MINI will unveil the 2012 Countryman JCW (John Cooper Works) at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, but until that happens, here are a few photos that show a mildly disguised version testing in Austria in wintry conditions.
The 2012 MINI Countryman JCW comes with more aggressively styled bits and pieces, a dual exhaust system, a tweaked suspension that lowers the ride height by 10 mm and also contains larger diameter anti-roll bars, plus more potent brakes housed behind larger alloy wheels.
All these changes have a direct impact in handling and stability and were taken in order to perfectly accommodate the crossover’s 1.6-litre 4-cylinder turbo engine taken from the Countryman Cooper S which in this case will produce 215 bhp.
Even though its performance figures remain undisclosed, the 2012 MINI Countryman JCW is expected to dismiss the 0 to 62 mph acceleration time in around 7.0 seconds (around 0.6 seconds quicker than the Cooper S), but we’ll confirm that once this new version will make its debut in March.

Source: Autocar