R56 See ya R56 world!
See ya R56 world!
Traded in the R56 for an R53 JCW GP 
I've always wanted a GP and always said one day I'd own one.....and that day is today. All the hype and praise that people speak about the GP is every bit true....its an amazing car. I had it shipped in from it out of state, never having driven a GP, never seeing it in person...but wow did I make a good decision
.
It's been a fun 3.5 years with the R56, with plenty of tinkering the car was faster than I ever imagined it would end up. Reliability was less than stellar, but it kinda gave it character lol. I will say that its already wonderful driving the GP around, taking it up to 7k....and not having the thoughts go through your head of "shoot I hope the motor holds together...." like I did with the R56
. After one blown motor, I finally had it running where I wanted and it excited me away every time I drove it. But, I had to quit while I was ahead...and glad I did. It'll be good to be back in the 53 world (I had an 05 before the 56).
I was expecting the GP to feel slow compared to my 56....but gosh was I wrong on that one. I just have to keep telling myself to rev it out till the redline....something an R56 owner is not used to It is a quick car. The handling is superb, some of the best I've ever felt out of a factory car, regardless of price range.
It's been fun seeing the R56 tuning world develop from the start, even though its been a slow process. I wish you all good luck in the continuing quest to get big power out of the R56 and have them stay together at the same time One day it will happen!
I've always wanted a GP and always said one day I'd own one.....and that day is today. All the hype and praise that people speak about the GP is every bit true....its an amazing car. I had it shipped in from it out of state, never having driven a GP, never seeing it in person...but wow did I make a good decision
.It's been a fun 3.5 years with the R56, with plenty of tinkering the car was faster than I ever imagined it would end up. Reliability was less than stellar, but it kinda gave it character lol. I will say that its already wonderful driving the GP around, taking it up to 7k....and not having the thoughts go through your head of "shoot I hope the motor holds together...." like I did with the R56
. After one blown motor, I finally had it running where I wanted and it excited me away every time I drove it. But, I had to quit while I was ahead...and glad I did. It'll be good to be back in the 53 world (I had an 05 before the 56).I was expecting the GP to feel slow compared to my 56....but gosh was I wrong on that one. I just have to keep telling myself to rev it out till the redline....something an R56 owner is not used to
It is a quick car. The handling is superb, some of the best I've ever felt out of a factory car, regardless of price range.It's been fun seeing the R56 tuning world develop from the start, even though its been a slow process. I wish you all good luck in the continuing quest to get big power out of the R56 and have them stay together at the same time
One day it will happen!
Im suprised you eneded up with a r56 after already owning a r53. When I first bought my mini back in 08 I first test drove a r56 JCW. It was ok, power was ahh... it was there. Brakes were amazing but other than that the drivability of it just didnt feel all that tight. It felt large and basically not centered. I then found a 04 MCS... After test driving the 04 for a mile it made my decision final. Love the superchargers linear pull, the direct response you get from the loud pedal and the turn in feels nicer. All in all I just like um better. WELCOME BACK to R53 land!
Im suprised you eneded up with a r56 after already owning a r53. When I first bought my mini back in 08 I first test drove a r56 JCW. It was ok, power was ahh... it was there. Brakes were amazing but other than that the drivability of it just didnt feel all that tight. It felt large and basically not centered. I then found a 04 MCS... After test driving the 04 for a mile it made my decision final. Love the superchargers linear pull, the direct response you get from the loud pedal and the turn in feels nicer. All in all I just like um better. WELCOME BACK to R53 land!I totalled my 2005 R53 in '08....and I didn't want to pay the same price for a used R53 as I could get a brand new R56 for. The R56 definitely has a different feel than the 53...but once you just accept that and understand it is a completely different car, the R56 is a blast...especially once you get some boost into them...torque monsters. This only holds true when they work right though...its always something with them. The R56 is a very finicky car, this is amplified when you start modifying them.
I've been pondering the differences all night though, the R53 just has such a pure, raw, mechanical feel to it that cannot be matched. They are true driver's cars, whereas the R56 is more of a comfy "normal" car, that just happens to be fun, small, sporty and quick. After driving my new GP around all night...I concluded that while my R56 was very fast with what I had done to it, it has a very "disconnected" feel between the driver and motor that is not present in the GP. Let's not forget the steering on the 53's.....sooooo much tighter than the 56.
Wow! Funny, I've been thinking about doing the exact same thing lately. After driving a friends R53, the driving experience is so much more raw.
The GPs are awesome, I hate those wheels though. But, that's an easy fix
Have fun!!!
The GPs are awesome, I hate those wheels though. But, that's an easy fix
Have fun!!!
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Saved it...it'll go on the GP when I get around to it.
35k miles....
Was bored at work one day, found it on Autotrader at a Honda dealer in NM. I did some investigating through the MINI dealer here and found out the history of the car, etc...seemed relatively problem free, and unknown to the Honda dealer, the car is actually CPO through 2012 and has the MINI extended maintenance plan till 100k miles
.
24k....In line with what I'd expect for a clean 30k mi GP. I plan to keep the thing forever, so price was irrelevant to me. The GP is insane in how they hold their values...they actually don't even have a book value on MMR. I also got good $ for my R56 trade in, so I'm paying next to nothing for the GP.
Was bored at work one day, found it on Autotrader at a Honda dealer in NM. I did some investigating through the MINI dealer here and found out the history of the car, etc...seemed relatively problem free, and unknown to the Honda dealer, the car is actually CPO through 2012 and has the MINI extended maintenance plan till 100k miles
.24k....In line with what I'd expect for a clean 30k mi GP. I plan to keep the thing forever, so price was irrelevant to me. The GP is insane in how they hold their values...they actually don't even have a book value on MMR. I also got good $ for my R56 trade in, so I'm paying next to nothing for the GP.
