Lol just saw them do track times with both vehicles, jcw gp got a 1:28:2 and range rover supersport got 1:29:4... man a heavy overpriced range rover doing track times almost as fast as a jcw gp...what is this world coming to!

 

yeah. close, but not close enough. lames.

 

You also need to bare In mind the range rover is putting out over 500 HP and over 460lb-ft of torque...... And it's being driven by a professional driver.

The mini is a great car in the bends, but it can't compete with those numbers on the straights....

 

The top gear test track has some places where the Range can really use that power...

 

I wonder if they had the option track day tires on the GP?

 

The JCW ain't the hot hatch it used to be, with many more car manufacturers besting MINI engine performance numbers using similar boosted dispalcements.

MINI is going to have to increase the output of the JCW if they won't it to be dethroned by other manufacturers as one of the top hot hatches.

 

From what i saw the track had very little straight sections but still lol seeing a big range rover go through the track was hilarious. But we all should agree a JCW GP looks cooler going through the track

 

What Cars?

 

Well thank god for the 2.0L coming out on the third gens.

 

Well what do you think your going to have more fun in? And what looks better? Probably pushing limits as to what a car like that Range Rover can do, but I bet you could get a mini to go at least a little bit faster...

 

Renault Megane: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/21/f...h-the-renault/

Ford Focus ST: http://www.autoblog.com/ford/focus+st/

Honda Civic Type-R: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/13/2...e-r-spy-shots/

VW GTI: http://www.autoblog.com/volkswagen/gti/

Etc.

 

To be honest though, when you buy a mini cooper are you thinking "hmm what other cars have better engines than this" or are you thinking "Holy mother of car driving this mini cooper is gonna be a ton of fun!" Lol i would go with the latter of the 2 every day.

 

It beat the old Astra VXR by a tenth of a second. I wonder how the new VXR would compete since the old one had no torque steer control at all lol. My old car was an Astra fwiw...

Speaking of boosted power output, the new F1 engines are 1.6L V-6s...

 

Apples vs. Oranges.......1.5L vs. 2L.....The only one that come close is the GtI.....and it is slower in stock form than the stock Mini S.......and some of those cars aren't available in the US.....and by 2015 the Mini will still blow all of them away!

 

It did. On one of the closeups you can clearly read "Ecsta V700". The laps were at Donnington park, not the usual test track.

 

It wasn't on the Top Gear track. Someone will hopefully chime in with the name of the track, I forget.

EDIT: Next time I'll read the whole thread.

 

Just goes to show you what you can do with 500+Hp, fat tires and huge brakes... Not taking nothing from the RR, it's very nice, and I wouldn't mind owning one if I had the money... On the other hand, I don't think I'd like the GP as my daily driver... Maybe it's just a little too focused for a daily???

 

Good point richard but MINIs are so much more spirited than range rovers!

 

Actually if you watch carefully, Range Rover lap time was 1:29:5, and the Mini was 1:29:8, so the SUV was 0.3 second quicker.

 

Disregarding the price of a GP, I wonder why you think that this car would not be a decent daily driver. It probably rides better than any R53 and the engine is so flexible. Seems like a great DD, not considering the cost. But so many on this forum have probably spent so much on aftermarket stuff, that the Gp might be a bargain.

 

Well for 1 thing, I bet that rear strut bar would really get in the way of golf clubs... It's hard enough with my hardtop, plus I just don't like the paint scheme, and I think the wheels are ugly.

And, I wouldn't want to daily drive a car that in the future is going to be rare, like the BMW E36 M3 ltw. Say what you will, but that car with low mileage is now worth more than when it was new and they practically couldn't give them away. There was one at my local BMW dealer for almost 2 years and I think they finally sold it for $32K... A fine example is now $50+K. Enthusiast Auto in Ohio, has one for 100K...(not that they'll ever get that...)

 

^^^ Did you mean E30 M3? I feel like e36 M's are a dime a dozen

 

I've had my GP2 for a little more than week and use it as my daily driver. Compared to my 2005 MCS with Koni yellows, the GP2 has a much smoother, quieter ride and I love the Reccaro seats. Gas mileage so far is 5 to 10 MPG better than my R53.

To your point of being overly focused, the GP2 is missing a few features that are useful on a DD such as cruise control and a rear window wiper. I'd use the cruise control to keep from drifting over the speed limit.....

 

would a quick fix/repair such as tuning or getting the ecu's to be more tuning friendly be an option ? of course it all boils down to whats financially feasible for company to do so I guess

 

No, I actually did mean the E36 M3 version in BMW speak the CSL, or the Light Weight, or the LTW. It was a 1 year offering 1995 USA ONLY, that was almost racer ready. Carbon interior, alloy doors and hood, track only dual oil pickup, splitter, wing, no radio, no ac numbered dash plaque...123 made, of which about only 80 were ever registered for street use.

While regular high mileage, maintenance neglected, crapped out E36 M3 are cheap, a good one will, (not even a LTW), will cost a fair bit. I've owned mine since new in 1995, and it has 72K miles, upgrades, and maintenance out the wazoo, concours winner even... I've been offered $17K for it and turned it down...

I'm pretty convinced that like an old Porsche 911 being a $25K car, a E36 M3 will be about $10-12K to be really reliable and look good. Pay now or pay later... but either way, it's going to cost you to make it right.