Seen the first article today on the GP by a journolist.... in the 'highly respect' News of the World car section...
Usual blah about weight/power/mods.... nothing new - general 'pr' sort of stuff...
then general comments:
"Cabin is showing its age, done theyre best to spice it up with recaros"
"Turn the key and the noise from the engine is from a bygone age too"
"Press the accelerator and the scream from the engine fills the cockpit...At first its great but after a few miles becomes a right wind-up"
"But the noise isn't as irritating as the ride - This is rock hard so even tiny imperfections in the road surface shudder through the cabin"
"....sacrifices you have to make for the Minis handeling... combined with super precise steering it makes you want to pitch into every corner and take advantage of the great grip"
Verdict:
"Noisy and impractical, this Mini only makes sense if you love driving, It oozes charachter and is brilliant on B roads.... But the hard ride and stripped out cabin make it too full on for everyday use..."
He was (not surprisingly) on the same event as me. Don't remember talking to him much if at all though.
MSN Cars - Autocar - Auto Express - News of the World - 4Car - 5th Gear - The Independent and Arena are the publications that should have been represented at the launch.
So can a Mini with two seats really be worth £22,000? The 'Mini Cooper S featuring the John Cooper Works GP Kit' isn’t the raw performance car, the Mini version of a 911GT3, that some had hoped for. Instead it is a more comfortable, more useable compromise but a car that feels rather special for all that. The fact that the whole UK allocation of less than 500 quickly sold out perhaps says it all. If you haven’t got your order in already, too bad. If your name is already on the list, chances are you’ll be dead chuffed. "
yes, much better review. From the words written, both reporters seem to have claimed driving the car on the public road - was this part of the test day...? Or are they being a bit 'creative' with their reports...?
You could go out on the roads, but the track was in the middle of nowhere and the roads were mostly very straight, narrow, straight roads. Nothing like UK roads, and not much room or twistiness for enjoyment.
Most of the time I was sharing the track with at most two other cars, for a lot of the time I was alone, which I felt meant I could better simulate regular driving (I pootled as well as sped) on the track as on the roads around the track!
No aircon, I did say elsewhere they had no aircon, but did have leather heated seats.
The JCW S I grabbed some time in had all the JCW goodies on it (pretty much everything JCW including spoiler, brakes, suspension etc) but also had auto aircon (switchd off).
great. exactly what i was hoping to get from the GP: a car you have to drive that doesnt drive you. perfect! I love driving and hate cars that control the experiance to a degree that you fall asleep..
You have reached ScottyB, I'm not here at the moment, but please leave a message, I'll try to get back to you in a timely fashion... yeah I know it sounds a stretch - but trust me!
Couple of minor things really in there (but they seemed to like it overall).
"while the rear seats have been ditched and a strut-brace is fitted in their place." Not a strut brace to replace the rear seats, it's for occupant protection against flying luggage.
"after the bodies and mechanicals are constructed in Oxford, the GPs are taken to Italy, where they're finished by Italian design house Bertone - the two rather than three coat paintwork and other trimming, see, requires more bespoke finishing than the standard car's. Suddenly, the price tag starts to make a bit more sense." Don't agree there, the car costs less than it's sum of individual upgrades already, so shipping to Italy etc. makes LESS sense in that sense.
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