Like the last generation the MINI GP marked the ultimate iteration of what a MINI could be with an track focused model with exclusive run of 2,000 examples. Following that tradition MINI officially unveiled the MINI GP2 at MINI UNITED 2012 in France so I got to see it first hand on the day the covers came off.

If I am truly honest I wasn’t impressed by the GP2 as it just looked my JCW and with a few extra pieces stuck on yet it lapped the nurburgring at 8 minutes 23 seconds which is a blistering time for front wheel drive car.

The more I learned about the GP2 the more and more sense it made as MINI had been honing it for two years before signing it off for production.

Yes the R53 MINI GP was more of bespoke model with it being hand finished by Bertone in Italy which justifiable makes it more of a limited edition model wordy of the GP moniker but the GP2 is no half baked limited either.

While the original GP was a looker and stripped whining remote-controlled car while on the other hand the GP2 is the fully fledged go-kart waiting to tear up the track.

As I read through the brochure I learned what was different from a normal JCW with entailed an aluminium cylinder block and bearing mounts, reinforced pistons, sturdier cylinder head, low-weight crankshafts and sodium-filled exhaust valves, Bilstein coilovers, semi slick kumho tyres, six pot brembos, stripped out interior, revised electronic driving and traction systems. All these little changes and tweaks add up to something special…

This review was meant be a track battle and owners review with yours truly and GP Garry. Me & Garry were going to square off on the Goodwood Circuit with Go Pros attached as we would take battle one another in touge style race. A touge race is where you have to keep up the car in front and the winner would be one who set the fastest lap and biggest gap. Once this was dispatched with we would swap cars and drive one another’s to give a better perspective on the JCW and GP on track and road basis however forces above and beyond our control we couldn’t meet on the track for the surrey new mini Goodwood track day.

Do not worry this battle will still take place at some point plus I will have some cheeky mods on my JCW by then ; )

This left a huge plot hole in my review! Who would entrust me with GP2 for a few days???

A quick call to MINI Shrewsbury I was offered GP2 for a review with the whole JCW fleet awaiting my arrival which included the Dealer Principles our JCW Paceman all for review.

Having been a passenger in MINI GP2 on track I had been itching to drive one since MINI UK invited me to track event called MINI to the Max where we were given hot laps rides in the GP2 ahead of its release.

I arrived with a huge grin as all the JCW model range was lined up for my driving pleasure : D

I was welcomed into the dealership an signed away all the boring paper work in a flash

I was then handed the keys to MINI GP2 awaiting at the start line just outside the dealership doors

It was a moment of silence marked with a smerk as walked around the exterior looking at finer details and appreciation as not many people will own or drive this car in their life.

I unlocked the door and tucked into the GP Recaros seats with sexy red seatbelts and gripped the thicker leather bonded steering wheel which is instantly better to the touch. I basked in the moment as I touched the leather dash and looked around cabin and saw rear seat delete with the red strut brace in the rear view.

Now that we had been acquitted and fired her up and dropped the windows to hear the exhaust burble on start up and waited a few seconds before slotting into first to roll out of the forecourt. Strangely the clutch felt lighter than JCW which was a little puzzling as from what I read the clutch hadnt been changed from the JCW/Cooper S fitment.

I braked at the give way marker on the main road just before peeling out of the dealership only to find out that me and windscreen would be having our first kiss as lurged forward under the six pot calipers stopping me more than I thought they would.

After I recomposed myself with my dignity intact I peeled to find out that the GP2 was like a normal JCW hmmmm

With the directions stuck in my head for the test route and map in passenger seat just incase I got lost. I felt straight away the Bilstein coilovers working their magic by the smoothing out all the imperfections on the road as I quickly dispatched two roundabouts before heading on to dual carriageways for some fun. One thing that I noticed was the slight increase in road noise because rear delete but it’s nothing unliveable or off-putting about it as you can hear more exhaust noise.

As I cruised along in the GP2 a part of me was hoping it was more special inside with some carbon fibre goodness here and there. For the love of god why didn’t they get rid of the standard gearknob instead of making it red but in defence the leather dash is a thing of beauty to the eye and touch. The biggest thing you notice is not the car itself but the looks you get when you drive it as normal people looking at it thinking – what MINI is this? U can see it on their face! It’s priceless while car people are either stopped in their tracks as you zoom past or drive by with their jaw to the fall as they drive off the road into a hedge which nearly happened to a guy in his MG ZF.

