AC Schnitzer is one of the oldest BMW tuners out there, having fiddled with Bavarian cars for nearly 30 years, even though it was founded back in 1967. Therefore, with so much experience in its portfolio, the Aachen-based company is capable of delivering some of the best products available today for BMW and MINI models. The latter brand is what brought us here, the MINI JCW being recently added to the list of tunable cars by AC Schnitzer.
Their take on the hardcore hardtop may not be as powerful as others but if there’s one thing the ACS treatment can guarantee is that you won’t have any reliability issues. Unlike what Manhart Racing is offering, with its 300 HP F300 model, the AC Schnitzer MINI JCW goes from 231 HP to 265 HP. The 2-liter 4-cylinder mill under the hood also gains some hefty torque, going from 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) to 390 Nm (288 lb-ft).
Other than the power upgrade, the MINI range from AC Schnitzer also includes a front splitter for all new models (F55, F56, F57), new dampers with electronic control, new springs, a new exhaust system with a sport muffler at the back and light alloy wheels in the typical ACS design. The car in the video below is actually using AC1 wheels in a BiColor finish.
What’s most impressive about the tuning kits offered by AC Schnitzer is that they also come with a 100,000 km (62,000 miles) warranty that covers all the moving parts in the engine. With the new power kit installed, the MINI JCW can reach 100 km/h (62 mph) from standstill in 6 seconds flat, which is 0.3 seconds faster than the standard, manual hardtop.
