Report: High-performance Mini Countryman by Prodrive to hit roads

Banbury-based engineering firm Prodrive is at work on a hot version of the Mini Countryman. The company already runs Mini’s World Rally Championship program.

Prodrive boss Dave Richards has previously said that the road-tuned Mini’s by the firm were possible.

“Mini obviously has the Cooper and John Cooper Works brands and it will want to work out ways of harnessing this campaign, its rally heritage and those giant-killing acts of the 1960s through its road cars,” said Richards.

The Prodrive Mini Countryman Cooper S will get a nice bulky bodykit, a carbon fiber wing and custom alloy wheels. Performance is expected to come from a tuned version of the Cooper S’s 1.6 liter turbo engine. Insiders say the engine has been returning 230-hp on the dyno.

By the way, Mini itself has yet to officially reveal a Countryman JCW high-performance model.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: AutoCar