CAPTAIN PLANET

Power corrupts, as the old saying goes. And absolute power? Well, that’s just fantastic.

In the case of this lairy and violent Mini, it’s Japanese power doing the business - which might seem a bit odd for a French-built project that now lives in Las Vegas. But when it comes to the barely-harnessed lunacy of VTEC Minis, we should always expect the unexpected.

The father of a thousand internet memes, Honda’s VTEC system is more than just a clever piece of valve timing, it’s a lifestyle. Much like forced induction is addictive, and people who experience turbos or superchargers for the first time immediately get hooked on boost, so it is with VTEC: once you’ve held onto that steering wheel with white knuckles beyond 8,000rpm, the howling motor sounding fit to explode and yet relentlessly goading you on, you’ll never look back. VTEC is a drug.

“We will not be content