Way to go, looks great... What toys did you get on it.

 

Not to sound too stupid, but I think it has everything, I found it on a Toyota dealership in Tennessee. So they obviously didn't know anything, except that its a Paceman JCW 208Hp. I flew down from Philadelphia, on Friday and drove it home. A real Test Drive! Got it up to about 95 on the highway. Felt great, you can really feel the weight of this car, it just sticks to the road. But being the need for speed junkie that I am, I just ordered the JB+ tuner Thinking about the accelerator mod and exhaust up-grade as well. Not sure about an air intake yet. 1st gear is a little doggy, but once you get it into 2nd, its a quick little car. I'm liking it, and my wife likes it a lot better than the 69 vet (no side pipes to burn her legs).

 

I think the jb+ is the best bang for the buck, just pop in a K&N filter and your done. You have the best exhaust system for performance, and the cold air intake systems are just noise makers, at slow speed they are really hot air intakes.

Enjoy...

 

Does the JB+ tune do anything for the JCW trim?


Markbett,

Very nice car. I labored over many color options. The black with red looks spectacular; good deal. Did you get a 6 speed manual?

 

[QUOTE=JCWBlu;3989295]Does the JB+ tune do anything for the JCW trim?

A buddy with a JCW order one after driving my car, he said it made a notable difference in pull through the mid rpm range.

 

6 speed manual. Is there anything else? I have to say, I have been driving this since Firday afternoon and I am having a blast with this car. Corners great, pick-up is good (once I'm out of first gear). Although 1st winds out pretty damn far. And I'm really not used to down shifting into first but finding myself hitting that gear at slow corner speeds. Crazy.

 

[QUOTE=HorseWithNoName;3989305]I'll let you know.

 

+1 JCW Paceman all the way, if you can find one. And it looks like you did. Awesome find. Love the wheels .

 

OK, so driving with the JB+ tuner in for a few days and I notice an improvement in the lower to mid range "speeds" (probably "pick-up" is a better word). Don't have to down shift into 1st to grab a corner. Pick-up is better especially in the high end of 2nd, and continues into 3rd and 4th. Reduced or nearly eliminated the "bogging out" effect when accelerating when your kind of in-between speeds on the shifter. Worth the $300.00? Yes! Love the car, but finding it hard to find places to put my "stuff". I think I'm becoming a minimalist.

 

You mention "bogging out" a lot, throughout all of your posts, while accelerating. My '14 JCW Paceman is completely stock and does not have this effect at all. In first gear out of the hole it's very responsive with no hesitation. This "bogging out" condition does not sound normal; considering I don't have it with my car. In my opinion I would think about bringing it in to the dealer for an analysis.

 

Well "bogging out" may be the wrong term, how 'bout slow to respond. I'm not use to the lag time for the turbo to kick in. And, I'm still trying to find the right gear when slowing to make a turn. That's where the "bogging out" comes in. It seems I'm always in too high of a gear. In other manual cars I've driven, second was the gear of choice when rounding a turn, now I find if I'm moving too slow, I have to get it back into first. First gear in other cars was just to get the car going, once it got moving, second gear was good enough. Just need to get use to it.

 

You're describing another issue I have with mine. Again, compared to my wife's auto Countryman, mine does not take off well out of corners, no matter what gear I pick. But my biggest gripe continues to be taking off from a stop. It's an exercise in utter frustration any time I have to take off, because this car just flat out will not go. It's like whatever is coded in that ECU to keep it from blowing itself up is working overtime. Sad to say, but I'm at the point now that as soon as I'm above water on the loan, this car is history ... as most likely will be my business with MINI.

Sorry to be raining on the parade ... this feeling just gets worse every time I drive this car.

 

You my want to give this a try...it works for me.

My R56 hardtop was a manual and I use the paddle shifters on my Paceman to archive the same results.

I never let the RPM's drop below 2500 without down shifting a gear and never up shift below 3500 for sporty driving. So basically its like keeping the power band loaded in the 12 o'clock position or 3000 RPM's.

You also may want to check your air filter, because a dirty OEM paper filter really effects throttle response. I replaced the OEM filters with a K&N on the R56 and an Alta on my Paceman and they did improved throttle respond.

I also found dumping the hot side turbo resonator also increased throttle response. I used a Alta replacement hose on the R56 and a pre-intercooler direct fit replacement on my Paceman.

 

If you really think the ECU programming is killing your performance and you like your Paceman overall, maybe you should investigate a custom performance tune. It would surely be cheaper than a big depreciation hit. You can buy a tune for about half of what you would have paid for an automatic transmission.

 

I've found my Paceman has taller gears than what I was used to on my previous Audi TT, meaning down shifting an extra gear. Also like HorseWithNoName says you have to keep the revs around 2k - 2.5k for a responsive power delivery.

You stated on one of your earlier posts that you had a Corvette. You're probably still used to V8 torque at low rpm's. These N18 motors are tiny turbocharged four bangers. You have to keep the exhaust pressure up to spin those twin scrolls to give you exceptional power.

How has the JB+ improved your performance? They say there is a learning curve for the chip to extract optimal performance.

