By Khulekani Dumisa

Mini has been busy and the local arm has not been spared. Last month, Mini dropped the all-electric Cooper SE which is the brand’s first electric car and comes in at an affordable (for an electric car anyways) R624,000. The firm has now gone to the extreme and launched the fastest Mini approved for road use. Only 38 units are earmarked for South Africa.

Bonkers Mini John Cooper Works GP

The all-new Mini John Cooper Works GP is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with Mini TwinPower Turbo Technology that makes 225kW of power and 450 Nm of torque. This allows the car to sprint from 0-100 km in just 5.2 seconds. Top speed is 265 km/h. Sending the power to the wheels is an 8-speed Steptronic sports transmission with an integrated mechanical differential lock for the front wheels.

Other performance upgrades include a rigid body structure, distinctive chassis design and set-up, a suspension that is lowered by 10 mm as compared to the Mini John Cooper Works, and high-performance sports brake system. The brakes are actually finished in Chili Red and bear the John Cooper Works logo.

Racing looks

In terms of looks, the new Mini John Cooper Works GP gets model-specific front (with large air intakes) and rear aprons, roof spoiler with double-wing contour, flared carbon wheel arch covers and two tailpipes with matt brushed stainless steel.

Only the exclusive finish Racing Grey metallic is available for the exterior paintwork. Meanwhile the roof and exterior mirror caps are finished in the contrasting Melting Silver metallic colour.

The car is littered with GP logos that appear on the front and rear, the outer sides of the roof spoiler and the door sill finishers, as well as the foils above the side skirts. These are all finished with a stylised “GP” in Rosso Red metallic matt paint.

The interior spots a model-specific cockpit and two sports seats. Other features include dinamica/leather combination with silver side edges, red accentuation seams, a GP badge underneath the integrated headrests and red belt straps. The interior trim on the passenger side bears the numbering of the respective vehicle produced by means of 3D printing.

The Mini John Cooper Works GP is priced R809,488. Unfortunately all the units are all spoken for.