I just purchased a 2012 JCW two weeks ago, it has every option except heated seats and homelink..I have the kits for both ready to install.

JCW is in immaculate condition. Interior flawless, exterior same. Car detailed and washed frequently. PO was a true car enthusiast.

I have the option to return the car and wash my hands if wanted. I would consider this due to the mileage (car runs great), it is a N14, and there is a ground noise. All of which is fixable / not a deal breaker.

There is also a ground noise, and the clutch makes a chatter at idle, but not when engaging. Clutch feels great though. Dealer is going to let me know what they will cover (non warranty) anytime.

I bought Ford's premier care warranty which after a week of research looks pretty good, they even cover flywheel if (when) needed. Ground noise might be covered with this warranty but def not clutch, nor would I expect it to.

So ideally I would like to purchase 2013 JCW, but none come close to mine in price with the options, in fact most JCW are not fully loaded like this one.

I love the Stereo, and yes I am a car enthusiast also. I have read all of the posts and researched on the net pro's and cons.

OK so enough wind...here is the question.. JCW or GP? I can purchase a GP at a good price (there are a few out there) and by the time I put on nice coil overs, buy a key fob (came with one), do the walnut cleaning, the price for both cars is about the same.

Of course GP would have 44,000 (approx) miles remaining and two years of maintenance included.

I know I can retrofit a stereo (according to the posts), but would not be anytime soon. ($$$$)

I really enjoy sunroof too, but my Type R also did not have one and I survived.

Car will be driven 60-80 miles a day (drop daughter at school), three days a week. And some on the weekends. We have a lot of nice mountain roads around but finding time to hit them..well not as much time as I would like, especially since there are three of us (wife and 13 year old).

I will not have an opportunity to drive the GP2, I will need to fly out to buy one and no turning back at that point.

Thoughts, comments, concerns, ideas,

Thanks!

 

If you're talking about the same money for both, it would be a no brainer for me. GP2.

 

What about the lack of rear seats in the gp?
You say you have a family of 3....

 

The enthusiast in me says buy the GP, but the responsible adult says if you have just purchased your JCW and it has all the options you want or the solutions to fix the options missing are already purchased why trade?

Why not drive the JCW for a few years and if you are still in love with the mini then trade up to a GP? They are rare but not too hard to find. I could trade my S for a JCW or a GP but it wouldn't be financially smart to do it, which is why I bought my S instead of the JCW that was next to it.

 

don't discount the missing features of the GP:

stereo sounds better turned off (I'm up to about $3000 and a hundred hours of diagnosis, research, tuning, wiring..) in mine, since I opted for the IA kit that was supposed to be a drop in...)

no rear wiper (..and no rear window washer) (depends on how wet/dusty your local is if that matters to you - but hatchbacks really do need them)

no cruise or steering wheel controls (relatively easy retrofit, but requires computer work...more time and money, or finding someone to do it)

and of course the back seat. with a family of 3, that means you never have the option of taking the GP if the 3 are going. (can be retrofit, but requires full side panels, seats, seat belts, and some welding....and there's the small matter of stereo for the rear passengers...there's no factory wiring)


that said, I'm still glad I got the GP...if I'd gotten the '13 JCW (10k less miles, but $6k more in price) - I wouldn't have autoac (important for me), and I'd have ended up putting coilovers on it....and -still- have dropped a few grand in the stereo, because the HK still sucked, though maybe I could have waited a while.

 

So we do have a family car, but it is a good point the three of us cannot go anywhere in the GP. I need to think about how often the three of us go somewhere in my car, definitely saves Gas!

Purchasing later is an option sure, but then warranty is less and that is one of the reasons I am considering the GP also. Maybe the Ford warranty is solid and I just stay since I do have the car already...assuming the ground noise can be fixed!

I don't want to spend a ton of money to retrofit the back seat, and certainly not $3K for stereo, it is not that important as the entire reason for having is driving.

I think the JCW with a good set of coil overs and other bits should handle pretty darn good. I am not planning to track, but then I think...wow for the same price I can get the GP2.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

One thought.....
By the time you undelete options from the HP, it is no longer a GP...
THE IDEA of a gp is a stripped, no frills track car that you can drive every day...
Options were limited to largely limit weight, but keep the car usable as a daily driver...
If a GP is not comfy enough looking from afar, there us a reason (no good stereo,cruise, , etc)...I bet the test drive might also bring up the fact that the stock suspension is short lived, the stock tires were barely street legal (were good for under 10,000 miles or so miles depending on which ones you got)....
Driving a gp is as much about the sacrifices taken to drive a competive track car as it is the upper edge of "factory" performance....
The JCW is the comfy high performance daily driver with rear seats, the gp was the cut priced track car....sounds like you want or need the JCW, you lust for the gp, but it might be a short love affair due to the limitations of the car....lest you make the car into something it is not....
I would suggest it is more $$ to lift the JCW up performance wise, than dumb down a track breed stallion....

 

P.S.
WHILE rear seats have been added to a gp2, it will always be a 2 seater if you ask your insurance company....a nightmare awaits if the seats are occupied in an accident....covered in the back? Logic might say yes, but car is BUILT AND VIN# as a 2 seat car....

 

Hmmm... Another question of WANT and NEED... what is it you want and what is it you need.

For example: I want is a WC50, what I need is a new garage to store the five cars and 2 motorcycles I already have.

Point is, Life is to short to be miserable...

Sometimes TWO can be better than one...

Motor on!

 

I think the OP should take a read through this article: http://www.ausmotive.com/2013/08/03/...v-mini-gp.html

Stick with the JCW if creature comforts are your thing.

 

Want VS Need... Nice approach.

Probably it makes most sense to stick with the JCW, but then when have I ever been sensible?

