Manhart’s MINI John Cooper Works GP Is One Mean Little Devil

Nearly 20 years ago, the beloved MINI brand was brought back to life and its former glory, by none other than BMW. In 2006, the spectacular MINI John Cooper Works GP made its stunning debut and became an immediate success. Ever since, it’s been the first choice for MINI customers who like to spice things up in the performance sector.

As of today, the latest JCW GP is powered by a 2.0-liter DOHC four-cylinder turbocharged mill. Don’t let that small displacement figure fool you, though, this powerplant is pretty damn potent! It will deliver up to 301 hp at 5,000 rpm, along with a solid torque output of 331 pound-feet (450 Nm) at 1,750 rpm. Just for the record, this is the most powerful engine any MINI model has ever seen.

Power travels to the MINI JCW GP’s front wheels through an eight-speed Steptronic automatic sports transmission, making this little beast perfectly capable of achieving a top speed of 165 mph (265 kph). Additionally, sitting at a mere 5.2 seconds, its 0-62 mph (0-100 kph) acceleration time is also quite impressive.

This adorable monster is equipped with sports suspension and driveline traction control, all resting on 18” forged aluminum wheels. Last but not least, each and every one of its wheels is provided with ABS. The total production of MINI’s John Cooper Works GP is limited to only 3,000 units, and each of these will cost you approximately 45,000 bucks.

Manhart Performance was founded almost three decades ago in Wuppertal, Germany. At first, the tuner specialized primarily on optimizing BMW vehicles, but gradually expanded into new territory over time. In our day and age, Manhart deals with modifying cars from a plethora of prominent car brands, including Audi, the legendary Porsche and even Lamborghini.

This German firm also got its hands on MINi’s latest JCW GP, tasking the Manhart team with working their juicy magic on the minuscule hatchback. Let’s dive in a bit deeper and take a look at they’ve managed to come up with, shall we?

For starters, JCW GP’s 2.0-liter DOHC will now produce up to 350 hp and 390 pound-feet (530 Nm) of torque. To accomplish this, Manhart remapped the turbocharged engine’s ECU and installed a new intercooler from Airtec, along with a cat-back exhaust that features a four-stage flap control and a gasoline particulate filter.

Suspension remained mostly untouched, with the exception of a fresh set of springs that lower Manhart’s machine by 20 mm (0.8 inches) at its front and 15 mm (0.6 inches) at the rear. It is supported by Concave One wheels with a diameter of 19”, finished in matte black.

In the area of visual customization, their John Cooper Works GP comes with a larger roof-mounted spoiler and tweaked fender flares, while the bodywork was also finished in matte black, along with some neat gold accents. Optionally, Manhart is prepared to offer a plethora of other upgrades, such as Cravenspeed exterior components or a high-tech digital gauge inside.

Finally, the company nicknamed their creation GP3 F350, hinting at this thing’s power output figures. However, these folks are nowhere near being done with working on the MiINI JWC GP and have some big plans for the near future!

We’re pumped to find out what their next steps will be.