If you had to choose between the Mini John Cooper Works GP or the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R, which would you pick?
Renaultsport has built some of the finest front-wheel drive hot hatches ever and the Megane RS Trophy-R is its latest and most impressive offering. It is the fastest front-wheel drive production car around the Nurburgring and Lovecars recently pitted it against the JCW GP for a series of tests.
Slotted beneath the hood of the Renault is a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 296 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque. By comparison, the flagship Mini’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder musters up 301 hp and 332 lb-ft (450 Nm) of torque. The Trophy-R has a six-speed manual transmission while the JCW GP uses an eight-speed automatic.
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Previous reviews of the Mini have been somewhat critical, due largely to the fact that it has heaps of torque steer. During these tests, the two went head-to-head around a wet circuit and during a number of hot laps with former Stig Ben Collins behind the seat, the Mini couldn’t come within a second of the Renault around the short track.
Despite it being slower, Collins says that the Mini is easier to drive at the limit whereas the Renault feels more like you’re driving on a knife’s edge.