A big wing and no rear seats: The 2021 Mini John Cooper Works GP

For some people, John Cooper is best known for the racing cars that bear his name, which showed F1 and Indianapolis that the engine should be behind the driver. He taught this lesson in 1960 and, 61 years later, remains as true as ever. But many will associate his name with small front-wheel-drive minis, which he adjusted in addition to building successful single-seaters.

The Mini Cooper was an economical jewelery performance car, a good 16 years before VW conceived the Golf GTI, loved by rally drivers and celluloid bank robbers. Currently, there is a whole John Cooper Works line on the Mini, with hot versions of the various vehicles that now make up the Mini line. And this is the hottest of them all, the $ 44,900 2021 Mini John Cooper Works GP.

Limited to just 3,000 cars, the JCW GP is the most radical Mini you can buy that is not a Dakar off-road driver. Its track has been widened, pushing the wheels apart – hence the carbon fiber reinforced plastic wing arch extensions with openings where you can lose a finger.

Aerodynamics has obviously been a design concern – see the bigger front spoiler and that massive double-element case at the rear. And at the front there are extra shells and ducts to get more cool and cool air for the big front brakes and a 2.0L turbocharged engine that is much more powerful than any other in the Mini line, with 301hp (225kW) and 331lb-ft ( 450Nm) on duty for the right foot.

All of this is sent to the front wheels and only through an eight-speed automatic gearbox – there is no option for a manual transmission here. You do get a mechanical limited slip differential, however – more on that later.

Since we are discussing things that Mini left out of the JPW GP, do not make plans that involve more than one passenger. Instead of a rear seat, there is a shiny red chassis strap, making this car strictly two-seater. Getting rid of rear seats to save weight is a tried and tested technique on track-focused sports cars like the Porsche 911 GT3 or the current Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, as well as those crazy mid-engine hatchbacks that Renault launches every now and then how long.

The Mini diet has been so successful that the JCW GP weighs only 2,855 pounds (1,295 kg), which is considered a featherweight in our era dominated by the NCAP Safety rating. Obviously, being wider and lighter means a single suspension configuration, and the JCW GP is smaller than a normal, more rigid Mini – much, much more rigid. Some high-performance car brands, like Lotus, make their cars work, making them flexible so they can flow down the road. The Mini opted for the opposite approach, with stiffer bushings and even some rubber-free joints here and there.

The result is certainly intriguing. It is still a Mini, so it fits in tiny spaces, it is easy to park and, without rear seats, it is very easy to transport cargo. It’s even relatively economical for such a crazy car, achieving 30 mpg (7.8l / 100km) on the highway and 24 mpg (9.8l / 100km) in the city, even if you are pushing. But the driving experience shares a lot with that of a supercar – really. For being so rigid and low, holes and holes are your enemies. But since it is also very light, instead of hitting rock bottom by hitting a bump, you may find that it bounces. Either way, your spine will be a little disturbed.

There are vast reserves of front grip, courtesy of some Hankook summer tires that were still doing their job admirably at an ambient temperature of 52 ° F (11 ° C). In fact, the grip between the sticky rubber and the limited slip differential was such that I never got close to the car’s traction limit on the road. I’m not sure if I saw the DSC engage once, and you would have to be going too fast to tease it to the point of ending up in a ditch. The brakes were more than adequate to slow everything down.

It seems faster than a 0-62mph (0-100km / h) time of 5.2 seconds suggests, although, to get the most out of the engine, you want the S transmission or just control it yourself with the metal 3D printed paddleshifters. Be warned, however; there is a good amount of torque in the steering gear at lower gears, as 300hp is still a lot to ask the front wheels, even with 21st century traction control and tire technology.

But no matter how fast you can corner, it just doesn’t get emotional enough. This may be due to the sense of direction, or lack of it – you turn and the car moves, there is grip, but the steering doesn’t really communicate much.

I can’t help wondering if a three-pedal option may have increased the driver’s engagement factor. That, or a session on the track. Predictably, Mini adjusted the JCW GP at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany, and the limits of a race track offer the freedom and security to explore a car’s performance envelope in a way that would be irresponsible on the road. I suspect that I might be writing a more brilliant report if the JCW GP and I had had a little time; cars like this sometimes come to life in nine or ten tenths.

But I didn’t, and just driving on the street, this seems like an exaggeration.

List image by Jonathan Gitlin