LOH's mini (2013 JCW-GP) adventure
Discussion
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Both good points Gok & a little difficult to answer.......
Weight wise it's all a bit grey-mini released the weight figures of the GP as exactly the same as the standard JCW mini, there's probably a reason for this but what it is I don't know. Perhaps it's a legislation thing where a new kurb weight means new testing or reapplying crash tests etc may be needed, who knows?
However, all three cars are in the same ball park. The Clio 200 is a shade over 1200kg, the R26.R is 1230kg (without cage but with titanium exhaust) & the mini is 1220kg
Confusing things further, is in all mini's advertising blurb for the GP they mention an "DIN unladen curb weight" of 1160kg.
What's DIN unladen? It's the eu specific measurement of weight for a new car, comprising of the car obviously, all fluids & a 90% full fuel tank, all options ticked. No driver or cargo though, and although mini appear to be being pretty transparent by giving that weight for the car it's pretty hard to compare against others as I'm not 100% sure what "curb weight" they're giving. I guess I'll finally know about my car once I get it corner weighted.
So, all in all it's pretty safe to say its pretty light for a car that still has comfy recaro heated seats & a leather trimmed dash, or hediously overweight compared to the original depending on your point of view
Without looking into it further I can't tell you where all the weight saving has come from, rear seats can't weigh that much! Though by getting rid of them I suppose the rear curtain airbags will have gone, as will the strengthening for the rear seat belt points perhaps, but yet they have added weight back on, the rear brace I'm told us now structural so it will need extra metalwork, there's the front brace, all the new aero (flat underfloor & wing) & as I said, it still has a fairly substantial pair of front seats.
Where all this becomes interesting (hopefully anyway!) is in the driving
We've mentioned the huge brakes on the GP (incidentally I think they're pinched off the 1 series M cars, they look the same) & you mentioned the tyres. In the GP's case it comes on Khumo Ecstasa track based items, specifically designed for the GP (they'll be cheap to replace then), none run flats too in 17" diameter.
Where the mini gains performance over the Clio is also where it loses the the Megane-torque.
I think this is where the cars will differ the most as the mini has much less twist than the R26.R, will it be enough to make it feel slow against its lower weight? Obviously until we get both out on track I won't know but the first trackday at the nurburgring is booked for April so we won't have long to wait
A lot of good info there LOH thanks for that Weight wise it's all a bit grey-mini released the weight figures of the GP as exactly the same as the standard JCW mini, there's probably a reason for this but what it is I don't know. Perhaps it's a legislation thing where a new kurb weight means new testing or reapplying crash tests etc may be needed, who knows?
However, all three cars are in the same ball park. The Clio 200 is a shade over 1200kg, the R26.R is 1230kg (without cage but with titanium exhaust) & the mini is 1220kg
Confusing things further, is in all mini's advertising blurb for the GP they mention an "DIN unladen curb weight" of 1160kg.
What's DIN unladen? It's the eu specific measurement of weight for a new car, comprising of the car obviously, all fluids & a 90% full fuel tank, all options ticked. No driver or cargo though, and although mini appear to be being pretty transparent by giving that weight for the car it's pretty hard to compare against others as I'm not 100% sure what "curb weight" they're giving. I guess I'll finally know about my car once I get it corner weighted.
So, all in all it's pretty safe to say its pretty light for a car that still has comfy recaro heated seats & a leather trimmed dash, or hediously overweight compared to the original depending on your point of view
Without looking into it further I can't tell you where all the weight saving has come from, rear seats can't weigh that much! Though by getting rid of them I suppose the rear curtain airbags will have gone, as will the strengthening for the rear seat belt points perhaps, but yet they have added weight back on, the rear brace I'm told us now structural so it will need extra metalwork, there's the front brace, all the new aero (flat underfloor & wing) & as I said, it still has a fairly substantial pair of front seats.
