Drivers Log.(News)

2006 Mini Cooper S with John Cooper Works GP kit

Date in fleet: Nov. 16 As-tested price: $31,150 Drivetrain: 1.6-liter four; fwd, six-speed manual Output: 214 hp @ 7100 rpm, 184 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm Curb weight: 2579 lbs Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 25/21.4 mpg

VAUGHN: I drove three laps around the big course at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park ("The Fastest Road in the West'') in the Mini Cooper S JCW GP during the Motor Press Guild's annual track day. Just before that I drove a regular Cooper S, and a few weeks before that I'd driven the all-new, bigger-and-badder 2007 Mini Cooper at that car's introduction. Out of all of the above, I'd say give me that Mini GP. It was like a whole other car.

The Cooper S began to wander around the track just a little when I pushed it up over triple-digit speeds, but the GP felt as sure of itself as a delusional world leader-and maybe just as powerful. That 214 hp is 46 more than even the Cooper S. In something as small and light as a Mini, that's like adding two more cylinders, throwing another log on the fire, hit me with a double, barkeep-ka-blammy!-all at the same time.

I noticed the difference most acutely in Willow Springs' deceptively fast Turn One. In the Mini GP, there was nothing vague about entering this corner at the end of the long high-speed pit straight. Given more laps in the GP, I could easily have taken that corner at about 100 mph. In Turn Eight, the car hit those speeds with nary a hiccup. Or I assume it hit those speeds; I wasn't looking at the speedo. Heck, I even passed a BMW M Coupe!

BMW/Mini's press guy said the GP's feel was due more to its unique wheel alignment and, on the particular car I was driving, fresh tires compared to the Cooper S I drove before it. The 100-pound weight savings with the back seat removed helped, as did the aluminum control arms in the rear. The standard limited-slip differential, firmer springs and shocks or, heck, maybe even that big wing at the trailing edge of the roof might have made the difference, too.

Whatever made ...