I stopped at lights on the ring road to what felt like a million people staring at me as I waited for the lights to go green. In the corner of my eye I saw some rep in Audi eyeing up the GP2 wheels and brakes while a kid in the back of Honda CRV was looking at the carbon fibre rear wing and decals. The Lights turned green and roared off the line leaving everyone at the lights still pondering on what on earth was that MINI?

As I cruised on the dual carriage way the grip levels were great even though the GP2 wheel were wrapped in the Kumhos tyres but Bridgestone Potenzas because of the winter temps. Yet chamber and damping of the coilovers was on point as overtaking slow-moving traffic was a doodle on the dual carriage while roundabouts were a whole lot of fun because of the laughable entry speeds which you could carry. Braking performance was mind-blowing from 60 mph to any number with minimal braking whilst be reassuring if you over cooked it the six pots were on hand to save your ass.

I arrived at the test route and double clutching down to 2nd as soon as I saw the national speed limit sign, the GP2 roared ahead and clampered down under hard acceleration as I quick shifted into 3rd for before the long corner which I misjudged as I applied the brakes when I shouldn’t have. The GP squatted down and I lost too much speed as I turned in and got back on the throttle as I was left feeling a track instructor in my head saying Why did you slow down? You should have eyed the corner far ahead and carried more speed.

I saw the 2 year development cycle in a fraction of a seconds which was a rushing blow to me as I am limiting factor in making the GP perform. There is no body roll instead its just raw grip which I can only describe as the feeling I had in the MINI challenge race car.

I pushed hard on into the next corner determined to keep my foot down as I turned in sharply to a blind corner and the GP just gripped as I glance down at the speed and thought if I was in my JCW I would have braked here, waited to apply throttle when the corner straightened out. The GP is easily taking corners 10 to 15mph quicker than a standard JCW, what is even worse is lack of a need to brake as front end just grips thanks to the dialed in negative front chamber.

I was beginning to try my luck with the GP as I began playing chicken with the road and speed limit on the corners seeing if could take the next corner quicker without braking which was testing my driver skill and how big I wanted the repair bill to be if I decided to go offroad.

It was still me backing off in amazement in the level of grip on damp B roads in cold British winter with a cloud of doubt in my mind! Am I am good driver? I think I need to more track time? I should take a advance driving course? It was me for once!! I am being out gunned by the MINI which was nowhere near its limit where I was doubting my limits.

It’s just that good at the corners!!! I finally realised what the stance nation and wheel gap haters I have said to me – Coilovers make everything better from driving and looks point of view.

Over the course of the drive I developed a technique of brake dabbing before corners as the GP is like a frantic wasp with high G directional changes all done in quick flick of the wheel. The directional changes it makes are fantastic for high-speed manoeuvres or nipping moves around town so its still got that MINI feeling whatever speed your doing. While the internal upgrades and removal of the noise maker on the N14 engine have allowed the GP2 to boost and rev smoother slight lower down in the rev range which is ever so slightly noticeable but not by much.

Sadly I cant tell if it really makes any more down force but all that aero tweaks do work as I have fitted the GP front and rear under trays on my JCW and I can happily confirm it does make a difference at high speeds whilst reducing temperatures.

A minor grip as I drove in the GP2 were the seats as the side bolstering is not as good as I would have envisioned compared to the JCW bucket Recaros which hold you firmly in place but you can’t really complain as the seats come as standard with alcantara and leather.

I could easily see myself using the GP2 as a daily driver as everything is still practical but the standard stereo system would drive me mad due to the lack of volume and bass. Another thing that puzzles me is why didn’t the GP2 come with the DRLs are standard instead of a retrofit, surely as a halo model for the brand it should have come with them out of the box.

From the beginning of the review I knew I shouldn’t have sat in this car as the modding bug would return after I promised myself I wouldn’t go down this route plus my bank balance wouldn’t kindly agree to another car sitting on my driveway. I left wanting one and even contemplated trading in the JCW for it but decided against it because I made a huge personal mistake by selling my first car and MINI.