Where all this becomes interesting (hopefully anyway!) is in the driving
We've mentioned the huge brakes on the GP (incidentally I think they're pinched off the 1 series M cars, they look the same) & you mentioned the tyres. In the GP's case it comes on Khumo Ecstasa track based items, specifically designed for the GP (they'll be cheap to replace then), none run flats too in 17" diameter.
Where the mini gains performance over the Clio is also where it loses the the Megane-torque.
I think this is where the cars will differ the most as the mini has much less twist than the R26.R, will it be enough to make it feel slow against its lower weight? Obviously until we get both out on track I won't know but the first trackday at the nurburgring is booked for April so we won't have long to wait
Is this being used mainly for track days then?If so, what was it about the mini that made you pick it?
Right, there's been quite a few questions & comments & rather than trying to quote & answer each person I'll let you know about how I came to the decision that I needed one of these in the garage, then anything you want to know just post up & I'll try & answer everyone individually.
First of all, as with most things in life I didn't really plan on getting one. When the press first announced details of the car of course I took notice but I figured it probably wasn't the car for me. Stories came & went, there were a couple of articles on pistonheads but although I thought it was a cool car, it wasn't as hardcore as my old megane R26.R, & that was pretty much what I'd decided wanted again.
If you've never seen any of my other cars you might want to take a look through some of my other readers cars threads http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... my old restored 911
http://www.auto-journals.com/journals/Renault?mode... my megane R26.R
Car-wise I've two loves, hot hatches & air cooled 911s but it was my R26.R that I loved the most. It was the only new car I'd ever bought & it coincided with me really spending a lot of time out at the nurburgring, something I still enjoy but certainly not as frequently as back then when me & a mate used to try & get out there once a month in the summer. Steve had bought his R35 GTR around the same time & we both embarked on trying to get the best of our cars on track, particularly the long one in northern Germany!
As much as I loved the megane I sold it after a year to move on to something else, cars don't tend to last that long in my hands but I really did regret selling it. Earlier this year I decided enough was enough & I'd buy another, in fact steve had gotten sick of the huge bills of tracking the GTR & we hatched a plan to buy two. We managed to find one at a good price but trying to get hold of another in particular favoured spec was a nightmare.
So, as always the eye starts to wander
to be fair it was actually mini who got in touch about the GP, I'd been in touch with them about buying a mini van for the business & as a few of the guys who work at Lloyd Mini are customers they kept on at how this car would be right up my street.
The more I got frustrated at not getting an R26.R, the more I started looking at the mini & the more sense it started to look. Whatever car I got next had to fulfil a couple of roles & not just as a track car, obviously it would be good to use as a daily as I find the more I tuck cars away the less I tend to find excuses to get the things out the garage. I'd also insisted to the other half that whatever car I'd buy, it was going to get us to & from the church at our wedding next year & then onto our honeymoon drive down through France & into Italy.
Looking at the GP it was missing a couple of key features on paper, namely the lack of an LSD, bucket seats & a cage.
Apart from the LSD the flip side of the racing addenda means it'll be slightly more comfortable pulling into Monaco at a nice hotel. The LSD however might be more of an issue but until I get into the car & drive it I've just got to hope. All the reviews so far reckon the electronics do a good job of mimicking one but we'll have to wait & see.
So, trawling the Internet looking at videos (some about the GP), reading the early reviews, going over the specs it started to dawn that it might just be the car I'm after. I've linked a few of the videos I found so you can get a feel for what the car's about, or at least what attracts me to it. I can see why for some it wouldn't be what they'd go for but different strokes & all that
Mini GP concept & design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB6kGhwV3xA&fea...
Road & track chassis testing at the nurburgring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2ZBcanjAI&fea...
Wind tunnel aero testing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lhgR5x0WiU&fea...
Testing & manufacturing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e85ZSkCh3xc&fea...
Attempt at the ring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bep9HUMb18Q&fea...
Totally random red-bull promo but some nice video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsM_GamKZBE&fea...
