OK I have decided to buy a JCW Hardtop. I have loved the Mini since the first time I saw one. I am used to driving high hourse power cars and currently have a twin turbo Corvette and am in the custom paint business. Although I have a hard time finding something I dont like with the exception of the small rear tires and some small things here & there I love everything about it. I drove my first Cooper S and was really thrilled with it all around.

I want to add HP but since I am new to the Mini culture and 4 bangers I am behind the curve on the best methods to do so....but I am learning from this forum.

Any suggestions or feedback regarding opinions, putting bigger rear tires on and the best way to get an additionl 50 rwhp from my JCW and are you happy with your Mini????....thanks all

 

first things first:
All modern Mini Coopers are front wheel drive. bigger rear tires would look cool but not do anything.

there are lots of HP upgrades from relatively cheap and minor (cold air intake) to the downright expensive (front to back exhaust; intercoolers; stage 1, 2, 3 engine upgrades). Vendors like Alta are working on upgrades for the JCW right now. There aren't a lot of specifics yet because shops don't have the cars to work on. For example, TireRack doesn't have winter tire setups yet because they haven't gotten a JCW in to measure.

This is a good starting point if you want to understand the JCW in depth:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=150989

however, the advantage of the mini is in the corners, not straight-line speed. you may be better off (and faster around the track) if you invest in a rear sway bar & endlinks, sport springs, or coilovers (if you're heavily funded and don't mind a stiffer ride).

-case-

 

Thanks for the feedback...I understand that the Mini is front wheel drive, the wider tires are mearly for looks. In your opinion is it possible to get 275 WHP and still have a reliable car?

 

275+ hp is beyond my expertise. I know there are some people out there that are pushing that number but don't know them personally, only seen it on the forums. I'm sure the forum members will weigh in on Monday when they get to work.

the stock JCW dynos ~200 HP at the wheels, so it's already making roughly ~230 (assuming 15% loss from engine to wheels). I am sure there's another 45 in there, esp. considering the stock intake, exhaust, and intercooler setup. No idea about reliability.

i agree about the wider tires. they are superior.

 

ECU reflash, better breathing, the usual tricks to extract power. I'll be doing these to my JCW so I'll post my observations as I complete the upgrades.
For what it's worth, here is what I plan to do to mine:

Alta CAI, Boost Tube, and Turbo Inlet hose upgrades. Measured results and good reviews overall.
Alta Downpipe - TBD - Measured gains on the R56, but Mini revised the dp for the JCW, so I would have to see dyno results versus the revised JCW dp.
ECU Reflash - vendor TBD. Also for what it's worth, I don't plan on using a piggyback ECU.
Exhaust - Wait and see. The one that comes with the JCW is pretty nice. Would have to see results to justify the expense. In any event, I like the way it farts and pops.

Other mods:
Rota Subzero's in 18" already on order.
KW V1 coilovers and rear control arm upgrade. Soon
A few cosmetic things. Soon

Final thought, and also for what it's worth - do your research and buy what you are comfortable with. For every happy customer, there are just as many with issues on a particular part. One person swears by a part, another jumps on and bashes it. You will need to sort through the issues, problems (real and imagined), hype, and personal agendas on these forums and decide for yourself where you want to spend your money.

Hope that helps.

 

Can you be sure that the Alta mods you are planning (especially the CAI) are completely compatible with the '09 JCW? I know the engine is almost identical but have they tested it yet? I would love to do some of those same mods but I want to be sure before I spend the $$$.

 

Alta took delivery of a JCW to test on so we will start seeing data before too long. JCW revised the turbo hose on this car as well, making it a smooth pipe. When tested, the difference between it and the Alta may wind up to be minor, but I like the red color . There is a whole thread on it floating around somehwere. The CAI is a fairly standard mod. A few hp from that. To me, the biggest mod will be the ECU reflash, and that will probably take some time for the developers to optimize the tune for the JCW.

 

I agree, the CAI and red hose will definitely make the engine look just a little more special plus I love the sound of the Alta CAI. Combine that with the factory exhaust and you have such a sweet sounding machine. So that being said I think my first mods will be the Alta CAI and turbo inlet hose along with the M7 sway bar.

 

Hey, BigMiniAl - nice color choice - mine is BRG/White!

 

Are you guys serious? By putting on wider rear wheels/tires, all of the R&D and engineering that went into the car goes out the window, and the car will drive like absolute crap above 20mph. Whenever I see this on a FWD car, I think 'tool', not 'cool'.

 

LMFAO....you think a wider tire will ruin the "R&D & Engineering" of a car....WOW....! It wont. I am thinking "TOOL" right now

 

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee :Are you guys serious? By putting on wider rear wheels/tires, all of the R&D and engineering that went into the car goes out the window, and the car will drive like absolute crap above 20mph. Whenever I see this on a FWD car, I think 'tool', not 'cool'.

Not sure I can agree with such a blanket statement. It is all about the balance of the car and somethings are better while others upset the car. But it is not an off on switch. Mini has quite a wide variety of acceptable wheels sizes and tire sizes that can improve the handling of the car. A few things actually seem to help such as:

Lighter rims
Non RFT
Slight increases in the size of the tires (such as 215 versus 205). This is within the recommendations Mini makes.

I am not commenting about coolness as it is subjective. Ultimately, it depends on what you want the car to do. If it is a boulevard cruiser, you can do anything you want. In this case, why worry about engineering.

 

215 would be better....I would like to put some P235/35/19 on j/k

 

What do you want to do with the car?

 

Red Bull,

Go for it...

Lowriders would even be better. Give us a picture when you are done so we can have a chuckle.

 

I am sure you would not appreciate it...you seem like traditional kind of guy, you know boring.

 

Here is the direction I am going in with my JCW....very extreame. I am hoping the black wheels dont mess up the Engineering of the car

 

That is boring. I don't think it is big enough. I think you should go with 22" at least.

Photoshop is pretty but get your car first and then we can see something real.

 

Maybe a body lift and put some 24" spinners

 

Kool,

Have fun with the car...

 

A wider REAR tire (which, if you re-read my post, is what I responded to) on a FWD car will absolutely turn the chassis dynamics into a mess. Go wider on all four, and you won't have any problems.

 

A wider REAR wheel/tire is absolutely not one of them.

 

Yes of course