MINI is beginning to fall far behind in the power category. Will the new performance models from other manufacturers encourage MINI to develop versions of the engine with more power, or will they continue to keep power low so that a MINI will not outperform cars with the BMW badge? Car Engine Size Horsepower MINI JCW 2.0 231 Ford Focus ST 2.0 252 VW Golf R 2.0 292 Honda Civic R 2.0 306 Ford Focus RS 2.3 320
Power to weight is the best determination for a cars performance. All of those cars weigh a lot more than the current MINI 2 door.
More than HP Yes, those of us here all believe there are more important attributes to cars than horsepower - or we would all be on the Dodge Hellcat Forum. It takes more than HP to make a great, fun car. Thought it would be interesting to see weight/hp relationships for these cars, but the importance of HP in the public's mind was reinforced by the fact that all the sources checked for specs listed HP, but none listed weight.
Here is a chart I found here: Top performance car power-to-weight ratios under $100k, $50k and $25k Under $25,000 – pounds per horsepower 2014 Ford Mustang V6 ($22,510) – 11.479 2014 Chevrolet Camaro V6 ($23,555) – 11.514 2014 Ford Focus ST ($23,625) – 12.790 2014 Ford Fiesta ST ($21,400) – 13.807 2014 Hyundai Veloster Turbo R-Spec ($21,300) – 13.930 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI 4-Door ($24,995) – 14.152 2014 Mini Cooper S Hardtop ($24,100) – 14.603 2014 Honda Civic Si ($22,790) – 14.644 2014 Mazda MX-5 Miata ($23,790) – 14.850 2015 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ($24,535) – 14.910
Interesting to note the chart shows only two other cars of choice more expensive than the MINI... Looks like they could stand to lighten the load some too!
Also some of the cars in this thread are AWD and RWD, which also makes a difference. Yes, but if you look at the the first post in this thread, the VW Golf R, Civic and Ford Focus RS are all going to be 40kish. A better comparison would be with the GP when it comes out. The second list are cars all a notch lower than what the OP started the thread with.
A Recalculation As ccti points out, the listing of weight/hp ratios are on cars with lesser hp than the new upcoming models, even the MINI which lists an S rather than a JCW. And, I hope his belief that a new, more powerful GP is close on the horizon proves true. Doing a bit of calculation to determine weights, and checking most in some sources on the internet - then assuming that the weight of the R class cars will be the same - some of the ratios using the announced horse power numbers are impressive. Honda Civic R 9.81 Ford Focus RS 10.07 VW Golf R 10.66 MINI JCW 11.94 In the first generation GP, MINI found ways to reduce weight. If the 2759 lb MINI hardtop could be reduced by 159 pounds, a 10.0 pounds/hp could be achieved at 260 hp. A reasonable task. Awaiting the GP announcement.
I have a 260 HP Gen 1, No need to buy a GP III. If you want more power you need to look at RMW, not BMW Ooops MINI.
With the gen 3 MINI the same 2 liter motor puts out more power in a BMW. Dave has it when he said they won't let it have more power than a BMW. I had an '89 SHO rated 220 hp it actually had 230-235 and was purposely restricted to that by the exhaust. Why, the Mustang had 225 hp.
:biggrin5: I'm in the 'engaging driving experience beats raw HP' camp. I'd rather own and drive a well-sorted R53 than a GTR. Really. I would. A GTR has mind-bending performance, but only a droid could love it. Gimme a S4lt box with some soul and I'm happy, like my current daily S4lt box:
We have a BMW/MINI performance shop here in Dallas call Clownshoe performance...here's one of their cars.
There's no car I've owned that's been any more fun than my old Z3M roadster. I might just get an M coupe one'a these days.