But its not all sad news as I have ordered the GP2 suspension…

Honestly you shouldn’t be reading this review as I am little late to the game of reviewing it, so if you are debating buying a used model or just want a track toy there is no better play to start a MINI adventure. The MINI GP2 is everything it sent out to be and set in stone for years to come as a classic giant slaying hot hatch.

Review score:  5/5

The pinnacle of handling and fun by MINI, this limited edition MINI is truly a MINI Challenge race car with number plates. You have always been told never to meet your heroes as they will only disappoint, however the MINI GP2 is one hero you want to meet and own

Huge Thank You to MINI Shrewsbury for their support and allowing me to review the MINI GP2 

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The post MINI GP2 Review: The Ultimate R56 appeared first on JCW Adventures.

Every driver gets that itch every now and then. Its the NEED FOR SPEED. Petrol heads look for the empty road where driver and machine come together just like double clutch down to 2nd just to hear that engine rip.

A driver don’t pick the car, the car picks the driver. It’s a mystical bond between man and machine.

This thirst for speed would be settled on the Castle Come circuit.

Castle Combe Circuit opened just 18 months after Silverstone in the summer of 1950, making it one of the longest established circuits in the UK. Until 1999, the circuit followed its original layout, around the perimeter of the old air base. In that first year, a young Stirling Moss won a race and over the next few years, names like Mike Hawthorn, Colin Chapman, Les Leston, Roy Salvadori and John Surtees thrilled huge crowds.

By the 60’s, several planning constraints had seen the circuit become run down and although the old Brands Hatch company, Motor Circuit Developments tried hard to develop meetings in the early 70’s with Formula 5000 and other major events, planning problems prevented long-term development. However in 1976, the circuit lease was obtained by the current owners and the long road to developing the circuit as a modern national racing venue began. Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, and David Coulthard all won races in the 70’s and 80’s, and by the 90’s, the circuit hosted rounds of most of the national championships.

Today, the circuit boasts modern facilities for competitors and spectators, and the resurfaced and now reshaped circuit providing what is generally recognised as providing the closest circuit racing in British motorsport.

For those who watch the DRIVE TV will notice Chris Harris is regularly hooning about here.

John aka Joda who works at Castle Combe track and Mercedes-Benz world needed some help getting some MINIs to the show so I was more than happy to help.

We follow each other on IG and he regularly post some awesome pics at work with all the tasty motors he drives on track and road.

Everyone had seen the pictures I posted up on my blog last year and the fun I had so a lot more members were willing to pedal to the metal this time. This would which add to the excitement on the day.

I helped organise the event but I was last to arrive at the meet point to a plethora of MINIs awaiting for some HOONING.

We all headed out together in convoy to Castle Combe circuit to what is a mainly classic Mini event as its organised by Mini World.

There was a new upgrade to the Fast Five

Phil had decided to leave THE BEST CLUBMAN Ever behind and step up his game

Mr Kitchen was always the odd ball out of the Fast Five but in a good way given his different tastes and preferences. Mid afternoon I received a text off Phil saying he is buying a new MINI!!! I was like WHATTTTTTTTT

It’s a JCW!!!!

Hatch or Roadster??

Coupe : D

Should I get Harmon Kardon?? Hells Yeah

Phil was interested in my stand point of Roadster as he looked for to my 1st car review – MINI Cooper S Roadster

I was glad he got JCW given the problems he had with tuning with Cooper S

I am sorry but the JCW is better than S in its power delivery and performs effortlessly compared to the S. The JCW has the stopping power to match and that Extra 20bhp makes a huge difference in light car.

Like I said Phil likes being that bit different so he went a NOT NORMAL colour choice this time around – Metallic Kite Blue

(Photo credit to Felt Tip Felon aka Lee with a UNIQUE Clubbie – Feature coming soon)

The banter had already begun as we parked up on our stand as everyone was gunning for GP Garry plus Mr King had bone or two to pick with him with their long-standing grudge after MINI UNITED 2012 Go Karting racing antics. No hair nets getting in the way this time LOL

I had promised Jay that he could ride shotgun with me when I went around the track to show him what the JCW was made of and for him to step up his game to get one.