 

Yeah, the '69 Vet was a complete monster, bored .4 over, fuel injected, Richmond 5 speed, and a whole bunch of mods that pushed the HP up to 450. A complete death trap! So yeah the torque through all 5 gears was pretty amazing.
But that's history, and the mini is a completely different animal. I think over the last few weeks the JB+ has been improving the overall performance. Once the turbos spool up, the thing really pushes you back in the seat. I realize this is never going to be an American muscle car, but that's why I bought it. Been there, done that. But I haven't timed it but I'll bet I'm under 6 sec 0 - 60. I was looking for something fun to drive, be responsive, save on gas (before the mini, my Daily Driver was a big Crew Max Tundra that got 13 MPG! Ouch!!) If I can have some fun tweaking the mini along the way to squeak out more performance, great.

I need to get to the bottom of the first gear thing, and I'm leaning towards a clutch adjustment so it grabs a lot closer to the floor. I'm new to this so I don't even know if that's possible, but I think that would improve the jump off the line. I'll also get this..http://www.nm-eng.com/316/0/0/2641/n...rm-insert.html. that should get a little more push in the low gears.
Need a new exhaust, even in sport mode it's a little too quite. Not looking to make a rice burner out of it (no offence to anyone) but need to get a better low note and open it up a bit.
I'll also swap out the current air filter and put something in that will let those 4 ponies breath a bit more.

But overall, I'm glad I went with the JCW package, I think I would have been kicking myself if I opted for just the S. Higher HP is always better IMHO

 

Your zero to 60 sounds about right, my 2wd auto is a solid low 6 sec car. One thing you will notice with the turbo, the cooler temps really boost performance.

 

Thanks for the excellent tip on the torque arm insert; looks like something I will install on my Paceman.

I believe MINI's use hydraulic clutch actuation, if this is so most hydraulic actuated clutches that I've come across have no adjustability. Your dealer should be able to answer this question.

I was contemplating a mid resonator removal to give the exhaust some decibels. Our cars are very new, not sure if anybody out there has done that or if someone sells a straight pipe to replace the resonator. I've been searching a little bit, was thinking of posting here on this topic to see what there is in the market place. Maybe someone who is on this thread that has knowlege on this topic could chime in?

 

I put these on my Tundra http://www.classicchambered.com/classic/products.html. I forget the owner's name but he'll pick up the phone if you call. Very accomodating. If you're old enough, you'll know them as glass packs. I promised my wife I would not put them on the mini:(. When I figure something out, I'll post it up. haven't had time to even stick my head under the car to see what's up.

 

To answer your question based on my experience with the Paceman:

• The best way to remove the 2nd cat and or resonator is to have a muffler shop cut it out and replace with strait exhaust pipe.
• Removing the mid resonator doesn’t increases sound at idle but does under load or boost modernly. To me it sounds more like a N18 R56S, a good thing since the Paceman is so quiet.
• Removing the 2nd cat and not the resonator increases the pop and burble notably and increases the sound a little more than a resonator removal overall.
• Removing both the resonator and the 2nd cat has a aggressive deep sport exhaust sound, but in sport mode on city streets and in parking garages the occasional big pop before the burble will sometimes startle nearby predestines. To be a good samaritan, sport mode is best turned off in tight quarters.

Also note: Removing the 2nd cat may be an issue depending on where you live.

Hope this helps.

 

EDIT: haha, got halfway through reading the first page and hit send then noticed you've bought one. Oh well, I leave my post as is!

CONGRATS!!


I haven't posted on NAM for quite awhile till recently. I mostly came here for modding news but put that part of life on the backburner for this past year. However, the call of the wild haha got me and I'm back to modding my car. I have a JCW Paceman which I ordered the day they became available. Previously I owned a JCW Coupe and while I loved it I needed something with more space ultimately. Being a 2 door fanatic the Paceman suited my wants more than the Countryman (which I also love).

My car is a manual and I must say I've not experienced the heavy lag feel described above but I certainly know that these are MINIs and while they are all the same they are all different. If I were to recommend either I say test drive and decide which you prefer. Everyone has their "things".

My Paceman is heavily modded with a soon to be turbo conversion and I must say the car has been a blast. The most noticeable thing to me compared to the other MINIs I've had (hardtop S and the JCW Coupe) was the feeling of "weight" and body roll. This of course is to be expected from a heavier car with a higher ground clearance. However, once I replaced the runflats and stock springs/dampers with coilovers this car fells every bit a "MINI". Lowering the car alone will change it's characteristics by leaps and bounds.!

Get a Paceman. You will love it!

 

Sorry if I missed it earlier but noticing your sig line. Is your Paceman a Cooper or and S? If it's a Cooper I can imagine it being slow to get off the line. Just curious as I don't have this issue though mine is a turbo.

 

Terminal velocity - we need pics of this new JCW Paceman .

 

I'd be interested in what coilovers you used. Did changing the springs to your new coilovers lower the car or did you do some chopping on the spring?

 

Paceman S All4, with a JB+ tune.

I'm starting to think the issue is mostly with the clutch, with some additional contribution from factory detuning 1st gear.

If I give it too much gas off the line, the clutch will slip (and burn and smell up a storm); not enough and it will just dog it. In my 40 years of driving, I have never owned or even driven another vehicle that the clutch would slip like that from a stop (including other manual 4WD/AWD vehicles). For 'normal' starts (as long as I'm on level ground and in no hurry), it's just OK. And once it's moving, it does go pretty well. But if I need to get moving quickly (like through a busy intersection), or even starting from a stop on an incline, it is an exercise in utter frustration. There is absolutely no gap between too much throttle and not enough. No fun whatsoever, which just doesn't cut it for a car that's supposed to be fun to drive.