MINI Cooper Range Gets Facelift & Updates

The new facelifted MINI range has been launched in Malaysia. The MINI Cooper sells for RM 195,888, the MINI Cooper S for RM 239,888, and the MINI John Cooper Works (JCW) for RM 275,888 (on-the-road without insurance). Compared with the full MINI range (shown above), the local range is still short of the facelifted MINI Clubman and MINI Convertible and of course the all-new MINI Countryman.

Along with the introduction of new colours—Eclipse Grey, Spice Orange, White Silver and British Racing Green, the mid-life facelift extends to the front and rear bumpers, while the tail lights now get LED lighting. The interior trim colours have been revised as well.

To underline its sporty positioning, the JCW gets an exclusive Chili Red colour for the roof top and side mirror housings. The sporty appearance extends inside, where the black seats and piano black trim are contrasted by red stitching and a couple of red panels.

The Cooper still uses the naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre BMW-PSA Prince engine, capable of producing 122 hp at 6000 rpm and 160 Nm at 4250 rpm, paired to a six-speed automatic gearbox. The Cooper S, driven by the same powertrain as the Cooper, has 184 hp at 5500 rpm and 240 Nm between 1600–5000 rpm (20 Nm more on overboost), thanks to the addition of direct-injection technology and twin-scroll turbocharging.

The range-topping JCW shares the same turbocharged, direct-injected engine as the Cooper S, but MINI engineers have managed to extract 211 hp at 6000 rpm and 260 Nm between 1800–5600 rpm (20 Nm more on overboost) with a more aggressive state of tune. A six-speed manual gearbox is the only option here.