Mini News Most liked posts in thread: New MINI GP Caught out Testing

Possible rear brake ducts as well?

 

The rear wing seems like it's sitting too low like it's not catching clean air.... Did the original GP wing sit low too?

 

Yeaaah Baaby......

 

Funny how they put the swirly stuff on the front bumper. The bumper doesn't appear to be different from what's available right now. The swirly stuff is probably just a lightning rod to get the spy photographers to snap the pictures and get the internet chatter going. Without the swirly stuff, it might not get noticed..... Oh look, some dude with a modded R56, nothing here.... move on....

 

Looks like it's drawing the eye away from a massive FMIC.
Note also the rear diffuser, similar to the G4 unit, but narrower.
Agreed on the rear wing, way too low but the side plates actually help a bit. Spoiler needs to be WIDER as well to be effective, though rear end grip (oversteer) isn't generally the problem with the Minis.

 

I'm thinking it's a spoiler and NOT a wing. [Spoilers and Wings] The back-sides of MINIs aren't exactly aero-friendly (neither are the fronts for that matter) and cause tons of turbulent flow off the back. The spoiler would help smooth that as well as creating a small low pressure zone just under it and bit of downforce, not tons.

Agreed with Dixon that the FF config on the MINI doesn't really need a bunch more grip in the rear.

 

Those front rotors look massive! Something other than the standard JCW Brembo is in there.

 

That said, if you're putting a splitter up front with nothing in back to likewise add downforce, you can upset the aero balance of the car , thus making the wing/spoiler more effective and necessary. (OK, as much aero balance as a car-shaped-like-a-toaster can have anyway!) That lip they're showing isn't quite large enough to be super-effective, but likely has some effect. The GP's have always had underbody trays so there may be some sense to the diffuser in the rear for downforce, and perhaps the "wing"/spoiler to reduce drag and make the rear window dirtier.

(Note: I've real-life track tested Minis with a decent splitter / wing / diffuser combination and it does work to stabilize the car at speed, despite our apparent cinderblock-like aerodynamics!)

 

They really f-ed up the original GP wheels, though... UGH!

Nice


Not-so-nice

 

Perhaps it's part of the pseudo-cammoflage and you'll be surprised and pleased with the "real" wheels. :fingerscrossed:

 

Yep... that's frequently the case w/ prototypes like this. You never really know until they officially unveil the prod version.

I don't recognize those wheels, though, and they look suspiciously like the old GP wheels with a lot of filler/weight added.