The MINI John Cooper Works is one scary little car - and that's a good thing

I've driven street cars that are also race cars: Ferraris, Cadillacs, even the beloved Mazda Miata MX-5. While all were thrilling, I can't say that any were out-and-out terrifying.

And then I buckled myself into a 2015 John Cooper Works MINI. Don't let he adorable looks of MINI's family coupe fool you. This savage little beast, I'm certain, was trying to do me in.

You just don't get to feel this anymore with high-performance cars. The Lamborghini Hurácan, for example, is a Lamborghini and therefore supposed to be threatening. But it isn't. It's as easy to live with as a Honda Accord. That's because carmakers like Lamborghini don't want customers to think they need some kind of special certification for dangerous activity before parting with a down payment.

My frame of mind when the JCW MINI - the third generation of the vehicle - landed in the driveway of BI Transportation's suburban New Jersey satellite HQ was that the car would be fun. Which it was. But it was also many, many other things. And some of those things made me think that I should have been wearing a helmet and a fireproof suit.