We all headed to sign on for some track time to get our safety briefing and helmets

On the way back I noticed these three familiar Minis from a BIG film which involved a trip to Italy for some gold bullion

Hang on guys I got an Idea…

There was no messing around this time as we all dawned our helmets and I suction mounted the Go Pro to bonnet

My Co Pilot was ready to

GP Garry was already

The Bandit aka Mr King was right behind him

Christina aka Wifey No. 1 was ready

MINI Toque member Overboost was primed and ready

Here is the complete line for the MINI heading on the track

Time for a quick selfie before I headed out #NoFilter

The Sussex road and race crew we were up front leading the pack

I rolled out expecting the 1st lap to be a sightseeing/warm up lap but the pack up front thought otherwise as I sat behind track keeping to track etiquette of not overtaking on the corners and sat back for the back straight to let the JCW loose.

I tucked in behind Overboost on camp corner before the back straight to slipstream him as knocked it down to 3rd and winded out the revs to redline to 4th.

With 4th gear dispatched I roared past him and eyed the familiar rear lights of Christine’s JCW who slowed down to let me pass as she knew I wouldn’t be messing around.

Now I had some time to make up some for lost ground behind traffic and my warm up lap. So it was time to keep it nice and neat and keep to the racing line as it was more a race with the clock and skill to catch up Garry & Mr King.

I headed around with full concentration and only asking Jay if he was alright when it reined in the JCW on the brembo brakes on the back straight to see if he was ok with the speeds I was going at.

All was well as I went around when I spotted an R53 Cooper S in my rearview trying to pass and with this being an open track day there was no passing on a corner. I found this numpty mounting the kerb trying to overtake me on last corner before the back straight.

He went to overtake then found out the JCW is no match on the back straight leaving him behind. I braked after doing 110mph on first corner and following the racing line to find this time this bonehead next to my door mid corner.

What happened to track day etiquette??? It was made crystal clear in the briefing not to overtake on the corners on multiple occasions

So I back of the accelerator and let them him pass because the last thing I wanted was accident on track with a passenger onboard. I slowed down and short shifted to leave a gap before building the speed up again.

It was back to chasing down the lads upfront.I don’t know what happened to this Red Cooper on track as the owner either lost their sense of redirection or get scared of my arrival of the JCW in their rear view as they drove into the run off section of the track.

Was James May driving???

Having passed the Cooper next up was another MINI Mate Dawn in her JCW called ‘Sapphire’ which is gracing the front cover of Modern MINI Magazine now!!!

She is another owner who loves her JCW  to bits and coming from an R53 Cooper S she has been the MINI family and community alot longer than me.

However she was passed on the back straight with me taking the JCW to 120mph before braking for the 1st corner. But sadly time is cruel mistress as after completing this lap and seeing Phil & Garry in my sights the chequered flag was waved signalling an end to the session for a cool down lap.

I had a little natter with Jay on the cool down lap asking if was scared at any point as he held on to the overhead handle most of the time around. Well at least he knows now that I can DRIVE and that he needs to hurry up and buy a JCW!

I noticed I was alot quicker this time around and given I got more speed on the back straight and what I was taught at Goodwood sank in from the instructor. But there is still room for improvement in technique.

Well if any of my readers want to jump in the JCW for a quick spin I am always more than happy to oblige so don’t be shy

Next up was walk around the club stands to see what tastes were about

All of these are photos below are from my very close friend of mine who I love to bits. Sammieeeeeeee has been awesome friend to me and has taken the BEST photos of my JCW to date. She has that MINIac enthusiasm like I do when some utter the word MINI. But for the love me I don’t know how she wears those shorts all year round???

Here is a link to the facebook page and website for her MINI photography called MINI Madness

So please go over send her some MINI Love

MINI Madness – FB Page

MINI Madness – Website

I will be doing a full post on her very soon…

Enough talking here there are MINIs

I had promised earlier in the day Phil my carbon fibre rear diffuser off my JCW for his coupe so I handed it over. He asked if I would install the carbon fibre door handle overlays which I was more than happy to do. To be honest the fit and finish was fantastic on them given he only spent around £60 for the pair which left me thinking at some point I will have to get some on my JCW at some point.

