MINI JCW Challenge Revealed

MINI CHALLENGE will burst into life in Australia in early 2008 and the star of the one-make race series will be the new generation MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE car. The technical and styling features of the 2008 car are revealed for the first time today.  Drawing on four seasons of high-octane, nail-bitingly close racing, the 2008 MINI CHALLENGE race car will again feature a 154 kW John Cooper Works engine, but in this new guise, induction is boosted by a turbocharger rather than a supercharger.

The new car offers even more torque, faster acceleration, better power-to-weight ratio, a higher top speed, faster lateral acceleration and improved traction. For spectators this means even greater excitement, more dramatic on-track action and even more thrilling duels from start to finish.

The first in the metal meeting of the new MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE and an adoring public will be at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The first racers to bite tarmac will be headed to Australia for the start of the debut MINI CHALLENGE Series in early 2008. These right-hand drive cars will be assembled in the UK at the MINI factory at Plant Oxford before being shipped to Germany to be built into race car. The new MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE racers will be delivered to customers ready to roll, complete with full safety and enhanced performance features built-in.

Ready for supreme performance: the new MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE racer.

Powering the new racer is a specially developed John Cooper Works performance engine with a maximum output of 154 kW. This is the same maximum output as the 2007 generation race car, but the advantage is in the increased torque and the mid-range response.

The new race car has a maximum torque of 280 Nm (up from 245 Nm in the 2007 car), thanks to the unique Overboost function. Overall weight has also been reduced by a meaningful 30 kg to a maximum of 1,150 kg (including driver allowance), while improved aerodynamics all round and numerous detail modifications to the chassis and suspension complete the line up of changes designed to add more smiles per lap.

The new MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE accelerates to 100 km/h in just 6.1 seconds. And thanks to its special brake system, the car takes just 3.1 seconds (and 31 metres) to come to a dead stop from 100 km/h. Top speed is 240 km/h.

As with the 2007 MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE race car, the 2008 version boasts impressive lateral acceleration. The 2008 MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE racer has outstanding lateral acceleration meaning elevated abilities to hold high speed through corners as well as punch out of them with increased vigour.

A limited-slip differential is featured for the first time on a MINI CHALLENGE racer, to further enhance traction through tight corners at high speed.