Well it's taken a while but I'm begining to get the hang of driving my '09 JCW. I traded in an '03 MCS that I spent a lot of time customizing.

The immediate differences were noticable. The turbo charged engine made its power early and there was no supercharger whine at the high revs. The electronic steering of the '09 did not feel as precise as the '03. And the different combinations of sport mode with DSC, DTC, and ELSD was confusing.

I usually drive with the traction control completely off engaging the ELSD. Seems like that setting cuts down on the torque steer. I finally realized that sport mode is just that, use it when you want to get on it. This cuts down on torque steer and makes he daily commute to work in bumper to bumper traffic more enjoyable.

Now when entering that exit ramp, I hit the sport button, pull off the accelerator which swings out rear end a little. Stomp back on the power just before hitting the apex, and the car gets shot out of the curve like a slingslot.

Oh yeah and that crackling an popping sound that the exhuast makes on quick deceleration just makes smile everytime it hear it. All said and done, I think the 2nd gen cars ended up OK, with more power, better fuel economy, better brakes, more comfortable ride, and safer crash rating than the 1st gen MINIs.

But I sure do miss winding up that supercharger to 7K!

 

Glad you guys have bonded....soundsn like you've had fun doing it. I hope you enjoy it for years to come.

 

Congrats, the JCW stage 2 is a great car.

 

I'm thinking about the JCW Aero Kit for the next mod. It's mucho $$$ and I generally put my money into performance options over cosmetics. Any thoughts on this?

 

I feel you on that one! Going from my 06 mcs to a 2010, I felt like I missed my first gen alot, but now my new one is growing on me at a rapid pace.

 

Sounds like your '06 MCS was tricked out. It doesn't seem that there is as much enthusiasm to mod the gen 2 cars. Maybe it's because MINI saw what they were doing after market and included a lot of those features in the stock car.

 

Glad you are getting happy with your Gen2, ad yeah I would give some serious thought to the aero kit now, shoulda but didna.

 

I had an '04 and now a '10, and I agree 100% with your sentiments...