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Prices for well-preserved 02's has seemed to have increased rather dramatically ...
I bought the 2002 tii new in February 2003 for $5,500 and sold in in September 2002 for $10,500. In May 2016 I got a call from someone in San Diego who had purchased it for $20,000. The engine and transmission were rebuilt and the seats reupholstered sometime between 2002 and 2016.
So, an interesting thing. My first track day in the GP3 is this weekend, so I had to get it track prepped. For the moment, this only means swapping the brake fluid for high-temp brake fluid and the brake lines for Stainless Steel brake lines. I called the parts department of a Mini dealer, and they confirmed that the brake lines on the GP3 are the same as the JCW. So, with that info, I ordered these brake lines from ECS:
However, they don't fit. To be specific, the rear lines were fine, but the front lines did not fit. To be more specific, the brake line connector that goes into the caliper is a different shape and size on the GP3 (see the brake line on the left in the picture). Huge shout out to MINI North Scottsdale!!! They contacted the manufacturer (NM Engineering) and NM overnighted a new brake line with a different connector piece. Huge shout out to NM Engineering, too!! Unfortunately, it still didn't match (see brake line on the right side of the attached pic). The diameter is too big. NME is in the process of building a brake line that will fit correctly, which is awesome.
Anyway, just wanted to put that out there for anyone looking to do the same.
So, an interesting thing. My first track day in the GP3 is this weekend, so I had to get it track prepped. For the moment, this only means swapping the brake fluid for high-temp brake fluid and the brake lines for Stainless Steel brake lines. I called the parts department of a Mini dealer, and they confirmed that the brake lines on the GP3 are the same as the JCW. So, with that info, I ordered these brake lines from ECS:
However, they don't fit. To be specific, the rear lines were fine, but the front lines did not fit. To be more specific, the brake line connector that goes into the caliper is a different shape and size on the GP3 (see the brake line on the left in the picture). Huge shout out to MINI North Scottsdale!!! They contacted the manufacturer (NM Engineering) and NM overnighted a new brake line with a different connector piece. Huge shout out to NM Engineering, too!! Unfortunately, it still didn't match (see brake line on the right side of the attached pic). The diameter is too big. NME is in the process of building a brake line that will fit correctly, which is awesome.
Anyway, just wanted to put that out there for anyone looking to do the same.
What brake pads are you planning on using?
I am not surprised people are confused about what parts fit in this car. MINI used parts from other BMWs and is probably being tight lipped about what they used so the aftermarket folks don’t know. Unfortunately it appears that they haven’t well informed their dealerships either, which is unfortunate for them because they take the heat when things don’t go right. Good your dealer and NM are working with you. to both of them. Hope you get it worked out.
Mini seems to be having an inordinate amount of issues with the GP3 that are too numerous to list and time will tell how effective or ineffective they address them. Fortunately for me there is an independent BMW service center about 40 miles from here that has a number of former Mini of Louisville employees that are knowledgeable about all things mini and they have been extremely helpful with GP3 issues!
This is Robert Wehlandt driving his GP3, the car is without the touring pack, and did a dyno test entry check with 318hp.
Robert Wehlandt did my cars, his company RW will be my choice for the GP engine tune!
Do you know if that RW car is a “tuned” car? I wonder if the engine or any of the suspension parts have been modified. Or is it fully stock? The tire squeal would indicate that the tires are stock and, maybe that the front camber is stock.
It is interesting that RW drove the ‘Ring in “Automatic” mode. I didn’t see him use the paddle shifters. Or did I miss something? Also, there were several places where he was slowed down by other cars. So he could have been faster... This was also a very “smooth” run; no drama in driving the car.
I'm going with OEM for the first couple track days or until they prove themselves unusable. I used OEM on my 2019 MCS and they worked pretty damn good for me.
So did I interpret this correctly: The reason for the big black plastic/carbon fiber wheel arches on the GP3 is so they didn't have to modify the body itself in order to allow for the wider tires. In other words the wheel arches had to be wider than the JCW Clubman/Countryman to be legal. It had nothing to do with aerodynamics, brake cooling, etc.
It could be that he has already tweaked some horses out, however, telling me that 318hp are ex-factory for a non-touring Gp3 ( others show 322 hp ;-). On his tourist trip, you see the BTG time, you can gladly add 20 sec. to this to see that Supertest 8,01 was a good drive, the 7,56 from MINI extraordinary, I still like to see that video, and ask Mr. "O" to show the dashcam prove.
He told me that the auto mode is faster than GP mode, or works out more drivable for him. As he said the standard tire is around 15 sec slower than TD Ventus., abd its seems these tires are S1.
Renault has brought efforts to a peak to get the crone (heavy tweaked Megane on WTC Level) , but I never saw a problem to do that in a much more tasteful way.
As Sportauto quoted the setup is street-focused, the auto is fun, but as long an auto works not like this, it's on the record wipe-list.
https://www.facebook.com/f56.shiva/videos/435857897382093/
Last edited by Clutch Wotan; Oct 2, 2020 at 12:35 AM.
So did I interpret this correctly: The reason for the big black plastic/carbon fiber wheel arches on the GP3 is so they didn't have to modify the body itself in order to allow for the wider tires. In other words the wheel arches had to be wider than the JCW Clubman/Countryman to be legal. It had nothing to do with aerodynamics, brake cooling, etc.
I seem to remember discussion about wheel arches were used to allow a 2” wider track, not just wider tires. I know on my JCW changing the track width by 1” was enough to cause serious rubbing with 225-45x17 tires. Another inch would have been undrivable. And, I am not sure sure they have nothing to do with aerodynamics as the rear wheel archers are slotted from front to rear. A guess, they might have something to with the air flow around the back of the car.
Since this was the first time I was taking the GP3 on track, I stayed in the beginner (one step up from complete newbie) run group so I could build my relationship with the car. This particular track is short, fairly technical, and not very fast. Once I got a feeling for how the GP3 handled and responded to inputs, I started opening her up and I have to say, she’s a blast!! She took the turns almost effortlessly, staying pretty much neutral when I drove her correct. The acceleration was on point…mostly (see below) and fast!
Since I’ve never owned an automatic transmission, I put the GP3 in GP mode, with the gear selector in “Sport” mode for every session. I’m still leery of using manual mode for two reasons:
The gear indicator on the dash is *extremely* small.
Even with DSC completely off, which should give you the most control over shifting, the GP3 still sometimes decides the gear for you. I haven’t quite worked out exactly how those decisions are made yet, so I don’t fully trust it for track purposes where reliability matters.
There was one point in my first session where the transmissions seemed to get stuck in the red zone of rpms and I had to pop it back from “Sport” to “Drive” and then back to “Sport” to resolve it. However, it was only that one time for the whole day so I can’t rule out driver error
Fuel reading issues:
In my previous 2019 MCS, I was used to filling the gas tank up after 3 sessions. So, after my second session in the GP3, I checked my gas gauge and it showed between 1/2 and 3/4 full. So imagine my surprise when about halfway through the 3rd session, the GP3 gave me the alert that I was on fuel reserve?!?!?! So I cut my session short. About an hour later, I started her up to go to the gas station, only for the gas gauge to show just over 1/2 remaining?!?!? When I filled it up it only took 5-ish gallons?!?!? WTF. Anyone have any ideas on how to get this resolved?
Heat related power loss:
Track days in Arizona always have the fun of having to manage heat. On this particular day, the high was about 102. Session 1 was at 8a, and I was able to get pretty damn close to 100mph on the one straight that this track has. Well, when I wasn’t slowed down by traffic, anyway . Session 2, at 10a, was about the same. Session 4, which started at 2:35p, the hottest part of the day was a little different. Up until about lap 3, I was good at the same speed for that straight. From lap 4 on, the GP3 struggled to get to 90mph, if it even got there. I flipped the on-board display to show engine temp, and it was damn near the highest range!!!! So, I took a few cool down laps, not really pushing hard, to see if I could recoup. Nope. For the rest of that session, 90mph on that straight, even with no traffic, was a pipe dream :(
Stupid go pro stuff:
This was also my first time using the GoPro Super Suit’s. They suck for track days because
- The GoPro's Super Suit really muffles the sound. This sucks.
- The Suit also amplifies the heat. This also sucks.
Since the GoPro’s max operating temperature is 105, and it was close to or over 100 from session 2 on, the GoPros kept shutting off after about 10 min (with about 5 minutes of that sitting in the grid area), which means I didn't get video for 70% of my track time because of that second issue. This isn't my best lap by about 2 seconds, but it's the lap that I have the best video and other telemetry for. This also sucks.
The temp gauge on the far right is air intake. The temp gauge on the left is coolant temp.
Anyway, here's the video, at Vimeo instead of Youtube because Youtube keeps butchering the video.
David - the gas gauge on MINIs is on of the worst. They are terribly inaccurate. It calculates distance to reserve based on your current gas mileage. So, on the track, if you are getting only 10 mpg, at a half a tank it will calculate 50 miles to empty and tell you are on reserve. To my knowledge there is nothing you can do about that.
Get a Scangauge II so you can monitor temperatures on the fly. It seem very odd that the GP would be that close on the ability to keep itself cool. My JCW stayed right at normal for my track day with it. While it was hot out, it was not close to that. So that could be the difference. But it is hard to believe that being 10 to 15 warmer than what I was at would send it over the edge. Are you thinking about taking it in to get checked out?
I'm not going to take it in just yet. I have another track day this weekend at a better track. And the outside temps should be cooler, too. Depending on how that goes will decide whether I take it in or not.
David - the gas gauge on MINIs is on of the worst. They are terribly inaccurate. It calculates distance to reserve based on your current gas mileage. So, on the track, if you are getting only 10 mpg, at a half a tank it will calculate 50 miles to empty and tell you are on reserve. To my knowledge there is nothing you can do about that.
Get a Scangauge II so you can monitor temperatures on the fly. It seem very odd that the GP would be that close on the ability to keep itself cool. My JCW stayed right at normal for my track day with it. While it was hot out, it was not close to that. So that could be the difference. But it is hard to believe that being 10 to 15 warmer than what I was at would send it over the edge. Are you thinking about taking it in to get checked out?
I think, the "BMW Performance Analyser " is a hell of a tool for any track driver otherwise, BMW would not offer it. The dongle costs around 150,00 $ and supplies all OBD data you like, further video capture, split times etc. It works with any Iphone
https://www.facebook.com/f56.shiva/videos/1917082351842527/
I think, the "BMW Performance Analyser " is a hell of a tool for any track driver otherwise, BMW would not offer it. The dongle costs around 150,00 $ and supplies all OBD data you like, further video capture, split times etc. It works with any Iphone https://www.facebook.com/f56.shiva/v...7082351842527/
Very interesting, thank you. All the googles tell me it's only for BMW's, but I'll call my local dealer and see if it'll work with the GP3.
So, an interesting thing. My first track day in the GP3 is this weekend, so I had to get it track prepped. For the moment, this only means swapping the brake fluid for high-temp brake fluid and the brake lines for Stainless Steel brake lines. I called the parts department of a Mini dealer, and they confirmed that the brake lines on the GP3 are the same as the JCW. So, with that info, I ordered these brake lines from ECS:
However, they don't fit. To be specific, the rear lines were fine, but the front lines did not fit. To be more specific, the brake line connector that goes into the caliper is a different shape and size on the GP3 (see the brake line on the left in the picture). Huge shout out to MINI North Scottsdale!!! They contacted the manufacturer (NM Engineering) and NM overnighted a new brake line with a different connector piece. Huge shout out to NM Engineering, too!! Unfortunately, it still didn't match (see brake line on the right side of the attached pic). The diameter is too big. NME is in the process of building a brake line that will fit correctly, which is awesome.
Anyway, just wanted to put that out there for anyone looking to do the same.
Sorry about that, i see that also that they are bigger.
Our ECS lines have the smaller OEM flange on them and should work:
Very interesting, thank you. All the googles tell me it's only for BMW's, but I'll call my local dealer and see if it'll work with the GP3.
Your local dealer dont even know it and might tell you after checking "only BMW" . But it works on every MINI ( Take the 1 Series F40 M135i ) at the end it doesn't matter you can also take a Diesel . There is even a HUD connection with gear indicator. Should someone buy he can tell me later, if I was wrong ;-)
The original supplier is "DRIVEDESK"
Last edited by Clutch Wotan; Oct 8, 2020 at 05:53 AM.
Your local dealer dont even know it and might tell you after checking "only BMW" . But it works on every MINI ( Take the 1 Series F40 M135i ) at the end it doesn't matter you can also take a Diesel . There is even a HUD connection with gear indicator. Should someone buy he can tell me later, if I was wrong ;-)
The original supplier is "DRIVEDESK"
When I called my local BMW the response was "dunno". And it's $300 here in the U.S. And it's a non-returnable part. And it's not an "in stock" item. So, 4 things going against it. I don't mind being a guinea pig, but those aren't small obstacles, lol! Plus the fact that we don't have the F40 M135i on this side of the pond...
I'm not at a hard no yet, but more info would definitely help, like:
Can I export the data to a csv file so I can use the telemetry in other programs? Does it accurately show Gears, RPMs, etc? Can I customize the display to only show the current gear in a large enough size that's it's easy to see?
to both of them. Hope you get it worked out.