There's loads more videos but I'll post them later in case nobodies still awake after reading this lot
First of all, as with most things in life I didn't really plan on getting one. When the press first announced details of the car of course I took notice but I figured it probably wasn't the car for me. Stories came & went, there were a couple of articles on pistonheads but although I thought it was a cool car, it wasn't as hardcore as my old megane R26.R, & that was pretty much what I'd decided wanted again.
If you've never seen any of my other cars you might want to take a look through some of my other readers cars threads http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... my old restored 911
http://www.auto-journals.com/journals/Renault?mode... my megane R26.R
Car-wise I've two loves, hot hatches & air cooled 911s but it was my R26.R that I loved the most. It was the only new car I'd ever bought & it coincided with me really spending a lot of time out at the nurburgring, something I still enjoy but certainly not as frequently as back then when me & a mate used to try & get out there once a month in the summer. Steve had bought his R35 GTR around the same time & we both embarked on trying to get the best of our cars on track, particularly the long one in northern Germany!
As much as I loved the megane I sold it after a year to move on to something else, cars don't tend to last that long in my hands but I really did regret selling it. Earlier this year I decided enough was enough & I'd buy another, in fact steve had gotten sick of the huge bills of tracking the GTR & we hatched a plan to buy two. We managed to find one at a good price but trying to get hold of another in particular favoured spec was a nightmare.
So, as always the eye starts to wander
to be fair it was actually mini who got in touch about the GP, I'd been in touch with them about buying a mini van for the business & as a few of the guys who work at Lloyd Mini are customers they kept on at how this car would be right up my street.The more I got frustrated at not getting an R26.R, the more I started looking at the mini & the more sense it started to look. Whatever car I got next had to fulfil a couple of roles & not just as a track car, obviously it would be good to use as a daily as I find the more I tuck cars away the less I tend to find excuses to get the things out the garage. I'd also insisted to the other half that whatever car I'd buy, it was going to get us to & from the church at our wedding next year & then onto our honeymoon drive down through France & into Italy.
Looking at the GP it was missing a couple of key features on paper, namely the lack of an LSD, bucket seats & a cage.
Apart from the LSD the flip side of the racing addenda means it'll be slightly more comfortable pulling into Monaco at a nice hotel. The LSD however might be more of an issue but until I get into the car & drive it I've just got to hope. All the reviews so far reckon the electronics do a good job of mimicking one but we'll have to wait & see.
So, trawling the Internet looking at videos (some about the GP), reading the early reviews, going over the specs it started to dawn that it might just be the car I'm after. I've linked a few of the videos I found so you can get a feel for what the car's about, or at least what attracts me to it. I can see why for some it wouldn't be what they'd go for but different strokes & all that
Mini GP concept & design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB6kGhwV3xA&fea...
Road & track chassis testing at the nurburgring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2ZBcanjAI&fea...
Wind tunnel aero testing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lhgR5x0WiU&fea...
Testing & manufacturing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e85ZSkCh3xc&fea...
Attempt at the ring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bep9HUMb18Q&fea...
Totally random red-bull promo but some nice video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsM_GamKZBE&fea...
There's loads more videos but I'll post them later in case nobodies still awake after reading this lot
Thanks for the info there. I did wonder why you would pick it to start with, after all you love track days and as it doesn't have an LSD,is FWD and a lot of money i thought it wouldn't be top of the pile, for me anyway but if you love hot hatches then this explains it!
Did you think about the Toyota GT86 or were you just purely after a hot hatch? The back seats fold flat and it's RWD with an LSD. IMO it needs a bit more power but that's it.
Did you think about the Toyota GT86 or were you just purely after a hot hatch? The back seats fold flat and it's RWD with an LSD. IMO it needs a bit more power but that's it.
GokTweed said:
Thanks for the info there. I did wonder why you would pick it to start with, after all you love track days and as it doesn't have an LSD,is FWD and a lot of money i thought it wouldn't be top of the pile, for me anyway but if you love hot hatches then this explains it!
Did you think about the Toyota GT86 or were you just purely after a hot hatch? The back seats fold flat and it's RWD with an LSD. IMO it needs a bit more power but that's it.
Wih regards to the GT86, in all honesty & with the greatest respect to the people who love them I really think its one of the poorest cars I've driven in the last few years.Did you think about the Toyota GT86 or were you just purely after a hot hatch? The back seats fold flat and it's RWD with an LSD. IMO it needs a bit more power but that's it.
I so wanted to like it, for pretty much the exact reasons I loved my meg & that I've ordered my GP-cheap accessible fun.
But after my local dealers lent me one for an extended test drive I honestly hated the thing. In the past I've bought Nissan 350Z's & Toyota Mr2's so I'm not against Japanese cars at all, nor rwd, rear or mid engined (& the mr2 was a particular favourite) but I can't remember driving such a poor modern performance car. In a car worth £25-30k you've got to accept that certain parts of the equation will be lacking, be they engine, handling, damping, steering, quality, fit & finish etc.
My problem with the GT86 was that to me it was lacking in every area.
Obviously I'm going against what pretty much every road tester has said but I found it such a half arsed attempt at a performance car I couldn't wait to give it back.
Personally I'm starting to think that the holy grail of rwd is just make beleive. Drive a well sorted fwd chassis & it gives you as many challenges & options for fun as anything out there, though obviously that could just be me
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Right, there's been quite a few questions & comments & rather than trying to quote & answer each person I'll let you know about how I came to the decision that I needed one of these in the garage, then anything you want to know just post up & I'll try & answer everyone individually.
First of all, as with most things in life I didn't really plan on getting one. When the press first announced details of the car of course I took notice but I figured it probably wasn't the car for me. Stories came & went, there were a couple of articles on pistonheads but although I thought it was a cool car, it wasn't as hardcore as my old megane R26.R, & that was pretty much what I'd decided wanted again.
If you've never seen any of my other cars you might want to take a look through some of my other readers cars threads http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... my old restored 911
http://www.auto-journals.com/journals/Renault?mode... my megane R26.R
Car-wise I've two loves, hot hatches & air cooled 911s but it was my R26.R that I loved the most. It was the only new car I'd ever bought & it coincided with me really spending a lot of time out at the nurburgring, something I still enjoy but certainly not as frequently as back then when me & a mate used to try & get out there once a month in the summer. Steve had bought his R35 GTR around the same time & we both embarked on trying to get the best of our cars on track, particularly the long one in northern Germany!
As much as I loved the megane I sold it after a year to move on to something else, cars don't tend to last that long in my hands but I really did regret selling it. Earlier this year I decided enough was enough & I'd buy another, in fact steve had gotten sick of the huge bills of tracking the GTR & we hatched a plan to buy two. We managed to find one at a good price but trying to get hold of another in particular favoured spec was a nightmare.
So, as always the eye starts to wander to be fair it was actually mini who got in touch about the GP, I'd been in touch with them about buying a mini van for the business & as a few of the guys who work at Lloyd Mini are customers they kept on at how this car would be right up my street.
The more I got frustrated at not getting an R26.R, the more I started looking at the mini & the more sense it started to look. Whatever car I got next had to fulfil a couple of roles & not just as a track car, obviously it would be good to use as a daily as I find the more I tuck cars away the less I tend to find excuses to get the things out the garage. I'd also insisted to the other half that whatever car I'd buy, it was going to get us to & from the church at our wedding next year & then onto our honeymoon drive down through France & into Italy.
Looking at the GP it was missing a couple of key features on paper, namely the lack of an LSD, bucket seats & a cage.
Apart from the LSD the flip side of the racing addenda means it'll be slightly more comfortable pulling into Monaco at a nice hotel. The LSD however might be more of an issue but until I get into the car & drive it I've just got to hope. All the reviews so far reckon the electronics do a good job of mimicking one but we'll have to wait & see.
So, trawling the Internet looking at videos (some about the GP), reading the early reviews, going over the specs it started to dawn that it might just be the car I'm after. I've linked a few of the videos I found so you can get a feel for what the car's about, or at least what attracts me to it. I can see why for some it wouldn't be what they'd go for but different strokes & all that
Mini GP concept & design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB6kGhwV3xA&fea...
Road & track chassis testing at the nurburgring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2ZBcanjAI&fea...
Wind tunnel aero testing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lhgR5x0WiU&fea...
Testing & manufacturing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e85ZSkCh3xc&fea...
Attempt at the ring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bep9HUMb18Q&fea...
Totally random red-bull promo but some nice video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsM_GamKZBE&fea...
There's loads more videos but I'll post them later in case nobodies still awake after reading this lot
Interesting post, thanks! First of all, as with most things in life I didn't really plan on getting one. When the press first announced details of the car of course I took notice but I figured it probably wasn't the car for me. Stories came & went, there were a couple of articles on pistonheads but although I thought it was a cool car, it wasn't as hardcore as my old megane R26.R, & that was pretty much what I'd decided wanted again.
If you've never seen any of my other cars you might want to take a look through some of my other readers cars threads http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... my old restored 911
http://www.auto-journals.com/journals/Renault?mode... my megane R26.R
Car-wise I've two loves, hot hatches & air cooled 911s but it was my R26.R that I loved the most. It was the only new car I'd ever bought & it coincided with me really spending a lot of time out at the nurburgring, something I still enjoy but certainly not as frequently as back then when me & a mate used to try & get out there once a month in the summer. Steve had bought his R35 GTR around the same time & we both embarked on trying to get the best of our cars on track, particularly the long one in northern Germany!
As much as I loved the megane I sold it after a year to move on to something else, cars don't tend to last that long in my hands but I really did regret selling it. Earlier this year I decided enough was enough & I'd buy another, in fact steve had gotten sick of the huge bills of tracking the GTR & we hatched a plan to buy two. We managed to find one at a good price but trying to get hold of another in particular favoured spec was a nightmare.
So, as always the eye starts to wander
to be fair it was actually mini who got in touch about the GP, I'd been in touch with them about buying a mini van for the business & as a few of the guys who work at Lloyd Mini are customers they kept on at how this car would be right up my street.The more I got frustrated at not getting an R26.R, the more I started looking at the mini & the more sense it started to look. Whatever car I got next had to fulfil a couple of roles & not just as a track car, obviously it would be good to use as a daily as I find the more I tuck cars away the less I tend to find excuses to get the things out the garage. I'd also insisted to the other half that whatever car I'd buy, it was going to get us to & from the church at our wedding next year & then onto our honeymoon drive down through France & into Italy.
Looking at the GP it was missing a couple of key features on paper, namely the lack of an LSD, bucket seats & a cage.
Apart from the LSD the flip side of the racing addenda means it'll be slightly more comfortable pulling into Monaco at a nice hotel. The LSD however might be more of an issue but until I get into the car & drive it I've just got to hope. All the reviews so far reckon the electronics do a good job of mimicking one but we'll have to wait & see.
So, trawling the Internet looking at videos (some about the GP), reading the early reviews, going over the specs it started to dawn that it might just be the car I'm after. I've linked a few of the videos I found so you can get a feel for what the car's about, or at least what attracts me to it. I can see why for some it wouldn't be what they'd go for but different strokes & all that
Mini GP concept & design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB6kGhwV3xA&fea...
Road & track chassis testing at the nurburgring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2ZBcanjAI&fea...
Wind tunnel aero testing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lhgR5x0WiU&fea...
Testing & manufacturing;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e85ZSkCh3xc&fea...
Attempt at the ring;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bep9HUMb18Q&fea...
Totally random red-bull promo but some nice video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsM_GamKZBE&fea...
There's loads more videos but I'll post them later in case nobodies still awake after reading this lot
I have a similar interest in cars and love the idea of the R26.R.
I notice whilst the Mini produces a very fast (for a hot hatch) time of 8.23 the R26 manages 8.16 - both of which are superb ring times for the cars in question. Both cars can outrun these cars which is pretty impressive.
8:25 Lotus Exige S
8:25 Audi RS4
8:25 Porsche Cayman S
Lee
LaurasOtherHalf said:
GokTweed said:
Thanks for the info there. I did wonder why you would pick it to start with, after all you love track days and as it doesn't have an LSD,is FWD and a lot of money i thought it wouldn't be top of the pile, for me anyway but if you love hot hatches then this explains it!
Did you think about the Toyota GT86 or were you just purely after a hot hatch? The back seats fold flat and it's RWD with an LSD. IMO it needs a bit more power but that's it.
Wih regards to the GT86, in all honesty & with the greatest respect to the people who love them I really think its one of the poorest cars I've driven in the last few years.Did you think about the Toyota GT86 or were you just purely after a hot hatch? The back seats fold flat and it's RWD with an LSD. IMO it needs a bit more power but that's it.
I so wanted to like it, for pretty much the exact reasons I loved my meg & that I've ordered my GP-cheap accessible fun.
But after my local dealers lent me one for an extended test drive I honestly hated the thing. In the past I've bought Nissan 350Z's & Toyota Mr2's so I'm not against Japanese cars at all, nor rwd, rear or mid engined (& the mr2 was a particular favourite) but I can't remember driving such a poor modern performance car. In a car worth £25-30k you've got to accept that certain parts of the equation will be lacking, be they engine, handling, damping, steering, quality, fit & finish etc.
My problem with the GT86 was that to me it was lacking in every area.
Obviously I'm going against what pretty much every road tester has said but I found it such a half arsed attempt at a performance car I couldn't wait to give it back.
Personally I'm starting to think that the holy grail of rwd is just make beleive. Drive a well sorted fwd chassis & it gives you as many challenges & options for fun as anything out there, though obviously that could just be me
I recon when they do a sportier version with 250-300bhp it'll be perfect. FWD's are fun i'll admit and i recently had a go in a Mini coupe cooper S which, apart from being a bit slow, was realy nice inside. It understeered a bit too readily for my liking but the sport button made it pop on the overrun which was great
Each to their own i suppose but for me i'd have picked the 86 over the mini for a track day car and therefore i do believe you're nuts
have fun though!
LaurasOtherHalf said:
I posted that after seeing the H&R springs yesterday when I looked at the car in the showroom but apparently they're mated to bilstein dampers I think
Watching one of the vids, they actually look like KW struts/dampers, KW build and provide for all the small number specials for BMW such as the M3 GTS and CRT (and motorsport dept)....
Love it. I'm not really a MINI fan but loved the old one too. Still puzzling why it hasn't got a LSD in, but if its putting those times in then maybe the gizmos on it work.
Can't wait to see one out on the road, or should I say hope to see one...
A real person review, especially one from someone who loves the R26.R would be great
Can't wait to see one out on the road, or should I say hope to see one...
A real person review, especially one from someone who loves the R26.R would be great
right, quick update on the car as i finally got my hands on it yesterday. apologies for the lack of pics but there was driving to do.....
so, what's it like? nice!
it's obviously a little disconcerting buying an expensive car that you have never driven before, will it perform as well as you hoped? what will be the little niggles that you never expected? etc etc
to remind everyone, these are limited to only 200 uk models & none were available for test driving. mini carlisle did lend me a JCW mini a couple of times for extended test drives & although it was a nice little motor it wasn't the best. it really needed a limited slip differential, the steering feel wan't all that & it just felt a little.....i can't think of the right phrase, safe might be the word i'm looking for.
the reason i trusted in the reviews in the GP were mainly due to the fact that mini obviously tried to address the short-comings of the standard car.
bespoke none run flat tyres
bespoke coil over suspension
new geometry
esp that mimics an LSD to name just a few of the large changes.
does it all work? yes & no on the road, we'll have to wait & see what it's like on track....
the ride is definitely more compliant, the roads around cumbria are pretty ropey this time of year but there's no crashing in the suspension & the steering wheel weights up nicely with plenty of feedback. the road noise from the khumo ecsta tyres is truly atrocious though! no howling like toyo r888's but just VERY LOUD! the pay-off though is truly superb grip, it was a damp cold greasy kind of day yesterday & it just clung on like nothing else until......
you lift off mid-bend! wahey, lift off oversteer is there for the taking! we did quite a number of laps of one particular roundabout to get a feel for it & it really does drift very easily for a fwd car, quite how welcome that will be on track i don't know but obviously the suspension can be adjusted to tailor it one way or another.
as for the still missing LSD i'm not sure that electronics can ever really compensate. you can certainly feel it doing a job, but the car still torque steers.
i think i'll only really fully get a feel for what it's doing when i get a chance to play with the cars limits on track.
only other things to mention are a few options that are maybe lacking-rear parking sensors! not very PH & i'm sure i'll get used to it but with no rear wiper it would have been handy, no steering wheel controls for the DAB stereo either.
apart from that everyone seems to like it, especially the disco interior lighting (might have to figure out how to deactivate that one!).
the big question for me though is how does it compare to the car i hold in most high regard, my old megane R26.R?
i think i'll be able to answer that one after a few more spirited miles with the car
i'm sure everyone's a little tired of seeing pictures of it sat in the dealers but you'll have to wait until i get some better photos!
tucked up at home
his & hers
so, what's it like? nice!
it's obviously a little disconcerting buying an expensive car that you have never driven before, will it perform as well as you hoped? what will be the little niggles that you never expected? etc etc
to remind everyone, these are limited to only 200 uk models & none were available for test driving. mini carlisle did lend me a JCW mini a couple of times for extended test drives & although it was a nice little motor it wasn't the best. it really needed a limited slip differential, the steering feel wan't all that & it just felt a little.....i can't think of the right phrase, safe might be the word i'm looking for.
the reason i trusted in the reviews in the GP were mainly due to the fact that mini obviously tried to address the short-comings of the standard car.
bespoke none run flat tyres
bespoke coil over suspension
new geometry
esp that mimics an LSD to name just a few of the large changes.
does it all work? yes & no on the road, we'll have to wait & see what it's like on track....
the ride is definitely more compliant, the roads around cumbria are pretty ropey this time of year but there's no crashing in the suspension & the steering wheel weights up nicely with plenty of feedback. the road noise from the khumo ecsta tyres is truly atrocious though! no howling like toyo r888's but just VERY LOUD! the pay-off though is truly superb grip, it was a damp cold greasy kind of day yesterday & it just clung on like nothing else until......
you lift off mid-bend! wahey, lift off oversteer is there for the taking! we did quite a number of laps of one particular roundabout to get a feel for it & it really does drift very easily for a fwd car, quite how welcome that will be on track i don't know but obviously the suspension can be adjusted to tailor it one way or another.
as for the still missing LSD i'm not sure that electronics can ever really compensate. you can certainly feel it doing a job, but the car still torque steers.
i think i'll only really fully get a feel for what it's doing when i get a chance to play with the cars limits on track.
only other things to mention are a few options that are maybe lacking-rear parking sensors! not very PH & i'm sure i'll get used to it but with no rear wiper it would have been handy, no steering wheel controls for the DAB stereo either.
apart from that everyone seems to like it, especially the disco interior lighting (might have to figure out how to deactivate that one!).
the big question for me though is how does it compare to the car i hold in most high regard, my old megane R26.R?
i think i'll be able to answer that one after a few more spirited miles with the car
i'm sure everyone's a little tired of seeing pictures of it sat in the dealers but you'll have to wait until i get some better photos!
tucked up at home
his & hers
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Monday 7th January 11:41
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