Phil has been loving his JCW Coupe so far as it gets way better fuel with pops and bangs on demand. I asked him how it felt to make the move over from the S to the JCW. He reaffirmed the JCW just has that more effortless power delivery to it and more eager to get up and go.

I unwittingly have his Coupe a name when I called it the ‘Blue Turtle’ because of its roof, so now the JCW Coupe is called Leonardo after the blue mutant ninja turtle.

All of the fast five all have JCWs now so no hanging around even more now ; )

Eagle eyed readers will be wondering about Mrs King aka wifey no.2 R53 Cooper S? Lets say she made the upgrade to an R56 JCW to (more information to follower later with lots of piccies)

All that was left now to do was watch the professional take the classics Minis around and make it look easy as they were full throttle all the way around.

The angles they were coming into cause trail braking was insane as it did result in a few spin offs which is all part of the fun.

This brought the day to a close with a parade laps to finish off this track action filled day and it being the UK it had to rain. But this didn’t dampen our spirits as the classic & modern MINIs all rolled out together : D

After the track day I was left with a dilemma as I wasn’t happy with the JCW suspension and brake feel. So I had a quiet word with my wallet and we came to agreement to give Lohen at visit for enhancements and coilovers.

Next Blog Post: MINI Factory Tour – The Last R56

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The post Castle Combe Circuit: Track Shenanigans appeared first on JCW Adventures.

It was time again for some Track action with the JCW

The platform for some JCW Madness was with MINI World’s Action Day at Castle Combe Circuit

This circuit has staged many forms of Motorsports since 1950 and has been on TV with both UK Motor shows Top Gear and Fifth Gear.

This event was through Total MINI and Yeoda aka John who is awesome all round guy

I am actually slightly jealous of John’s job given he drives some tasty cars all the time. He is a driving Instructor at Castle Combe & Mercedes World – Its a hard job but someone has to do it lol

The Full Fast Five from Surrey New MINI and my favorite M&Ms from TotalMINI and SNM so it would be there and it would be nice to meet a few new MINI owners as well

JCW given was given a Shiny Shiny wax with Autoglym HD was filled with Shell V-power

It was an interesting trip down to Wiltshire as we went past a few MINIs en-route to the event both classic and New

The closer i got to Castle Combe the more MINIs i saw and most interesting were these two Laser blue MINIs

The JCW was leading the pack of the two with the Lush Cooper S in hot pursuit

Its owner of the JCW was Dawn who has done some nice blacking out of the chrome and had day time running lights fitted

Ah yess little miss Dee Dooo Laa Looo (Dee) and her Laser Blue Cooper S with gloss black accents and flame spoke wheels.

Her co pilot for the day was Cop girl aka Mandy who has driven her share of Morgans and TVRs.

The meet point at Dunns Lane Car park to get everyone together for a convoy to the track as well as everyone to get acquitted with one another

John gave us a quick briefing about the track and that we would have our own stand plus full laps with just on the track

Our MINIs got a little dirty along the way to Castle Combe given we had to drive down narrow country roads.

The Fast Five arrived with Mrs MINI having done some interesting LOUD mods to her Cooper S

Lets say we created a MINI Traffic jam on the way to the circuit

We ushered on by the officials on to our stand where we were at least 20 MINIs strong

This is were Christine and Garry played a little prank on with me saying that i had to pee into a bottle to check for alcohol levels in your blood before you got go racing

Like an idiot i feel for it  : /

I signed up to track my JCW and with Castle Combe i was required to have a helmet to do track time

I hired one out and popped it on turning into instant racing driver

We were given a safety and track briefing by officials before we went on and told not to overtake on corners

Then we took our MINIs for a sound check before we could go track

I believe 108 Decibels was the limit on the day

A sound check is done by leaving the car in neutral and revving the engine to 4,000 Rpms and holding it there

I drove JCW to the starting grid and parked up it

I got some advice off John about the track and got to speak to his lovely wife Emma who is one of my original followers on Instagram and fellow runner

Her advice on running is always spot on and she is alot better than me given she has done a few marathons

With any track i have been on i go slow on the 1st and 2nd Lap to learn the circuit and see where i can carry speed, brake and find the racing line.

