The MINI John Cooper Works GP was one of the most disappointing road cars I’ve driven in years. I remember the months leading up to it, I was so excited. The look of it, its specs, and the promise of its ‘GP’ pedigree all made it an incredibly exciting car. However, once I got it on the road, I found its performance to be underwhelming, its torque steer to be atrocious, and its ride to be brutal without the payoff of flat handling. However, I did recognize that it might be better on track, as that’s what it seemed to be set up for. So in this new video from Misha Charoudin, we get to see the MINI JCW GP on the toughest track of them all—the Nürburgring.
For GP-duty, the hottest MINI gets the same 306 horsepower, 332 lb-ft four-cylinder engine as the BMW M135i. It’s also paired to the same eight-speed automatic transmission, which ends power to just the front wheels. Not exactly the perfect recipe for driving thrills. It also has shockingly stiff suspension, better brakes, more aggressive aero, and slightly less weight. Though, don’t let the rear strut bar in the backseat fool you; it’s purely cosmetic.
So what’s it like on the ‘Ring, the most difficult track of all? Well, it’d probably be better with the same tires at both axles. However, for some reason, the owner has different tires on the front axle that he does on the back. Which probably doesn’t help its handling.
However, it does seem at home on the track, where its overly stiff suspension can actually be useful and drivers can manage its oversteer/understeer better. It might not be the fastest hot-hatch in the world but the MINI JCW GP does seem like fun when you can really push it.
