Lightning Lap 2017: Mini Clubman John Cooper Works ALL4

Lap Time: 3:16.0
Class: LL2
Base Price: $36,450
As-Tested Price: $45,000
Power and Weight: 228 hp • 3518 lb • 15.4 lb/hp
Tires: Bridgestone Potenza S001 RFT, 225/40R-18 92Y

This year, the slowest rear-drive cars at this event require a special touch to produce that perfect lap—a combination of carefully managed oversteer and a mulish commitment to the right pedal. The Clubman JCW ALL4 isn’t one of those cars. Yes, it certainly needs to carry speed like the rest of the low-powered entrants, but doing so in the Mini is an exercise in restraint; namely, restraining understeer. Don’t plan on throwing it into any corners tail first, because even with all-wheel drive, the Clubman isn’t a dirty dancer. It won’t twerk entering Hog Pen. It won’t make you fear for your life through the Climbing Esses. It wouldn’t even slip us a hint of powerslide through the water crossing in Spiral. So stable is the Mini that its entry speed into Hog Pen is 2.6 mph faster than the WRX’s—a car that laps VIR 4.5 seconds quicker. Stability is the name of this Mini’s game, and preserving its tires—especially its front tires—is crucial to getting the most out of it.

That the Clubman is only 0.6 second behind the quickest-lapping Mini we’ve ever run at Lightning Lap (a 2015 Cooper Hardtop JCW) speaks to the ­ability of this larger, heavier all-wheel-driver. Four-­piston front Brembos give the Mini better braking performance than most of the cars running similar times, a significant accomplishment given the Clubman’s 3518-pound curb weight. Don’t think that heft means this Clubman isn’t a Mini. It is. The immediate turn-in, weighty steering, and growling intake note are all there. And so is the attitude, tempered as it may be by understeer.