( Worldcarfans ) - The MINI Challenge Series has been nail-bitingly close for seven seasons in the UK. The series is becoming more and more popular and has spread globally and is even featured as the beginners class in the official WTCC video game Race.
This year, MINI will be racing a brand new MINI John Cooper Works Challenge, based on the new MINI S. The car retains the 154kW engine but it will be turbocharged rather than supercharged, as it was in previous years. The new set-up provides even more torque, faster acceleration, better power-to-weight ratio, higher top speed, faster lateral acceleration and improved traction. All ingredients for more action, greater excitement and amassed drama.
The MINI JCW Challenge will be assembled in Oxford, UK then shipped to Germany in order to be transformed into track-only race cars and eventually transported to customers in order to burn rubber and trade paint on the track.
The specifications in a nutshell:
Engine: 1,598 cc, four cilinder
Power: 154 kW / 210 hp with max 280 Nm torque.
0 - 100km/h: 6.1 seconds
100 - 0 km/h: 3.1 seconds ( 31 meters)
Top speed: 240 km/h