The Mini Paceman, the seventh full-production model to come from the British brand, is the latest to get the treatment from associated performance stable John Cooper Works. The JCW badge is also a natural fit for the sportiest version of the biggest Mini and Australia's first model to combine four-wheel drive with two doors.

Starting at $58,600 the Mini Paceman John Cooper Works sits at the top of the Paceman tree - $11,445 over the penultimate 135kW/240Nm Paceman Cooper S automatic. Select the JCW in automatic guise and this jumps $2350 to $60,950.

On price, the Paceman model holds top spot on the JCW ladder, as expected. It's ahead of both the Roadster and Cabrio and $1800 more than its five-door, 9mm longer sibling - the Countryman JCW - on which it's based. It's also $1700 dearer than the limited edition track-ready JCW GP.

Though a high-riding, four-wheel-drive coupe seems niche, the segment is not exclusive to the four-seat Paceman JCW. Starting $3705 less than the Mini, the three-door, 4WD Range Rover Evoque offers equal coffee strip cachet and seating capacity.

The Mini Paceman JCW is, as with all John Cooper Works models, powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder. Here it produces 160kW at 6000rpm and 280Nm between 1900-5000rpm. Torque can, however, be boosted to 300Nm between 2100-4500rpm via an overboost function. Sourced from the Hams Hall engine plant in England, the engine has been tweaked with reinforced pistons, a balanced crankshaft, an aluminium cylinder block and sodium-filled exhaust valves.

The petrol unit helps the 1400kg (1420kg auto) Paceman JCW claim 0-100km/h in 6.9 seconds, whether teamed with the standard six-speed manual transmission or the six-speed paddle-shiftable automatic. That's 0.6sec quicker than the 1305kg Paceman Cooper S manual.

Transmissions do impact official fuel and CO2 figures, however, with the manual returning 8.0 litres per 100km and 186 grams per kilometre to the auto's 8.3L/100km and 193g/km.

Faced with Tasmania's famed rally roads for its belated local launch, the Mini Paceman John Cooper Works' characterful engine is sluggish below 2000rpm but remains adequate for conserving fuel or coasting on flats. By 3000rpm things are far more responsive (with or without Sport mode) and from 4000rpm to its 6500rpm redline, the Paceman pulls strongly. When pushed, smooth and linear power delivery is accompanied by a tough little turbo whoosh, but it never feels particularly quick in a straight line.

A light clutch gives adequate feel of the take up point and partners well with the Paceman's notchy six-speed gearbox to engage drivers in all situations. Mini's automatic gearbox with aggravating push/pull paddle shifters was not available to test...

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