Why the final manual GP now stands out as a Mini marvel
Matt BirdThe second generation Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP - we’ll go with GP2 from here - didn’t have the easiest start in life. Not only was there a very good standard JCW available for £22,000 back in 2012, but the hot hatch market was stocked much more healthily than now: Renaultsport Meganes and Clios, Vauxhall VXRs, Ford STs in their pomp and so on.
Let’s not be too hasty, however. Now and then, it would be very hard to pass up on, say, a Megane 265 for less money. But those who did take a gamble on the Mini have had the last laugh. It turned out to be the last GP with a manual gearbox, and might now be seen as the ultimate turbo Mini as well given the GP3’s failure to get the people going. Imagine how exciting a £30k manual Mini with coilovers, six-pot calipers, an 1,160kg kerbweight and 150mph potential might be today. Exactly.
Another of the gripes way back when was that the GP boasted a paltry 7hp more than the JCW for the extra seven thousand pounds, or the same 218hp as the previous supercharged model. Numbers weren’t its strongest suit, it's truth; as well as less power than cheaper rivals, its Nurburgring time of 8:23 was 17 seconds faster than the first GP - but still slower than a mad Megane.
There was additional whingeing at launch that a mechanical limited-slip diff had been replaced by a brake biting system. Usually we’d be the first to join that curmudgeonly camp, only here the GP really doesn’t seem to miss the additional hardware. Perhaps tyre tech has come on further than we thought; this doesn’t want for purchase or traction at any point on road.
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