Two months after the debut of the regular model, Mini has unveiled the mid-life facelift for the flagship John Cooper Works version of its Countryman SUV.
Updates are concentrated on the visual front, with exterior changes including restyled front and rear fascias, new grille with a red stripe, plus LED headlights, fog lights and tail-lights, the lattermost featuring Mini’s trademark Union Jack design.
An optional Piano Black Exterior package darkens the door handles, head/tail-light surrounds, grille and tailgate badging. Two new metallic colours, White Silver and Sage Green, join the existing palette.
Inside, revisions include a new 5.0-inch digital instrument cluster borrowed from the Cooper SE electric hatch and JCW GP track special, a mildly-restyled centre stack and a revised 8.8-inch infotainment system with Amazon Alexa integration and ‘Intelligent Emergency’ services.
Mechanically, the John Cooper Works Countryman continues into 2021 with the same 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine introduced in 2019, developing 225kW of power and 450Nm of torque.
Drive is fed to the tarmac through an eight-speed Aisin torque-converter automatic transmission and a front-biased all-wheel-drive system, enabling the 0-100km/h sprint to be dispatched in 5.1 seconds.
A sports exhaust system with 95mm-diamter twin tailpipes can now be optioned.
Standard performance kit Down Under includes an electronically-locking front differential, retuned chassis, steering, stability control and dampers, 18-inch JCW-branded alloy wheels, and a sports brake system with four-piston fixed front and single-piston sliding rear calipers finished in Chilli Red.
The facelifted 2021 Mini John Cooper Works Countryman will touch down in Australian showrooms in the fourth quarter of 2020.