MINI John Cooper Works Aceman Review

Just a few years after the founding of the Mini brand would see John F. Kennedy making his famous speech - one that rallied the American imagination to land a man on the moon.

In that speech, Kennedy highlighted a few landmarks such as the discovery of penicillin, the invention of the television, and the development of nuclear power, to highlight the astonishing pace at which humanity's technological prowess had developed.

Track the development of electrification of the cars that we so love, and I think it's quite safe to say that the pace of progress has been equally astonishing. The world was introduced to the Toyota Prius just 28 years ago. Roll back the clock about 15 years from today and you'll witness the birth of the Nissan Leaf.

Today, any person with enough cash in hand can easily get their hands on a 500bhp all-electric SUV, even though this output would have eluded even supercars of just a few decades back.

And such is the environment that this new MINI John Cooper Works Aceman finds itself in. Can this first foray of the John Cooper Works brand (alongside the MINI John Cooper Works Electric) into the world of all-electric power, excite in the same way that its petrol-powered brethren always could?

The MINI John Cooper Works comes complete with plenty of Chili Red accent pieces

Pocket rocket

Let me start by pointing out that the car is an undeniably attractive thing to look at. This JCW Aceman comes complete with a host of Chili Red accents and quite the body kit, which all pair well with the already adorably chunky silhouette of the regular Aceman.

Look closer and you'll even note that there are some less obvious yet just as tasty touches including the chequered flag motifs on the car's wheel arches and the two debossed faux intakes ahead of the bonnet.

But let me bring us back to the point of the rapidly changing environment that MINI has now found itself in: I can't help but feel that these touches - charming and quirky in MINIs before - have now become crucial to the survival of the JCW brand as it transitions into the electric age.

Charging the 54.2kWh battery of the MINI JCW Aceman can be done at a maximum power of 95kW at a direct current charger

Context is key. Where MINI JCWs of old could at least hold a candle to the combustion-powered hot hatches of their age, this MINI Aceman finds itself quite outgunned. Would this MINI be otherwise considered amongst the best of the performance crossovers were it not for its elaborate frock?

Consider that with 190kW to deploy (and another 20kW if you flick that red flappy pedal), this MINI JCW Aceman finds itself only on par for power output against alternatives such as the 200kW variants of the Volvo EX30, the Zeekr X, and the Smart #1.

All these cars don't wear performance as their calling cards in half the way this MINI does. And if I may be so cruel as to point out, the latter two of these are available here with their own performance variants, both offering 315kW of power.

So, don't get distracted by its flamboyant shell. While this JCW may have all the visual appeal of a performance vehicle, it isn't anywhere near a performance leader in the realm of diminutive crossovers.

The car's 9.4-inch infotainment system makes use of a pleasing set of colour schemes and proved intuitive enough

Plotting trajectory

But surely if it handles and entertains like Minis of old, it can still find itself deserving of that JCW badging? Afterall, the classic Minis made their mark in the world of motorsport by outpacing cars endowed with more power simply by being more agile and nimble through the corners, yes?

Thankfully, the MINI JCW Aceman seems to have found some space to stand out here. Where its rivals veer into comfort and pliancy, this JCW Aceman has quite the chops to keep up with an eager driver.

Suspension damping here is firm, but its springs offer enough travel and sufficiently round off the sharpest edges on the road. The net effect here being that there's a MINI-typical busyness to the ride if you find yourself travelling over a pockmarked surface, but the experience is never harsh.

The knitted materials on the dashboard and door cards are rough to the touch

And the upshot of this setup is that this JCW Aceman will tenaciously hold onto a smooth stretch of tarmac even if you do decide to push through a sweeping curve.

There's quite a bit of charm to the way it goes about too. Throttle response is delightfully immediate, for starters. And its quite the entertainer as well: Give that accelerator pedal a good stomp and you'll be met with plenty of torque steer, sending the car eagerly diving in the direction of any divots even when you do give the car the benefit of a rolling start.

And you'll correct this with a steering that is for the most part well-judged. I found it still wanting for feedback, but its pacing is hard to fault. It's enough to make this JCW Aceman feel keen to turn into corners while weighing up nicely as you apply more lock.

You won't have plenty of options if you need to store larger items here

Little module

Which leaves us with the thorny issue of practicality, rarely a strong suite of the MINI brand.

Redeeming points first. Relegate two to the rear and they should find sufficient space even for longer trips, while ingress and egress for all is notably easy in this Aceman next to cars of its like.

Working the infotainment system within the 9.4-inch round OLED display is also intuitive once you get a feel for where your more commonly used options are. I did notice it lagging whenever you load up what are presumably more intensive operations, such as changing the user profile or opening the navigation.

But the JCW Aceman is also horribly unyielding if you do need to secure larger items within its cabin, and the recycled and knitted material that adorns its dashboard and door cards are so rough that they belong on a cat's scratching post.

I would have been happy to ignore this, were it not for the fact that the car also offers precious little space between the door and your knees, so an unwanted exfoliation of the forearms turned out to be de rigor whenever I reached down for its lowly positioned door handles.

MINI is offering sublime handling in a compact package with this MINI John Cooper Works Aceman, but rivals will deliver more power for the same price

Back to earth

So, should you get one of your own? At $272,888, the MINI John Cooper Works Aceman isn't an entirely convincing proposition. If you see no downside to driving a car from a Chinese brand, the 'Flagship' variant of the Zeekr X (with a total of 315kW, mind) comes in at a far more attractive $232,999. This drive in this Zeekr, however, is at the other end of the spectrum compared to the sporty experience offered by this MINI.

But then there's the Smart #1 Brabus to think about. Equally as design conscious as the MINI brand, the Smart #1 is asking for just a bit more at $277,000 but comes with its own smatterings of red sporty exterior elements and more importantly, has a power output of 315kW.

Against this competition, the MINI will have to rely on its storied past and sheer brand appeal to win customers over - something I'm afraid a new model like the Aceman won't be as successful as compared to its hatchback stablemates.

But then again, maybe that's exactly the problem. Maybe this John Cooper Works Aceman shouldn't have put so much effort to draw so many links to its firm's motorsport heritage on its body and instead focused on being something that's competitive, or at least entirely different, from what the rest of the market is now capable of building.

Just what this should have been is hard to say. And it won't be easy. But the original Mini brand was founded on a product that applied groundbreaking engineering know-how to address a set of what, at that time, seemed like impossible demands.

Rivals already have managed to expand their lead in areas including cabin space and sheer affordability to a level that can no longer be ignored. But I can't help to notice that these also were the main issues of the day when Sir Alec Issigonis first put pen to paper. MINI will need to rally its teams and apply the best of its know-how to address these issues if it wants to keep up with this strange and rapidly evolving new world. And it must. The brand deserves as much.

Looking for a fast electric SUV? These reviews might interest you:

The Polestar 4 comes with plenty of its own interesting design details, and offers a total of 536bhp!

Or maybe this Cupra Tavascan might be what you're after if you're looking for something different?

Alternatively, you might want to catch our review of the Mercedes-Benz G580 if you really want to go big