We heard about, talked about it, and even took a few spy pictures of it, and now the time has cone for the official reveal: the all-new Mini John Cooper Works GP special.
Dubbed as the fastest production Mini in history, the new John Cooper Works GP lapped the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in a very impressive 8 minutes and 23 seconds, which makes it about 19 seconds faster than the previous generation JCW GP model that sported a 1.6-liter force-fed unit with 210hp and 180 lb-ft (244Nm) of peak torque.
The British company won’t say yet how many ponies are hiding under the second generation JCW GP’s hood, but rumor has it the 1.6-liter twin-scroll turbocharged engine has been tweaked to deliver 220- to 230-horses.
Mini says it has reworked the entire chassis with the upgrades including an adjustable sports suspension, four-spoke lightweight alloys, race-spec brakes and tires, plus new aerodynamic parts such as larger front and rear aprons, bespoke side skirts and roof spoiler, and a newly developed rear diffuser.
We do not get any pictures of the interior but like its predecessor, the new GP loses the rear seat bench to trim weight.
The sportiest variant of the Mini hatchback series will go on sale later this year in a limited run of 2,000 cars worldwide.
Aside from the hatchback, our spies have also captured Mini testing a GP version of the Coupe, which should be revealed towards the end of the year or in early 2013.
PHOTO GALLERY
