That JCW styling extends to the interior too. Both cars get special JCW sports seats with exclusive knit detailing around the head and shoulder area. The rest of the seats are wrapped in MINI’s soft, sumptuous Vescin synthetic leather, and decorated with contrast red stitching to amp up the sporting ambience. The seats are comfortable and supportive, with chunky bolsters that helped keep us in place on some of the more unforgiving, snaking B-roads. In fact, the whole interior really stands out in this class for just how upmarket it is. All of the materials look and feel premium, and there’s a real air of quality about the entire cabin.

The curved dashboard features sustainable two-tone knitted materials, which look the part and feel pleasing to touch. There’s a dedicated JCW steering wheel, too, which features red stitching and a black and red material strap that acts as a third spoke. 

Fully loaded

It can’t all be about performance though, cars like these need to be useful daily drivers too. To that end, MINI has loaded them with clever tech and useful features. Our cars each had a handy heads up display which showed speed and navigation directions among other helpful things. On the topic of displays, it’s hard to ignore the big 9.4in circular OLED screen in the centre of the dash. A homage to the classic mini speedometer, the circular design is apparently a world-first. It looks slick, and features plenty of customisation, including the ability to change MINI experience modes. This alters the aesthetic and even the character of the car. 

There’s also a MINI voice assistant, which is surprisingly capable and intuitive. It does a fantastic job of interpreting your commands. For example, you could say ‘hey MINI, I’m hot’, and it’d activate the air conditioning. A shout of ‘I’m hungry’, would bring up local restaurant recommendations. Or ‘I need to charge’ would offer directions to the nearest chargers. It’s really quite clever.

We were also treated to heated seats and a heated steering wheel, which came in handy when the weather turned and the heavens opened. A wireless phone charger and USB-C ports kept our gadgets juiced up on the trip. And then there are some really clever little things. For example, when we received a call from the Aceman, the Cooper automatically closed the windows to improve sound quality. Smart stuff.