that's with a manual gearbox; take the eight-speed auto and those numbers drop to a slightly more reasonable 142g/km) and fuel economy of 40.9mpg to 46.3mpg, again depending on the gearbox.
Those figures are for the hatchback, and needless to say the Convertible is slightly worse off, thanks to its extra weight and worse aerodynamics - 162g/km (manual) or 148g/km (automatic) for the CO2 emissions, and 39.8mpg to 44.1mpg economy.
The 0-100km/h sprint takes 6.3 seconds for the hatchback and 6.6 seconds for the Convertible. Standard spec includes sports suspension, sports braking kit, 17-inch alloys, John Cooper Works bucket seats and a full John Cooper Works aero kit.
Inside, you'll get Piano Black trim and Dinamica leather, while all John Cooper Works cars get the full LED front and rear lights, which means - yes - you'll have to have the (mildly controversial) Union flag brake lights, unless you ask for them to be removed. There's also the MINI Excitement pack, which isn't want it sounds like - it's actually a lighting pack that includes MINI logo puddle light projectors and ambient interior lighting.
Anything else?
From March 2019, the John Cooper Works models will get their biggest mechanical change, which is the new petrol-engine particulate filter for the exhaust. MINI says that it doesn't affect the emissions or the fuel economy.
The new John Cooper Works models go on sale in January.