We we’re one of the first publications to go hands-on with the new GP. We even got some very early seat-time in a pre-production GP driven by one of the test drivers responsible for the final tuning the car. Yet COVID has kept us away from actually getting behind the wheel. Until now. Can it live up to the hype? And how does it compare with its now mythical predecessors?

NOTE: This is a one-take review done quickly to give you a real and raw assessment of the car. Thus audio quality is a bit uneven.

What we found immediately is that this is an unabashedly front wheel drive car. The delicacy and subtly of the previous R53 and R56 GPs has been blown away by the 306 hp and (more importantly) 331 lb-ft exploding through the front wheels. And that interaction of the manual transmission and the purity of a chassis always in control is gone. In its place is a tire shredding 306 hp monster that dispatches onramps like no other MINI ever made. How does it stack up to the GPs that came before it and is it worthy of the GP name? There are no quick answers but in this ten minute (quick-take) video review we give you our raw thoughts on the car and its place in MINI history.

JCW GP

The 2020 MINI JCW GP is technically sold out in the US market but there are a few that remain available above the $45,750 MSRP and a couple lightly used examples that have recently emerged.

Look for our full review of the all new 2020 MINI JCW GP in the coming weeks. In the meantime let us know what you think of GP. Have you driven it? Has it lived up to the hype?