Hello everyone,
I have been a Mini Enthusiast for over ten years. A dream come true when I had a 2006 Mini R53 GP and a 2009 Mini R56 JCW at the same time!! As a hobbyist I want to share my experiences with people who care to listen


I live near the Santa Monica Mountains and in these canyons both cars can truly be appreciated and tested. A corvette may take off like a train in a straight line but imagine the equivalent force pulling into a hairpin turn. The GP was King when it came to pure handling. Its radical suspension, huge sway bars and lighter weight made the body-roll so minimum it felt like I could go around a turn as fast as I wanted.

The 2009 MINI R56 JCW handled like a beast too but it was no match for the GP. Its strengths lie in its turbocharged inline four engine. The boost from the turbo kicks in at a lower RPM then its supercharged counterpart. Especially in sport mode the r56 JCW pulls hard in first and second gear.

The GP's inline four supercharged engine comes with the most hyper-radical JCW tuning kit available for a Mini production car in 2006. It is definitely a monster, I just felt like it delivered boost at a later RPM to avoid compromising high top- speeds. The GP is fast flat out, but the r56 JCW certainly feels faster on the low end!!

Overall both cars are amazing and incredibly fun to drive. The exclusivity of the R53 GP (only 2,000 made world-wide) and its radical design make it more valuable from a collectors standpoint. From a drivers perspective, I liked the 2009 R56 JCW more. Its explosive low-end torque and practicality exceed whatever is lost in handling and top-speed to the elder GP.

Thanks for listening

Justin

 

Can I have one :p

 

Awesome. Thanks for sharing!