Learning the track is KEY to going faster and being safe

With the 1st lap dusted i built up my speed gradually to see where i could push my JCW

Finally i popped on the Camera to film my hot laps with my JCW hitting 100mph on the back straight

The small Chicanes were the best bit of the track given you could weave and hit the rumble strip on the way out of them

Castle combe is flat and easy marked track allowing you to carry alot of speed through each of its corner

Castle Combe circuit is the most enjoyable and accessible track in the UK

We all pulled back in and line up the MINIs again on our stand for me to meet Martin one of the Masters of MINI2.com which is actually the 1st MINI forum i joined when i had my MINI One

It was pleasure speaking to him. He was here at the show to buy some bits for his Classic MINI and wanted to come to say Hi and he is one of my long time loyal follower and support of my Blog

With Martin coming over a small crowd gather over my JCW with people mainly wondering where my front plate was and admiration of subtle mods on my MINI

Its always nice meeting new people and fellow MINI owners and i am always open to question about my JCW and let people take picture and nose around

Everyone always asks me about the Recaros – Are they comfortable?

Best seats in the world with the soft touch alcantara and leather and your more than happy to have a seat in them to have a feel of them

We all went for around to see the other MINIs around the show and temptation is always near for me to buy a Classic Mini with some fine examples on show

If i could have any Classic Mini it would be have to Red Cooper with spot lights

There were some beautiful British racing green Minis on show

I saw this classic Mini with carbon fibre bonnet Hmmmm

I had to take a pic of a classic MINI tribute car to Mr Beans Mini for my one number supporter, promoter, MINIac and MINI Monday founder Andy Singer

He inspired me to take the blog to another level and share my passion to the world like he has and proudly support MINI Monday every Monday without fail

I was hungry for some track time however it was our parade lap time with the classics

We were waved on by the marshals to go on to the track and drove around the track for the parade lap with both Classics and New MINIs

Me being the joker i am i played the self preservation society song whilst we went around the track gaining giggles and waves from other MINI owners

After some lunch and TotalMINI & SNM fired up their MINIs for our solo parade lap with all our New MINIs

Garry’s Green Monster had problems on the day as the ECU was cutting boost and putting it into limp home mode

With the coming to a close i went to go have a look at race cars Sussex road and race brought along

R53 road legal racer

R56 Challenge Race car

With the day coming to a close John had allocated for us to have some laps at the end of day for just us : D

We all lined up our tasties

Dee Dooo Laa Looo (Dee) was having the time of her life given she hasnt been on a track before and she was doing really good to be fair

An Immaculate GP was among us

Once we did our slow lap we were allowed to stay on to go as fast as we wanted but no overtaking the corners

This led to some interesting racing…

Garry’s Green Monster wasnt playing ball with in being in Limp Home mode

We headed to Kevin of Sussex road and race for him to have a look at Garry’s WC50

He plugged in Diagnostic tool into the OBD port to find out why the boost was being cut and to get rid of limp home mode

There were a few possibilities to the problem given the Evolve remap nearly destroyed his engine and was removed

Minicraft had been working hard on creating a custom map which would be safe on a power hike and durability

Kevin jacked up the WC50 to see if there wasn’t any problems with the turbo or pressure leaks

The source of the problem was a loose Lambda sensor

Kevin went into detail about how the Challenge car they own and run in the series is kept close to a JCW with the engine as the car has ample power but needs to put it down better

This is THE REASON why i haven’t remapped mine as i seen and heard horror stories of cars having problems after a remap

I have planned various modifications around Kevin’s advice and i will going down the reducing unsprung weight, traction and suspension route

Garry was a happy chappy again given it was back to being the Green Monster

It was a great day out with me bringing new members to Surrey New MINI and actually meeting my supporters and followers of my blog

With the JCW finishing the Castle Combe track another sticker was added to the rear window

My rear window is like a scrap book of the places i have been

Track Action Videos:

Parade Lap – http://youtu.be/s8y0YXHKees

JCW Track Time – http://youtu.be/dBAqGXi94OY

SNM Racing – http://youtu.be/kyWPJkGp534

Next Post: MINI MONDAY

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Twitter: Mr_M1R

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My Youtube Channel: AMAUTOS7

The post MINI World Action Day appeared first on JCW Adventures.