Comments on: The John Cooper Works GP Tuning Kit

By: Bryn

Bryn — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:05:51 +0000

Crunch crunch crunch – (just seen the first pics of the real thing and..) crunch crunch. That’s the sound of me eating my words.

By: Bryn

Bryn — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 20:40:48 +0000

The fastest off-the-shelf Cooper S ever is on the way… Hoorah!

By: sca

sca — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 03:42:02 +0000

Can the “GP 0782″ clearly visible on the 1st photo possibly refer to the 782nd car produced of a limited production run vehicle? This fits with the idea of a limited run lightweight….

By: GMINI

GMINI — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 02:25:34 +0000

airbags. intonation of possible U.S. destination…

By: Revhed

Revhed — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 02:19:27 +0000

I find it hard to believe that they would put so much effort into producing such a focused, lightweight machine and NOT put decent sports seats in it…

By: tanya

tanya — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 01:18:55 +0000

Duly noted in the record, Berthil.

By: Berthil

Berthil — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 01:00:49 +0000

For the record, I posted this already yesterday on mini2.comThe first two were with the correct title (so not concept) on the German Press section of BMW, the interior drawing popped up later.

By: GMINI

GMINI — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 23:08:31 +0000

The Light Weight, we will find all too soon, will look exactly like these sketches but with it’s headlights flat on the hood ,just in front of the windshield.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:08:52 +0000

What, no Recaro seats? I REALLY hope they offer the JCW seats in the US market, or I'm gonna be pissed!

Also, if memory serves, this is suppose to have 225hp?

If they can manage to get the weight down near 2200lbs, then this should be a WHOOOOLE different beast than the current MCS.

Yes please!

Rm2k5

By: fdavid

fdavid — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:08:42 +0000

If they make a spoiler kit similar to this one. I would line up for buying one of them. I still have the original body because I am not fully convinced by any of the options including the aero kit because the rear bumper looks quite odd. Instead, this option would be quite a beauty. About the wheels, this is a sketch and as a sketch it should remain. I bet if they made a similar wheel it would look awful. Some things should stay as a concept becuse they tend generate discussion and develop fresh ideas.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:46:15 +0000

No one can fit in the rear seats anyway, i say ditch them!!

By: Bill Lawrence

Bill Lawrence — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:43:31 +0000

I wish I had a kid, so I could sell him into slavery, in exchange for a set of those wheels! :D

By: David Bunting

David Bunting — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:40:05 +0000

It's just a sketch, which means nothing. There are a zillion sketches around, and how many of them turn out to be EXACTLY like a developmental car that appears later?

We have two recent examples of sketches from MINI (the Frankfurt and the Tokyo Concepts). Both sets of sketches were released on the BMW Press Site just prior to the public display. I'd say both sets of sketches turned out to be accurate representations of what the finished product looked like when it was shown.

Brushing these off as "just sketches", misses both the source (the BMW press site) and the timing.

By: JiminVirginia

JiminVirginia — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:11:08 +0000

It's just a sketch, which means nothing. There are a zillion sketches around, and how many of them turn out to be EXACTLY like a developmental car that appears later?

I do share your view that the eventual lightweight will use a lot of JCW hardware, though. Why produce a 200+ hp car that uses competing hardware when you already have it pproduced "in house" and you're promoting it? So in some sense the lightweight has got to be a JCW vehicle, except for Italian styling (apparently).

How to save weight? Doors, hood/front fender assembly, windows, exhaust, wheels, I bet. Very doable. Not revolutionary, but a nice package. They could redo a few suspension parts, but I wonder if they will go even that far.

By: MINIMiller

MINIMiller — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 20:36:56 +0000

If this was truly a MINI lightweight concept for a two seater then why did the artist leave the rear seatbelt slot in the drawing (look at the “C” pillar)?

By: TBH

TBH — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 20:28:28 +0000

For those demanding a rear seat or complaining by the possible lack of, you are missing the point behind this model. I see this as a vehicle intended to be a turnkey racer designed for a limited audience. You will see the majority of these strapped to a trailer in tow behind some behemoth truck on its way to beat up on M3’s and 911’s. This is not your Dad’s commuter. Just my 2 cents.

By: greg

greg — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 20:13:36 +0000

To quote Shakespere, “Much Ado about Nothing”.

By: Sad Arthur

Sad Arthur — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:27:46 +0000

I think those are front brake cooling ducts on the lower air dam! Exciting!

I saw the retrofitted ducts that take the place of the fog lights on the Newfie Targa MINI and thought that would make a nice retrofit project. Now if only I was handy instead of just handsome!

By: Seth L

Seth L — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:51:42 +0000

Large 4 spoke wheels are a joke - they look great on artists impressions but terrible in the flesh. Make the car look like it has some kind of 'wagon wheels'.

I find this to be true in a lot of cases, but looking at that picture, I really want those wheels.

By: David Bunting

David Bunting — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:51:22 +0000

You make it sound as though these sketches first showed up in Auto Express, not the official BMW/MINI Press area.