)No, no problems shipping...I actually had another dealer (Mini) buy it first. Wasn't going to deal with a Honda dealer over the phone...lol. When they asked if my 2008 R56 had anti-lock brakes....I said I'm out
.
4th Gear
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 382
Likes: 1
From: PHX, AZ
Traded in the R56 for an R53 JCW GP
I've always wanted a GP and always said one day I'd own one.....and that day is today. All the hype and praise that people speak about the GP is every bit true....its an amazing car. I had it shipped in from it out of state, never having driven a GP, never seeing it in person...but wow did I make a good decision.
It's been a fun 3.5 years with the R56, with plenty of tinkering the car was faster than I ever imagined it would end up. Reliability was less than stellar, but it kinda gave it character lol. I will say that its already wonderful driving the GP around, taking it up to 7k....and not having the thoughts go through your head of "shoot I hope the motor holds together...." like I did with the R56. After one blown motor, I finally had it running where I wanted and it excited me away every time I drove it. But, I had to quit while I was ahead...and glad I did. It'll be good to be back in the 53 world (I had an 05 before the 56).
I was expecting the GP to feel slow compared to my 56....but gosh was I wrong on that one. I just have to keep telling myself to rev it out till the redline....something an R56 owner is not used to It is a quick car. The handling is superb, some of the best I've ever felt out of a factory car, regardless of price range.
It's been fun seeing the R56 tuning world develop from the start, even though its been a slow process. I wish you all good luck in the continuing quest to get big power out of the R56 and have them stay together at the same time One day it will happen!
I've always wanted a GP and always said one day I'd own one.....and that day is today. All the hype and praise that people speak about the GP is every bit true....its an amazing car. I had it shipped in from it out of state, never having driven a GP, never seeing it in person...but wow did I make a good decision
.It's been a fun 3.5 years with the R56, with plenty of tinkering the car was faster than I ever imagined it would end up. Reliability was less than stellar, but it kinda gave it character lol. I will say that its already wonderful driving the GP around, taking it up to 7k....and not having the thoughts go through your head of "shoot I hope the motor holds together...." like I did with the R56
. After one blown motor, I finally had it running where I wanted and it excited me away every time I drove it. But, I had to quit while I was ahead...and glad I did. It'll be good to be back in the 53 world (I had an 05 before the 56).I was expecting the GP to feel slow compared to my 56....but gosh was I wrong on that one. I just have to keep telling myself to rev it out till the redline....something an R56 owner is not used to
It is a quick car. The handling is superb, some of the best I've ever felt out of a factory car, regardless of price range.It's been fun seeing the R56 tuning world develop from the start, even though its been a slow process. I wish you all good luck in the continuing quest to get big power out of the R56 and have them stay together at the same time
One day it will happen!hahah no way! I saw that GP out front of mini and couldn't stop staring at it! it is such a sweet looking car, when I went to find out the milage and price I was told it was already sold hahah such a tease to have it sitting out from with the other mini's anyways nice car!
hahah no way! I saw that GP out front of mini and couldn't stop staring at it! it is such a sweet looking car, when I went to find out the milage and price I was told it was already sold hahah such a tease to have it sitting out from with the other mini's anyways nice car!
6th Gear
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,836
Likes: 6
From: North Denver Colorado
Welcome back to S/C' s and iron blocks THUMP. I think I have seen that car before at MITM (MINI's In The Mountains) Love the GP's except the wheels, but the way I see it, its like a limited production Jeep RUBICON, if you plan to mod there are cheaper ways to start.
Nice having you back in the 1st gen croud though, cant wait to see what youre going to do.
Nice having you back in the 1st gen croud though, cant wait to see what youre going to do.
I agree...people either love them or hate them it seems. I for one, think they must stay on the car...they just go perfect with a GP. They are funky...but it adds to the uniqueness of the car.
Thanks!
It very well could have been at MITM. Car started its life in Texas, then went to New Mexico, and now here in AZ. It's getting around the Southwest
There's a lot less GP's than Rubicon's lol
....but I do agree. I could have bought a 100k mile R53 for $8k...spent $$ to make 300+ and still have had money left over. There just so much uniqueness to the GP and its part of MINI history...I really do think clean one's will fetch decent money a way's down the road at auctions.
Welcome back to S/C' s and iron blocks THUMP. I think I have seen that car before at MITM (MINI's In The Mountains) Love the GP's except the wheels, but the way I see it, its like a limited production Jeep RUBICON, if you plan to mod there are cheaper ways to start.
Nice having you back in the 1st gen croud though, cant wait to see what youre going to do.
Nice having you back in the 1st gen croud though, cant wait to see what youre going to do.
It very well could have been at MITM. Car started its life in Texas, then went to New Mexico, and now here in AZ. It's getting around the Southwest
There's a lot less GP's than Rubicon's lol
....but I do agree. I could have bought a 100k mile R53 for $8k...spent $$ to make 300+ and still have had money left over. There just so much uniqueness to the GP and its part of MINI history...I really do think clean one's will fetch decent money a way's down the road at auctions.
Man, sad to see a fellow A/B R56 owner go, but of course happy and excited for you. Given the beastly powerfulness of your r56, I know the GP will be nothing but incredible. Thanks for your advice and help along the way, enjoy your re-entry to the supercharged world