00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Here we have the fastest, most hardcore modern Mini available.
00:07 That is, if you can find one.
00:10 Yes, the John Cooper Works GP continues a great trend
00:14 of very special track-oriented cars produced
00:17 in extremely small numbers.
00:19 How small?
00:20 Well, there's 2,000 GPs worldwide,
00:22 and only 500 are slated for North America.
00:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:31 Before we can talk about the Mini Cooper JCW GP's
00:37 performance, I think it's important to contextualize
00:40 it first by talking about the Mini Cooper S Coupe's
00:43 performance.
00:44 And this Coupe in particular is the one
00:46 I've been driving for the past year.
00:48 It's Motor Trend's long-term car.
00:49 I put nearly 18,000 miles on it, and I like it a lot.
00:53 It's a fun little car.
00:55 And here around our handling track,
00:58 it's pretty easy to see why.
01:00 It turns in aggressively.
01:02 There's a good amount of grip in the car for how fast it is.
01:06 The whole thing seems nicely matched in terms of power
01:09 to weight and grip.
01:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:13 But the thing is, this car is over a second slower
01:18 than the GP around this handling track.
01:20 And that's because this car is about 100 miles
01:22 heavier, its tires aren't anywhere near as sticky
01:26 as the GP's, and the tuning on the GP
01:29 is so much more aggressive.
01:32 It's still a good bit of fun, though.
01:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:40 Now we come to the Mini GP.
01:43 And as we get on the straight, the power
01:45 doesn't seem noticeably greater.
01:47 And that's because it's not.
01:48 But as we get on the straight, the power
01:50 doesn't seem noticeably greater.
01:52 And that's because it's not.
01:54 But as we get into a corner, the aggressiveness of the chassis
01:59 setup is immediately apparent.
02:03 When you start pushing on power, you just lift, wait,
02:07 the back end starts coming around so slightly,
02:10 and it helps you set up for corner exit.
02:13 Now this car is, as we mentioned,
02:15 100 pounds lighter, a little bit over 100 pounds lighter
02:19 and very sticky tires.
02:20 But I got to believe that the second difference in figure
02:24 eight lap time has to do with how aggressive this chassis is,
02:29 the balance of it, the way it handles.
02:33 This car is a lot of fun.
02:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:40 The GP is the second fastest front drive car
02:43 we've lapped around the figure eight,
02:45 losing to the European-only Scirocco R
02:47 by 2/10 of a second.
02:50 Credit the suspension tuning and tires for that result,
02:53 as the GP's straight line performance
02:55 doesn't change significantly from the Cooper S's.
02:58 And the GP has about three more horsepower
03:01 than the standard JCW.
03:02 But it has red seat belts, so it should be faster.
03:05 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:07 Good launch, just enough spin, just a little chatter.
03:11 But it does take two gear shifts to get to 60 miles an hour,
03:14 which we pass in 5.9 seconds.
03:17 And then we'll hit the quarter in 14.3 at 99.9 miles an hour.
03:22 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:26 The GP gets bigger front brakes versus the JCW.
03:29 And our 60 to 0 braking takes just 109 feet.
03:35 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:43 This is a fun little car.
03:44 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:48 I'm enjoying driving this car quite a bit.
03:53 I'm going to make sure we're in GP mode,
03:55 make sure we're in sport mode.
03:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:00 Now, what I like about this car, the power is good.
04:04 It's nicely matched to the balance of the chassis.
04:06 We have about 211 horsepower or so.
04:09 But there isn't a lot of torque steer.
04:11 In fact, there isn't any torque steer.
04:14 In GP mode, which is the sort of intermediary traction control
04:19 setting, the car isn't cutting power when it sets its wheel
04:23 spin.
04:24 It instead is using the brakes to act
04:27 like a differential, a locking differential.
04:29 And it works pretty well on the road here.
04:32 You can exit a corner with a pretty good amount
04:35 of throttle load.
04:37 And you don't just end up in a one-wheel peel.
04:39 It works pretty nicely.
04:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:44 Driving the GP fast is a lot of fun
04:49 because you have a lot of confidence and a ton of grip.
04:52 And you can maintain some pretty high speeds around corners.
04:56 And what's interesting is for how aggressive the chassis is,
05:00 you don't really notice too much more roughness on the road.
05:04 When you're driving around town, the ride isn't--
05:06 it's stiff, but it's not unbearable.
05:08 There's a bit more interior noise,
05:10 but it's not too loud.
05:12 I appreciate that they've gone this aggressive with this car.
05:16 This car could have just been easily a badge job
05:19 with some stickers and a $9,000 higher price tag versus the JCW.
05:24 But I appreciate they've actually turned it
05:25 into a handling car, a driver's car.
05:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:36 Which brings us to the $40,000 this GP costs.
05:42 That seems like a lot of money until you start
05:44 considering what you get.
05:46 Over the standard JCW, that money
05:48 buys adjustable coilovers, inverted dampers,
05:51 and more aggressive suspension tuning with increased camber
05:54 and reduced front towing, which should help
05:57 use the racetrack-recommended Kumho XTA V700 tires
06:00 to their fullest.
06:02 The front brakes now have 13-inch rotors
06:04 and six-piston calipers, while the rear system is unchanged.
06:07 You really have to think of this car like a black series
06:14 Mercedes or like a GT3 Porsche.
06:17 It's of that ilk.
06:18 It's that kind of car.
06:21 So it kind of makes sense.
06:22 When you're buying this kind of exclusivity,
06:24 this kind of performance from a car set up like this,
06:29 things start beginning to make sense.
06:33 Initially, the asking price may seem shocking.
06:35 But spend time with the GP, and you'll quickly find the value.
06:39 Its upgrades are smart and effective.
06:41 And its performance, especially around our handling track,
06:44 speaks for itself.
06:45 But most importantly, this is the best-driving modern Mini
06:49 yet.
06:50 Yeah, the styling is peculiar, and the focus is narrow.
06:53 But for its 500 potential buyers,
06:55 that's exactly the point.
07:01 It magnifies that, sort of exemplifies that.
07:03 Sound?
07:17 Sound, yes.
07:18 Anyway, this car is really fast on a road.
07:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments