MINI describes the JCW as having "Go-kart" handling, and I concur — if the go-kart in question is propelled by a contingent of enraged jackals with flaming fur.
What they mean is that the JCW has a viciously tactile connection to the road. Honestly, I think the handling goes beyond go-kart. For the most part, high-performance cars don't want to hang out at the legal speed limit, but you can have some fun thrashing their engines and making them generate all sort of merciless sound effects.
The JCW, on the other hand, thinks any speed limit is fodder for contempt. It basically wants to do 80 all the time (in other words, it wants to be on a race track), but if you're tooling along at 30, it reminds you of what every single MPH of 30 is like, in fiercely granular detail. The exhaust note is vigorous and engaging, a feisty volcano of sonic lava. The brake, clutch, and accelerator pedals all have an urgent vibe that suggest purposeful driving is the way to go and that commuting would be tiring for the left leg.
The specially crafted and shaped seats hug your haunches in the corners, the Brembo brakes up front inspire terrific confidence with the throttle, and the suspension utilizes a BMW technology called "Dynamic Damper Control" that continually tweaks what's going on with the shocks to transmit an outrageous amount of asphalt sensitivity to you as you sit behind the wheel, your brow knitted into a near rictus of concentration.
When you complete an afternoon of zipping around the highways and byways of northern New Jersey in the JCW, you believe that it has waaayyy more to give. You, on the other hand, have been ridden hard and put up wet. You might need a hug and cup of warm milk.