Hi,

Last weekend I was lucky enough to participate in a review of the GP vs 2013 JCW vs JCW with KW coilover suspension.

We got to drive the cars back to back, spending most of the time on a fantastic windy country road.

The review reinforced to me what a good complete and well balanced package the GP is. It is hard to pick a fault.

The suspension setup on the GP is so much better. It grips, gives good feedback, is pretty neutral and encourages you to go hard. In comparison I was almost shocked at how the JCW felt in back to back comparison. It was floaty, pushed wide and understeered and skipped across undulations in the road.

The KW car had v1 coilovers with mild lowering and camber plates with -2 degrees of camber. This made a big difference, but still was not as composed as the GP.

The other thing that really impressed me is how much more power the GP has, especially in the midrange. It just picks up from 4000rpm so much easier. Definitely feels more than 5kw more! (I am in Australia where the fJCW has 155kw and the GP has 160kw, I know this is not the case in the USA).

Here is a link to the review. The mini people will probably pick up a few minor innacuracies in the tech details of the review!

http://www.ausmotive.com/2013/08/03/...tml#more-21862

Robbo

 

Thanks, just read the review. I've owned an R56 JCW and a GP2, and agree with your observations. While both are fun cars to drive, the changes that have gone into the GP2 are very noticeable from behind the wheel.

 

Good feedback on the back to back to back driving experiences.

I'm glad (and somewhat surprised) to hear the GP is apparently that good.

I expected the aftermarket coil overs to be king in this comparison.