Hello all! I've had an r56 Mini for the last few years affectionately referred to as my "beater" car as it was a base model, gutless, and I got it simply because it was affordable, great on gas, and used primarily for my long commute. It was a 2007. I didn't care if it got dinged, scratched, whatever, it was my beater so I could leave my brand new pretty pickup sitting in the driveway. Until yesterday.

I drive mainly on the highway the 35 miles I commute every day to work. The non-s R56 finally had me too frustrated to continue with it. Gutless is pretty much the only word I can describe the acceleration and highway speed upkeep. I wanted to stay in the Mini family because although my "beater" car, I truly enjoyed it. I started looking for a replacement. Contacted the Mini dealership, told them my only three conditions were 1. S model 2. Manual trans 3. Not red or yellow. After going through the list of available units, I settled on one, traded in the R56 and drove home with my shiny new (to me) '13 JCW coupe!

I know it's a bit of an albatross in the Mini community, but after a test drive I had to have it. The price was great (maybe because of the albatross factor?) and only has 30k on it. Rare for a 6 year old car around here.

Anyways, that's a long winded explanation, so Hello! Joined here for the advise and because now I think I'm going to put this little puppy on a few road courses and have some fun so I'm certain I'll need advise in many categories.

Cheers!