I've had four MINI's since 2005, R53 and R56 S's, and two factory JCW's 2009 and 2011. I'm now first in line for the GP2 at my dealer. I can assure you mine will be driven, lots. Maybe some tracking and autocross, definitely some road trips. Unless they did away with the slots in the roof (doubtful) it will sometimes have my roofrack with bikes on it. Bold new graphics aside, it's got some significant upgrades that will make it the fastest, best handling OEM MINI ever, I'm not seeing the downside to that.
I see few if any mods in its future, I have a much faster car for when I need that. I see it as the logical progression for me.

 

Maybe the quickest around the track but I doubt it will be any quicker off the line than any other OEM Factory JCW.

For me the boring colour and horrid stickers ruin the look of the car. The 6 pot brakes, rear diffuser and Bilstein shocks are the only things worth having and all of these can be added to a normal FJCW.

 

Hmmm, more power/less weight, don't think that will affect speed any?

 

Who said it's going to have more power?

Either way real world driving the difference in a straight line will be minimal, maybe .5 of a sec off the 0-60 time?

 

Well, this is why they have developed a product line with lots of variety and options. You get to pick whatever works for your needs, interest, and budget.

I think the GP2 will be a fantastic MINI. But it is not for everyone, nor should it be.

Any MINI is still infinitely more rewarding than driving an appliance.

 

Here's a few more pics I found.
http://www.autoindustryinsider.com/?p=4546

 

reading about the 'ring time and the improvements, the numbers (seconds) are not really adding up for me. there has been much talk on r53 GP vs r56 GP...but if you look for the 'ring time on a r56 JCW- sport auto says 8:35. the improvements over this car should be tires, suspension, aero, maybe power and maybe weight loss. we know the r56 GP does 8:23, so 12 seconds faster does not seem like enough for the improvements. maybe the 8:35 for the JCW is optimistic?

it just seems like the known improvements of tires, aero and suspension should be worth more than 12 seconds.

don't get me wrong, i really like the r56 GP and i am not saying it is slow or anything like that, just looking for insight.

thoughts? i know this is all conjecture, but it is quite fun.

 

I will say, in its defense, 12 seconds improvement at that level is considerable...even over a 13 mile course....undeniably the greatest, most demanding road course in the World. The degree of difficulty is logarithmic. 8:23 is only one second off an e46 M3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...eife_lap_times

 

I think I could live with this GP - think I actually like the new wheels more than the originals. But I don’t like the orange on the hood scoop. Is that orange or just weird lighting on red?

 

Just the lighting. It is reported to be Chili Red by those who have seen it in person.

 

I think the color is BLAH it needs to be a better color, plus the mirrors make it look like Mickey mouse they need to be smaller. Plus I heard there wasnt going to be any numbers on them?? Crazy!!

 

Am I the only one that has noticed that it is no longer a numbered addition?? I really like my GPs numbered...am I the only one that cares about that??

 

http://www.cafepress.com/savethenumbers

 

It's because of some numbers are less wanted than others, I guess based on superstitions and other stuff like that. It's the same with the Goodwood, it says "1 of 1000" and not it particular number. I believe the WC50 was the last MINI to be produced with a production number.

 

I think I read somewhere that MINI hadn't figured out where to put them yet but by the time they are produced they will be numbered. That's a lot of work on a blog for something that's a hunch at this point. They haven't even published specs, pictures of the interior or an official price yet.

 

yes, I understand it is one particular country that has problems with the numbers....Couldnt they just not put the numbers on those MINIs going to that particular country? There has to be another way around this!! In 06 the US didnt get recaro seats.

 

What country is that so we can ridicule them? And yes, the US style seats SUCK! I wish we had the Recaros.

Oh and it looks like this time they'll be getting Xenons...

 

I love the 1st Gen halogens and think they look great on the GP. However, I think this GP looks great with the Xenons.

It has been said that this GP will be more about aerodynamics and less about weight reduction. Of course there will be some weight reducing actions but not as much as the original GP.

 

I know that a lot of Asian countries tend to steer away from certain numbers. For example in my culture (Chinese), the number 4 sounds like the word death in Chinese. And if you say 14 in Chinese, it sounds like "Must Die".

It's all traditional mumbo jumbo in my opinion. But certain cultures see numbers strongly.

 

Regarding limited weight reduction, it makes sense since the R56 is already lighter than the R53.

Still, lots of speculation here as we have not yet seen the final GP2 or official specs.

 

I didn’t realize that there were 2000 produced world wide. For some reason I thought there were 2000 released in the US. Would anyone know how many go to the U.S. and how many go to the rest of the world?

I do hope they continue to number them - very unique IMO.

I’m also glad that the new GP is a little more “out there” graphically speaking. Nothing against the R53 at all (I would love to own one) but a special edition car should be fairly obvious when you see it. Yeah, those of us ‘in the know’ know that it’s a GP, but the R56 GP will get people talking about it. Faster than a 335i, a second off of an M3 on 13 mile course... this is an impressive car.

I only need to determine which organ to sell...

 

If Mini keeps the release this time similar to the R53 in 06', my guess is US will receive about 400 cars. Specially 415 units were sent here in 06'.

 

And in the honored tradition of the GP, they should start the GP2 numbering at 2001 and go sequentially from there.

 

This. The only "official" info is what was offered up at the unveiling at MINI United a couple of weeks ago. I trust Motoring File's rumors, which are "more power," no back seat, etc." Anything else you've heard is likely just idle chatter, MINI's pretty good about keeping things close to the chest.
I did mention in another thread that my dealer's GM just got back from a dealers' meeting in Puerto Rico and told me the GP2 is supposed to start production in November and I should see mine in January 2013. I believe that timeframe to be logical.

 

If they are coming in January, not October, maybe I should retract my deposit and just order a JCW Coupe. Gah. Decisions. I really don't want to drive a RWD roadster in the snow but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to own a limited edition MINI. With Coupe sales as they seem to be maybe that'll end up a limited edition by accident. LOL.