Thanks for the link, I had read this already. I have done extensive research on the GP
The only negative review I saw is the video with the brit dude's test drive

It is easy for me to sacrifice the "things" that make the GP2, but most likely I would not realize the benefits since I can hardly get away by myself to drive these days

And who am I kidding, the JCW is a sweet ride. I can't even find any 2013 close to what my config is, I wish I could

 

Right. Because a stripped track car that weight less than 50lbs less than a JCW, and who's brakes overheat if used on the track much worse than a JCW, is really a no frills track car...

Now, if it were actually stripped (the rear seat delete in the GP weights pretty much the same as the seats do...), and roll caged, sure. but it isn't.

And I'm sure that the few ounce difference in weight between the non-MFSW steering wheel covers vs the ones with switches is well offset by the extra layer of padding on the GP steering wheel... I suppose I should weigh my JCWSW+MFSw+SZL wheel combo vs the stock GP2SW+SZL next time I feel the need to pull it apart..



cut priced!??!

lol. I see - which GP# is yours?

 

And, btw, bullsh!t (in the US). Cars have been modified from factory design by (or for) owners since the first hand built creation was delivered to the first customer.

Adding seats, removing seats, deleting "safety" equipment, is all fully legal, and you insurance company isn't going to deny your claim because of it. They may not chose to cover the -cost- of said modifications, though.

 

and just in case we want to argue those numbers:

the '13 JCW listed an unladen weight at 2679 lbs (2723 w/ auto) - data still available on here: http://www.miniusa.com/content/miniu...s-hardtop.html

vs the '13 GP, from the GP owners supplement at 2612 lbs curb weight http://www.miniusa.com/content/dam/m...plementary.pdf


and to compare apples to apples, the owners manual numbers for the '13 Justa, S, and JCW:
http://www.miniusa.com/content/dam/m..._all_trims.pdf

JCW manual: 2679lbs
S manual: 2668lbs
Justa manual: 2535


So, really, the GP just cost $10k ($40k is far from cheap) more for a feature stripped JCW with coilovers, big brakes, a tweaked torque curve, and tweaked aero. And <50lbs less weight.

 

The "feature stripped" GP also includes Xenons, Recaro's, leather dash, GP steering wheel, carbon fiber rear wing, Mobility Kit, and a number of other model-specific bits on the interior and exterior.

Agree that it's not a practical car for everyone. I enjoy driving my GP2 daily. We are a family of 3 and it hasn't been an issue at all.

 

And remember "stripped" refers both to weight savings and cost savings to get the price down....some folks get frazzled about..."x item only saved 35 grams".....but remember, the gp was sold at a fairly low price.....
This was covered many times in many articles....
It is not a car for everyone, but if it matches your needs and wants, go for it!!
And my main concern with converting one into a 4 seater is not MY INSURANCE company....but the other guys....cars was vin"# as a 2 seater....any good agent will look stuff like that up....and dispute any payments and fight it a go is converted into a 4 seater and injuries occur....just too many risks to be viable option (4 seat conversion).

 

help me understand how $10k (ok, maybe $9k) more than the same spec JCW (base) is a "fairly low price" ? Even adding a high price of $3k for coilovers and $3k for recaros to that base spec.

If this really were a "stripped down track car" it wouldn't have a leather wrapped dash - for starters. And it probably wouldn't have GP-only rear interior panels, it would have 4 seater panels without the seats attached.

Having actually disassembled the interior of a GP2 myself, I can verify there's no reduction in sound deadening or insulation - the carpet still has a thick layer of foam under it, the molded on panel deadeners are there, the insulation is there behind the side panels and door panels....

It's a track-styled street car, with a few premium options (and a bunch of removed options). It's not stiff, it's not loud (please back and forth a stock pre-facelift R53 S with or without runflats vs a GP2, or a R53 GP vs R56 GP2 or another $40k street machine (evo, anyway. the sti is -soft-) then get back to me). It's actually much tamer on the road even than my '06 R53 (wearing the same shoes).

It's major gains are having a well tuned spring to damper package (..something all the rest of the R56 line seemed to have missed out on having engineered..), and a much more streetable power curve (ie, torque early instead of peaky horsepower).

Oh, and alignment. an extra 1.5 degrees of negative camber and zero to a hair of out on toe make it come alive. I need to reassemble my alignment rack to see if #0425 actually matches the factory spec or not. (certainly none of the 3 other new and low mile mini's I've owned did...)

 

Great discussion points for sure!

Interesting on the weight difference, it is not that much! Me think with good coil over package and current sport suspension (as I understand larger sway's) or with sway upgrade my car will be "GP" friendly and offer many smiles per mile. Sure from the purists perspective it is not truly a GP.

I actually like the look of the GP and the fact it truly stands out from the crowd from visual perspective and uniqueness.

The dealer is still working with me and my car situation, at least the customer service rep is, still a long way to go. I bought the car used and then took it back immediately for some noises that started a few days after, that is what prompted this thread.

For me personally..no back seat - Fine (preferred), Stereo - okay I can live.
I can still go either way on this deal, depending on what the dealer (Ford) does.

Noises turned out to be: Water pump replacing, AMP needs replacing, and throw-out bearing needs to be replaced.

I let Ford know Mini (AFAIK) would no hassle replace the water pump and Amp while under the 50K warranty. Throw-out bearing...well that is another matter and most likely not.

 

Dealer will replace throwout bearing, I will provide disc and plate for install when they rip it apart. If Flywheel is bad warranty will cover.

Amp noise - I have to take the dealer General manager for a spin - supposedly he cannot hear it.

Water pump - Mini said replace, dealer said not required. - I guess I will wait and see

I will stick with the JCW, get a kick butt suspension package and do a few other minor things and I will be all set.

Thanks to all for the feedback. ..Keeping an open eye on the GP