You read that right. A Mini Cooper that managed to lap the Green Hell as fast as a Zonda S. Well, this particular Mini Cooper shouldn’t be compared to the likes of the Renault Megane RS275 Trophy-R, since the Renault is a production model, while this Mini Cooper has been tuned by German tuners Schirra Motoring. The Schirra Motoring Mini managed 7 minutes and 44 seconds, putting it ahead of the Jaguar XJ220 (7:46), Porsche 911 GT3 RS (7:47) and the BMW M3 GTS (7:48).
Taking a bone stock Mini John Cooper Works GTS, Schirra Motoring has squeezed an additional 75 horses, bumping up the maximum horse count to 286. Impressive, since most of the engine remains untouched. Besides the power upgrade, the Schirra Motoring Mini also gains from some handling improvements, like KW coilover suspension, Drexler mechanical limited slip differential (LSD) and some super sticky Dunlop Direzza 03G (Street legal too!).
Even the interior has been stripped, with the stock seats making way for a proper Recaro bucket seat. The Schirra Motoring Mini also benefits from a proper roll cage for added strength. Schirra Motoring has gone one step further, by replacing the stock windows with thinner perspex for a total weight save of 175kg. The Schirra Motoring Mini only weighs 1,005kg. Pretty impressive power-to-weight ratio.
