Mini will unveil the production version of its John Cooper Works GP at the Los Angeles auto show.
The GP will be the most powerful production Mini, with a 302-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter engine.
Production will be limited to 3000 units. Deliveries will start in March 2020.
Mini has been teasing the reveal of its third-generation GP for months, first showing us its huge wing, then boasting about its sub-eight-minute Nürburgring lap, and finally announcing its $45,750 price alongside barely camouflaged photos. Today, we saw the John Cooper Works GP in the flesh at Thermal Raceway in California.
In addition to letting us ride in its newest go-kart, Mini has announced more details about the GP, which will be available to 3000 lucky buyers starting in March 2020 (though Mini says half of the limited run is already spoken for). A twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine will provide 302 horsepower, putting the GP in Honda Civic Type R territory. That engine will pair with front-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission with an integrated mechanical differential lock. Mini says the combination is good for a 5.0-second zero-to-60-mph time and a top speed of 165 mph.
Coaxing 74 extra horsepower out of this engine, which powers the non-GP John Cooper Works model in detuned form, meant employing a new turbocharger to allow for a reduced compression ratio, enlarging the intake duct, and modifying the intake ducts to support higher fuel-injection pressure. The GP also has a unique thermal management system with extra and enlarged coolant tanks and a separate cooling system for the transmission. The GP also has several chassis modifications that make it more rigid than the rest of the Mini clan. It's also 0.4 inch lower than the JCW Mini.
During the Thermal Raceway event, the GP's chassis-development engineer treated us to a few hot laps in the new car. Trying to make driving impressions from the passenger seat is a fool's errand, but during our limited time in the car it felt quick and smooth, and it boasted a meaner-sounding exhaust than anything else with a Mini badge.
The design is bolder than anything else in this family, too. There's a red stripe running along the doorsill on each side. The Mini badges, usually chrome and white, are solid black. The GP's big rear wing is attention-grabbing but par for the course for a hot hatch. Much more unusual is the carbon-fiber-reinforced wheel arch trim, which juts out above each wheel. The driver's front wheel is marked in the show models with a 2020 to match the model year, but in customer cars it will be marked with a number between one and 3000, according to the order in which the car was built.
The GP looks special enough to be Mini's halo car. We look forward to the chance to drive the car ourselves to find out whether its performance and driving characteristics match its looks.
After months of rumors and spy shots, Mini has finally revealed its limited-edition 2020 John Cooper Works GP at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The biggest news isn't the horsepower306 from a 2.0-liter inline-four, incase you were wonderingit's the lack of a manual transmission. That's right, the new GP is auto only.
Power is sent to the front wheels via an eight-speed torque-converter automatic that was developed specifically for this application, according to Mini. It has its own oil cooler, and a mechanical limited-slip differential with a 31-percent locking action. We've reached out to Mini to find out why it went auto-only for the GP, and will update this article if we hear back.
One reason could be that the John Cooper Works' existing manual transmission can't handle the torque from the engine. It's a direct-injection 2.0-liter unit with BMW's TwinPower turbo technology and double VANOS variable valve timing, pushing out 332 lb-ft of torque. There's a reinforced crankshaft, bushless connecting rods, bespoke pistons, and optimized cooling. All of that is enough to push the car to a top speed of 164 mph.
Obviously, the drivetrain isn't the only thing that's been changed. Those massive fender flares are made out of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, and shroud 18-inch forged wheels wrapped in 225 section-width tires developed specifically for the car. Behind them sit four-piston brakes up front, and single-piston brakes in the rear. The four-digit number printed on the front left fender flare represents the order in which the car was built (0001 to 3000). The front lip and rear wing have been design to reduce lift and produce downforce at high speeds.
The suspension has been reworked as well, with new springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars. Ride height has been dropped by 0.4 inches versus the normal Mini John Cooper Works.
As with previous generations of John Cooper Works GP, the rear seats have been deleted in favor of an aluminum cross brace in the rear. The brace is painted in bright red, and sits behind the two sport seats up front. There's also a GP-specific steering wheel with 3D-printed paddle shifters and a digital gauge cluster.
Mini has yet to reveal pricing, but says deliveries will start worldwide in March 2020. We can't wait to get our hands on one (even if you can't get one with a stick).
It's a few dollars to spend for not-a-lot-of-car...
The spoiler on the hatch looks terrible imo.
Power to weight ratio "should" make this thing boogy alright though.
And they should have added more "red" here & there if they're going to use it.
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Wife likes them. She bought me the C5 I feel like I want to get her a cool mini. Not that one of course, standard model with flag on top. I am 1/4 Brittish, Dads Mom was a "Mitchner", yeah the author.
I was also going to say it's sort of a "chicks" car too..
If the wife likes it then no more needs to be said! lol Get her one, although if she is part Native American I'm not so sure how happy she will be with a Union Jack painted on the roof!
My wife thinks there might be some Native American on her mothers side but we can not seem to trace it... She always jokingly says she is going to scalp me one day, to which I respond - "Would you like a blanket".... Keeps things on an even keel. lol
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
I wish I could be of more help on the Mini but as things stand I haven't even driven one - let alone worked on one.
You don't see too many of them here in the land of big pickup trucks, but I do know a guy that owned one... seemed he was having transmission issues but we don't get into internal transmission repairs or rebuilds here, so we never took the job in.
I think he bought it used though, so it's possible it had been wrecked or repaired before, so I can't say one way or the other if they are reliable. What we can reasonably assume is that you'll be ordering most of your repair parts beyond regular filters and pads - especially on that fancy GP model.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl