More noise from the GP

While some GP owners (me included) are trying to quieten their GP, others prefer to boost the noise – Peter Braun (an MA at MINI of Fairfield County) straightened out the restriction in his JCW exhaust (needed to clear the convertible underbody and present on all newer JCW exhausts), and also removed the center resonator; he used piping from a stock S exhaust to do the job …

Before, After, missing resonator:

Peter says “Sounds almost stock at idle, but the snap, crackle and pop is definitely enhanced and it seems to have more torque all over the rev band, but most noticable at lower rpms. Throatier sound, deeper, not ricey!”

And he’s now posted a couple of Youtube clips:
This one is of the car revving while stationary;
This one is of a spirited drive down winding roads

An award for GP advertising

(thanks James for letting me know!)

In England last year was an amusing MCS JCW GP “viral ad” website which suggested that not everyone was “man enough” to own a GP … the creators, Glue, won Silver Cannes Lion 2006 Creative Showcase May 2006, Adobe Y Design Awards, Best Interactive Campaign.
We created this ambitious and unique viral ad for MINI to tie in with the launch of the new MINI Cooper S with JCW GP Kit, one of the leanest, meanest and toughest MINI ever. To do this new motor justice we used the most cutting edge interactive video techniques from Superglue to create a suitably impressive piece of work.
With tongue firmly in cheek the concept for the viral centres around the idea that men aren’t real men anymore due to the rise of the metrosexual. Users are asked to visit the website aveaword.com where they can nominate friends who may be demonstrating unmanly characteristics. The unsuspecting friend then receives a personalised email from their friend advising them that ‘someone wants to ave a little word’. At the website they get a personal video message from a hard bloke with a blunt and scarily knowledgeable message for all men who appear to have forgotten just who they are…

You can read the announcement here, and see the website here

RealOEM knows the GP!

RealOEM is a great resource that allows you to enter a MINI (or BMW) VIN# and access the official parts database, drilling down by part function, to be able to obtain the specific part number for any part you need!
For example, the GP rear spoiler consists of parts 51627182676, 51627189309, 51627189310, 4×36317678083, and a heap of other bits … there’s also a “core” requirement on most of the parts – so you have to return a (damaged) spoiler to get the new parts!

Anyway, great news for GP owners – well done RealOEM and whoever is behind the site …

Todds Mods

After comparing the original and MINI Swag “GP” letters on GPMINIs hood scoop recently, Todd (of ToddsMods, MotoringBadges and WhiteRoofRadio) said he could make closer-to-original badges … so I ordered some and fitted them today – it took ages to peel off the MINI Swag letters (maybe it would have been easier if it wasn’t 20f!)

Here’s an animated photo of the MINI Swag letters, then Todds letters – sorry I haven’t taken a comparion pic of Todds letters to the originals, but Todd did and there’s negligible difference (sorry, I deleted the pic he took!):

Todd makes loads of other fabulous stuff too including a great MTTS magnetic badge that lives on my fridge – well now, it has company! Look at these amazing badges, a must for any enthusiastic GP owner 😉

Each magnetic badge is just less than 3″ diameter, as are these self-stick decals that Todd also sent me (last image).
I can’t find these designs on Todds websites but email him and I’m sure he’ll be happy to sell them to you 🙂

Roundel track tests the GP

The January ’07 issue of BMWCCAs Roundel magazine has a track test of the GP, here scanned by Peter:

… with its lighter weight, greater power, and aero kit, the GP was an excellent candidate for a track day test … the combination of handling agility, increased power, and better brakes made the GP a real pleasure to push hard on challenging roads …
I started to form a pretty negative opinon of the GP after those first few laps, but then I turned the DSC off. Wow … the GP turned from a pig to a tossable and entertaining dance partner …
… there is still a fair amount of body roll to the GP, but overall the car is fairly neutral in handling, with just a touch of understeer …
Overall I found the Cooper S GP worthy of being in the same company as the other end-of-life performance specials put out by BMW … those lucky enough to own one of the 415 that came to the US will have a unique and entertaining car that will be great fun to drive on the road and competent enough to take on the track occasionally …