Here’s another car built for the fans… for the rich ones in fact. MINI previewed their fastest ever production car, the GP version of the John Cooper Works hatch, production of which will be limited to just 2,000 units.
Unfortunately, as you might have guessed from those black windows, MINI isn’t letting us know everything we need to yet. The only technical number we get is 8:23 - the time it took for the car to get round the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife track in Germany. This makes it about 19 seconds faster than the old GP model, which had a supercharged 1.6-liter with 210 horsepower.
That puts it on par with the 2010 Volkswagen Golf R, which has all-wheel drive and probably lots more power, but slower than an RS3 Sportback. Annoyingly, there’s no way to know how much power it makes, but we can tell you the normal John Cooper Works takes 8:35 to get round the same track.
Part of the added track performance comes not from the engine, but from reengineered chassis, adjustable sports suspension, racing brakes and aero package.
That puts it on par with the 2010 Volkswagen Golf R, which has all-wheel drive and probably lots more power, but slower than an RS3 Sportback. Annoyingly, there’s no way to know how much power it makes, but we can tell you the normal John Cooper Works takes 8:35 to get round the same track.
Part of the added track performance comes not from the engine, but from reengineered chassis, adjustable sports suspension, racing brakes and aero package.