This is the new mini John Cooper Works GP and it has.>>302 brake horsepower.
[SOUND] A Mechanical Limited Slip deck.
[SOUND] Lightweight, forged alloy wheels.
[SOUND] Increased track.
An Increased combat, no rear seats and automatic gearbox.
What?
Yes, you heard that correctly.
The fastest supposedly most hardcore mini you can buy has an automatic gearbox Not a joke like an actual slash box auto.
[SOUND] It's one of the few perplexing things about this car.
But we'll come back to this in a bit because initially I want to deal with the GPS appearance because well, I really rather like it.
I'm not completely sold on those arch that's but I think it's cool that they're made from the carbon fiber off cuts of BMW three.
is a nice And the sheer exuberance of that massive rear wing and the overall stance of the GP mean it's hard not to smile at because amongst normal traffic this little hatchback has as much presence as a supercar.
It says head turning, you're seeing Derek Zoolander on the high street.
And that's despite his predominantly grey paint.
Which was also a feature of both previous GPS.
The first generation supercharged our 53 s works GP hit the roads back in 2006 with 215 brake horsepower and 184 pounds of torque, while weighing just 1090 kilos.
The turbo charge are 56 JCW GP followed in 2013 also put out 215 brake horsepower.
Coke however, was up to 206 pounds foot but so was the weight at 1160 kilos.
The first generation was only so so to drive to be honest, but the second generation was brilliant.
This latest F56GP is the heaviest yet, but 1255 kilos, but it also has a whole will run from it be 48 engine So, let's learn to drive
First impressions when you get in [INAUDIBLE] Black of free battles.
A good basically you sit nice and low this wheel is nicely adjustable for reach and rake, seats are pretty good could perhaps do with a little more support but by and large not bad You can tell that there are no rear seats that sense of being stripped out is there from the get go.
The basic mini architecture with the relatively shallow windscreen beefy pillars also lends itself naturally to a sort of touring car vibe.
The short wheelbase busy demeanor of a mini also fits well with the anatomy floss.
It's something 10 millimeters lower than a standard JC available.
Wasted time even at low speeds, it's acceptable.
It's not plush, but it just runs off the edges and bumps nicely.
The only problem is over bigger bumps or potholes, when suddenly just runs out of travel and you get really rather big, Through the suspension, then, not so good.
This really is quick as well.
Note 62 miles an hour a claimed 5.2 seconds which I suspect maybe is set on the optional semi slick tyres.
But nevertheless, this is a very fast tail hatch.
5.2 for a Whenever it is impressive, do you find yourself on an autobahn or track this will also do 164 miles an hour flat out might seem a little over the top taking the backseat out but cars without back seats, back seats removed I should say.
Rather a good history of being Get to drive and things like obviously, all the various McGann's suddenly all 26 are just fantastic and then also the Gulf The Clubsport S now is a brilliant car as well.
GT3s to not quite the same.
Now when we're talking about the backseat, I think we ought to talk about the stroke race, because, well, it's not quite what it seems.
In fact, a few things are a bit puzzling.
Starting With the no scoop, which is fake on all current generation minis, there is actually extra cooling in this car but not through there.
Then as we wandered on the side, we have these arch extensions here which look as though they should be aerodynamic, but how Aero authentic Can it really be?
Given that there's this massive great cutout here for the fuel filler cap, talking of Aero, look at this rear wing, massive clearly very well designed but perhaps not designed with aerodynamics specifically in mind because well it had to add this little rubber Gurney flap along the top here.
Then, there's the strike price, except it's not really doing any bracing.
For at the minute it's just stopped luggage falling into the front area of the cockpit.
There is actually extra stiffening around the rear of the car but it's not to do with that.
Anyway, back to the driver.
So the ride itself is good.
a straight line speed is impressive.
The trouble is, well when you get to corners, things start to fall apart.
The steering feels quite Heavy when you first get in but then lightens up and doesn't really give you a lot of confidence when you get to the corners because, well, it just struggles to let you know what's going on and then you try and put some power through those from where.
Fails on the mechanical death.
hoax off the front, just Han Solo over the road.
I mean, the body cam might be as spectacular as a Lamborghini event door but you need to treat this as though it's as wide as a Lamborghini Aventador as well because at any moment you can just be all left or right over the road on a whim, almost.
And this for the UK is actually quite a smooth road.
But even here, little bumps mild cameras or seemingly invisible imperfections in the tarmac are all kryptonite to this hot hatch.
If you're trying to accelerate, talk, steer and trampolining or your constant companions and afraid as far as cars and you can come into the same corner Twice and it will do totally different things.
In fact, you probably go into the same folder 10 times and it will do different things because a combination of the firm suspension, the added camber, and then, [SOUND] [LAUGH] Trying to put all that talk through the front wheels, nearly 100 pounds for more talk 332 pounds in total, but 100 pounds for more than a standard JCW is quite the liveware.
And that's been kind of staring because it seemed to unweight and go fairly light in the corners he was searching initially for a way of firming it up taking some of the assistance I'm maybe not There are no modes and this is the GPS way or the highway.
Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of grip, but it takes a bit of a leap of faith and a smooth road to really access it.
I'd certainly be intrigued to drive it on track.
And what about that eight speed automatic gearbox?
Well, sadly it's really frustrating in reality is it is a concept You crave control and responsiveness in a car like this, and even using the eye catching 3D printed pedals.
This box can't quite keep pace with a rabid terrier nature of the rest of the car.
Just a bit soft, particularly on the downshifts just not quite as incisive as you want.
Having said that.
I can sorta see why they might not have even wanted to fetch the manual gearbox this because, frankly, you're so busy over the bumps and cameras that taking a hand off the wheel.
Whilst it's trying to do that isn't really a very good idea.
What then to conclude about a mini JC w GP?
Well, it's around 35,000 pounds.
It is expensive for many, but it's not actually that expensive in the realms of crazy limited edition hot hatches.
And this is a limited edition with only 3000 being produced worldwide, and just 575 due to come to the UK.
This is car number 85 if you hadn't guessed Unlike the way it looks, and there's no denying its potency, but as you can probably tell, the latest mini JC w GP is to put it politely, a wild ride.
Although this car is wearing hand ties, it was the old Pirelli advert that kept coming to mind.
Power is nothing without control.
It just feels wrong resolved, thrown a lot of potentially good parts at it But then not really developed it certainly for the average British road.
It works slightly better on a track but even so, not sure being as good as its predecessor is strange to find a car in this day and age.
That's so unruly to drive.
There are lots of good cars.
Kinda just being moved a bit.
This certainly is not, not good.
But there's a challenge and interest in trying to tame it.
[LAUGH]
Whether it's the lips or the driving experience, you can't accuse this car of being dumb.
And there's certainly something to be said for that.
[MUSIC]
