I wrote a year ago we have found a used engine B48E. Maybe the USA Mini team was also successful.

 

I think Neuspeed has a new wheel that might be good for the GP:
https://www.neuspeedrswheels.com/col...g-rse11r-88112



Not sure about the offset for the GP, but it would be good for the JCW.

 

Offset and weight of those wheels are both worse than the OE GP3wheels, which are also 18x8”

 

Ugh! Sorry about that... It looks like the GP offset is 30mm...39mm (corrected; see following post) I missed that on my first search. But I thought that, at 20 lbs, these would be about the same if not lighter. But, no...

 

Offset on GP3 wheels is et39, and weigh 19.5 lbs. they are fully forged wheels as well. They also go for $389 from the dealership. At least for GP owners, the GP wheel is, IMO, a much better solution.

this wheel is, as you said above, ta solution for the JCW, not the GP. Wait a month or so, Jerry is supposed to be releasing an 18x8.5 for the GP, and maybe, even a 17”.

 

Thanks for posting the info. You are right about the GP wheel. Seems like MINI did their home work, at least for making a decent production wheel. I wish I could say the same for what they put on the JCW (heavy and narrow, with crap tires). I was originally looking for the JCW, saw these and thought about the possibility of these being an alternative for a GP track wheel.

It will be interesting to see what NM does come up with for the GP.

 

Unfortunately, the OEM GP3 wheels aren't good for the track. The coating/paint/whatever cracks under the heat. I have all four of mine in at the dealer for hopefully warranty repair. I'm *really* hoping NM comes up with something awesome as a replacement, especially if they can get a 17x8.5 The TSW's I currently have aren't my favorite...

 

the paint doesn’t effect the safety of the wheels, buy a second set for track wheels and enjoy!

 

I wonder if the cracking is related to the wheel flex. Although, I have track wheels that have a coating that seems to be similar to what is done on the MINI wheels and they haven’t done that. Curious... Let us know how you make out with warranty.

 

Mark Pombo qualified the new GP based (?) MINI in third for the 1st GT America race at VIR yesterday... Interesting that they had the car in full GP colors. In the race, though, he lost ground through the whole race. While the car was clearly fast during qualifying, it seemed underpowered in the race. Then he had a horrific crash during a restart in the last 10 minutes that had him/car doing cartwheels off course. From what I understand he is ok. The car, I would think - not so much.

 

I was watching that race. Holy crap that was so scary! From what I heard, he has a broken shoulder, but mostly ok. Thank $deity for all the safety equipment in the cars.

 

Yes! The safety equipment has really come a long ways over the last 60 years. And glad to hear that his injuries are no worse than that. I saw the race video yesterday evening that was posted on YouTube and though that can’t be good (that is the PG version of what I thought). Not sure what they showed in the live broadcast, but this looked to be uncut. They were showing the restart from T1, looking down the front straight and you could see the 2 cars in the background...

It was interesting that this was not his first bad crash. When I was searching for info on this crash, I found 2 others that he was in, in years past.

 

MotorWeek review....

 

So it looks like the GP3 has a different exhaust, different tires/suspension than my car, and no All4 of course. Same engine, seats, tranny, and brakes basically. And the same sticker price.

 

The cooling needs a boost otherwise identical to the dudes car only no 4wd.

 

The GP3 is what it is, and for me it is wonderful fun to drive speedster. It is not perfect, but what automobile is? It is fast and handles respectably in most conditions. It will bite you if you don't stay on top of it, but that is part of the fun. The only real modification that I have added is the JCW PRO exhaust and it was definitely worth the money and the effort. We spent two weeks driving it on some great backroads, most notably the Devil's Triangle and the Tail of the Dragon. It did not let us down and we had a great trip. It is not for everyone, but for enthusiasts it is a blast. I would purchase it again.

 

KYDan - What did the JCW pro exhaust do for you and the car? I have looked at it and wondered if it would be worth it.

 

The most notable effect is the incredibly beautiful exhaust note. It is a deep, rich, sounding note that is noticeably louder and resonant. I have the same exhaust on the F56 JCW and it great on that as well, but not nearly as deep and resonant although it does have better pops and bangs. I have not put it on a dynomometer to verify the increase in torque and horsepower, but there is a noticeable difference in the butt dyno. When I put the JCW on the dyno it was an 8 horsepower increase. I did manage to achieve a 12 minute run on the Tail of the Dragon with it and I was never able to that in the JCW. For me it was worth the expense.

 

Question: Do you think the GP3 would handle better on the track for most amateur drivers if it had All4? I realize there would be a few hundred pounds of added weight with it.

 

Funny you should ask:

 

Even that video doesn’t fully answer the question as the test was done on the same car so the weight difference isn’t factored in. The tester says in the comments that he plans to do a test of 2 cars one AWD and one RWD. The results should be interesting.

The conclusion in the video was that AWD was a tick faster and easier to drive, but the tester’s preference was the RWD. There was a curtain frustration with the AWD that didn’t exist with the RWD.

My guess is that in this future test the RWD will come out on top and the frustration with the AWD will be more evident.

I know this isn’t a FWD drive comparison and there are differences, such as the understeer everyone whines about will be diminished. However, I also suspect it will still be there, as it is in most AWD cars... (think WRX). It will also be harder to throttle steer the car. So, as an amateur progresses upward in capability these limitations, plus the ponderous weight difference will quickly overshadow the gains of AWD... The FWD is the better platform for anyone.

IMHO...

Well, sometimes not so humble...

 

Under theoretical aspects the Porsche Hybrid under 6 Minutes 4WD ist the holy trinity. The genius turbo driven generator F1 gives constant power to the E-engine.

To give you a alternative "Baumarkt" idea 3 scuba look alike carbon bottles each takes 2 kg H2 and fire 2 fuel cells with a output of 100kw. The 6 Kilos give you 100 Kw for a range of 600 km

 

I watched that video. But that car is RWD which is probably a little faster on a track than FWD. And the All4 still was a little faster. The GP3 is FWD and the reviewer on MF said it understeered like a badboy, but he like it just fine. I'm guessing the average driver like us would do better with All4, better traction makes sense. Probably depends on how tight the turns are on the track too.

 

Another video:

 

Alternative rear ! Our special "Steve Yellow Memorial"