MINI Cooper Checkmate (2006)

December 1, 2006 - This review was originally supposed to be about the factory-prepped John Cooper Works MINI Cooper S. The standard MINI Cooper S is one of our favorite front-drive cars, so to say that we were looking forward to some time driving the limited edition race-bred 214-horsepower version of the car would be a gross understatement. But this review isn't about the JCW Cooper S. You see, an unfortunate turn of events occurred just a day or two before we were supposed to pick up the car: MINI needed the JCW Cooper S for some kind of event, so it pulled the car from our possession before we even got a chance to see the thing in the metal. However, the peeps at MINI didn't want to leave us stranded without a ride, so it let us borrow its MINI Checkmate. "Okay," we thought, "driving a regular Cooper S is still fun. Things will be fine." Turns out MINI wasn't going to give us the Checkmate edition of the Cooper S. We were "stuck" getting the standard 115-horsepower Cooper with the Checkmate package. While the MINI Checkmate does include electronic stability control and a "performance-oriented" wheel and tire package, the bulk of the package is merely cosmetic. Most people that choose to outfit their MINIs with this Checkmate package will likely be doing so for the special-edition seats and stickers.