Ciao everyone, here it's Marchettino and today we enjoy the most powerful road going MINI ever!
Today's test is spicy because look at what I'm driving today!
It's the new MINI JCW GP, pretty awesome!
Last winter I went in the desert of Arizona to taste this car on track on its world premiere,
sadly my taste was short but intense on the passenger side, I was seriously impressed by this toy
finally today I'm on the driver's side and I can't wait to hit a few gears to see how it goes!
This is the 3rd generation of MINI GP and this is the most powerful and incredible road going MINI ever!
I don't think we'll see many in Italy, price ain't for everyone - nearly 46k €
Out the 3000 units to be built, just 150 are made for the italian market
superbollo car tax will stop people from buying one but
those 150 who will get one, I think this is a remarkable purchase. Now let's find a fun road and get off the city.
The GP follows the same philosophy, more power and less weight.
Purists will say it's not a real MINI, I really like it and these days you don't have to give for granted to see a brand new car like this.
Size is not the same as the previous GPs anymore because
it's starting to get big, just like its presence because this car truly stands out!
If you buy it, you can't spec it - what you see is the final spec you get when you pay 46k €,
the colour ain't bad though - grey with red accents in contrast.
For a colour change, wrapping is always a good temporary solution.
One of the things that stand out most, are the wide carbon fibre fenders,
they're quite scenic, they make the car wider and with more presence, I wonder if they're actually useful to increase the performance?
We're still in auto, why? Let's engage Sport and manual gear change,
now we're talking, after all this is a MINI GP!
MINI designed it to be a compromise to use as a daily driver, it's not rough like the previous GPs
For being an extreme, track ready weapon, here we have some features MINI could've ditched
like the heated seats, sat-nav, maybe with the real MINI philosophy they should've ditched 'em.
Anyway, something has been removed because as you see, rear seats have gone!
This tweak, as well as with the light wheels make the GP 70kg lighter, compared to the current JCW,
taking the weight down to 1255kg dry.
For being a car of this segment, it's not really that light weight but
you don't feel the weight that much,
it's sharp!
You might have recognised the road, maybe all of a sudden a random *Galeazzi pops out of nowhere! *popular automotive youtuber
The engine really pulls because it has a lot of power for being such a tiny and compact car,
in front we find a 2.0L 4c turbo engine - the same as the BMW M135i - with 306hp and 450nm!
0-100kph take 5.2s with a top speed of 265kph - even though I saw a few videos of GPs hit 280!
In terms of sensations, it gives you the idea to be planted on the ground, also the ricey spoiler help it to be glued to the road.
The particularity is that it comes only with semislick tires, it makes you understand what kind of car this is
The owner of this GP is a legend, this is a limited edition so usually these cars to be used once in a while and kept jealousy in the garage,
the owner of this one bought it as a daily driver, he took delivery less than a month ago and it already has 1700km!
We're back in the city, suspensions are quite stiff, I can feel every roughness and pothole on the road!
Acceleration is remarkable!
Talking about the sound.. This car has lots of BMW tech so it's inevitable to feel that the sound is enchanced through the speakers
In reality you can feel it from the outside, it sounds sweet too so I don't get it, also because
the rear seats have been removed, enhancing even more the natural sound of the engine
You resolve the problem with a custom exhaust!
After all, this car is meant for these modern times and these days, it's not easy to make a sports car
because there's lots of electronics, lots of restrictions, even petrol cars have DPF and that is a big restriction for the sound and performance.
Despite that, I like it also because it's a remarkable base for a project, just imagine it with ECU, intake and exhaust..
As FWD, it's the ultimate trackday weapon!
Semislicks are warmed up, let's make a standing start
In 1st gear the electronics kicks in but then I felt all the 306hp available!
Acceleration is huge because this is the 1st GP to come just with the paddles gearbox.
Sure, it's a big loss not to have the manual,
Following MINI's philosophy to make a competitive and performing product,
it makes sense to come only with the auto which allows to have immediate gear changes and power delivery between every shift,
I've read if this car came with the manual, it would've been 30kg lighter. If I need to find the defect at all costs, they could've sold the car with the option 8-speed auto or 6-speed manual.
It's crazy the way it comes out the corners, not just because of the semislicks - watch out when it rains
one of the most important features of this car is the mechanical LSD which means you always have the maximum traction, this car doesn't know the mean of bodyroll or understeer.
The exhaust pops! - Tiny pop! - It never does that!
Owner is excited! Sadly, modern cars are so filtered - previous GP was a popcorn machine, this one doesn't.
Good brakes!
Here we have 360mm brakes with huge calipers,
I like that it doesn't suffer fading, by the slight touch of the pedal you immediately feel the power, they're very powerful and reactive.
This is Galeazzi's straight for the brake test, let's make a proper acceleration
hard breaking!
I can't compare it with Andrea but I can tell you the brakes are amazing!
Maybe the 4 point harness would be needed, especially if you wanna play around mountain passes or the track.
Aside that, I find it very exciting dinamically speaking and also surprising.
The steering is one of the qualities I like most on this car, the steering is everything on a sports car
this car has a steering worth to have the GP badge.
It's not just direct and precise, look
I also like that in the sports driving it makes you feel the go-kart feeling, typical of MINI cars.
To all those say this ain't a MINI, this is a proper MINI to me!
Also, in the future this model could be important and sought after because given the times,
I struggle to imagine a 4th generation of the GP so fun, exciting and with an internal combustion engine.
Am I driving the last, real MINI GP? Time will tell.
I approve this car will full marks, it's fast, fun, it lacks with the sound but it has a real fun factor.
I thank Alessandro, the lucky and kind owner for letting me review his GP
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