Hi all, I recently posted up on the 1st Gear sub-forum and I have been aligning myself to order a 2011 JCW. I currently own a 2009 TL SH-AWD. It's my first car with an automatic transmission, and I absolutely cannot stand having an automatic. I also hate the fact that I just paid $60.00 to fill it up today. $60.00. For a car. Yeah...

Anyway

I have my eye on ordering a Midnight Black w/ a Chili Red roof, black rims and JCW stripes model. On the other hand; British Racing Green II Solid with black rims, or BRG II w/ a white top, silver rims, and white bonnet strips are looking like pretty bitching options too.

I also frequent a website called the truthaboutcars.com. Decent site, and they just did a quick review about my next car (and your current car - for some of you on here). I have a question to the folks on here: is the E-Diff as intrusive as reported on review? Don't get me wrong, I am definitely going get a JCW (as soon as I unload my TL, in fact), but I am curious about your thoughts. The review is below, happy reading.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...-cooper-works/

 

I put $45 in fuel yesterday....in a MINI!!!!! And go for the BRGII W/ white top. They just got a very nice JCW BRG white top at the dealership across the street. 40k on the sticker and discounted to 38k of the get go.....Wish I didn't decide on a career change and go back to college. I would be all over it....

 

Good review but they need to no what the buttons do and how to drive the car. What corner could they have been in that required 1st gear and full throttle. The driver was a ****. Even the slowest corners the Mini pulls
2nd gear all day long. No reason to be in 1st unless you are slowwwwww.
Second turn off the traction control. This make it go away for the most part.
In lower gears 2nd or 3rd in slower corners it can still click in and reduce your power if you spin the wheels. In stock I could run at the track but if pushed really hard it would kick in. When I added the Jan tune it wqas kicking in way to much and just slowing me down. Hold the traction button down for 5 seconds and you will get a different dash light and the DCS will be completely off. If you hold it to long it will kill the ABS too. You have to shut off the car and restart to get the ABS back. In full off mode you can drive spin the wheels at will based on you traction and throttle position. With tune on RF on a cold day at Thunder Hill Full throttle in anything under 4th gear ina corner
equalled lots of tire spin. The 2011 rocks. We figured out the hold the button
trick at Thunder Hill after a couple new 2011 JCW got a JAN tune. WOW does it ever wake the car up. It is almost to much for the street. Having to learn how to drive it traffic. Not very forgiving as it wants the gas and it wants to build boost. Does not like light throttle launches or being lugged. She wants to spin. I had a 2010 S and the 2011 JCW is twice the car in my opinion. Fixed torque steer- some is back with my tune as expected. The ride on the 17" RF's Dunlops is better than my 2010 S on 16's Bridgestones. Night and day difference as the 2011 rides liek a caddy compared to the 10' on the street. I was going to dump the rf's day one but I was so impressed I kept them on till summer. They survived 2 days at Thunder Hill which was very impressive. It was cold and I believe that saved the tires. Also the brakes are
fantastic. 2 days at the track with stock pads and about half worn down. Not bad. Ok 400 track miles was like driving it 20K on the street but to be expected. No worries as they didn't know how to shut it off.

 

I just read that article. Not really an article per se more of a blog post. Do not bother with the article. The guy that wrote it did a very poor job reviewing the car. Start reading the posts on this forum for more detail.

My advice... get the JCW, you will never have more fun in a car. This is a great community and you can mod the car and truly make it one of a kind and its kind of expected that you do that.

Post pics when you get it.

 

Thanks for the quick responses, fellas.

It sounds like the E-Diff is not really going to be a party crasher on the road. I am not looking to track my car, but.... Well, I have to keep an open mind about things

Either way, I am completely stoked about getting the JCW! I have to tell ya, the TL SH-AWD is a wonderful car, but the slush box is killing me. I do not know how Honda did it, but that car is the slowest thing with 305 hp I have ever felt

I have my car spec'd., online, with the JCW suspension upgrade. Any of you more knowledgeable than I about the idiosycracies of the suspension care to tell me about it? Is it worth it?

 

I would not get the sport suspension exspecially is you are not planning on tracking your car. Even if you were for less money you can build a better setup tailored to what you are really looking for. For me I would go with
a rear sway bar and Koni fully adjustable shocks. Set them soft for the street and if going to tracking or running hard you just dial them up to stiff. The stock suspension was plenty for the street and offers a great ride. Much better than I expected. Ditching the run flats will make it even better with better handling. Wasting money in my opinion. Stock it is more than capable
of out performing the driving abilities of 90% of the drivers sitting behind the wheel me included. If Phil was behind the of my JCW I would bet money he could turn a faster time than in his race car. It brakes and accelerates much harder. His driving skills woudl more than compansate for the soft suspension.
Well at least until he melted the tires. Put slicks on it he woud be gone. People love to go crazy with mods on there car and getting seat time at speed is 1000% more valuable. Doing a performance driving day in an A group
with your car on track is way safer than pushing on the street. You have room to spin and safty people there. Running A group is like a fast drive on your favorite road with no worries about cops. There is no door to door racing. Passing is only by point by and on straights only normally. Safer than going down the highway as everyone is alert and not texting while driving.

 

Thanks for the advice. When you say, "Sport Suspension," are you referring to the MINI optional sport suspensio, or the JCW accessory suspension? Baddass track pics on the other thread, btw. I have been reading that the MINI optional sport suspension is worse than the JCW suspension in terms ride quality.

Either way, if I stick with the factory suspension I can get the JCW Aero Kit.

 

There are tons of threads here on NAM that discuss this...tons.

The JCW comes with the same suspension as the Cooper S. For an additional $500 you can order the sport suspension. That gives you firmer springs and a 18mm rear sway bar.

Standard Suspension = 17mm
Sport Suspension = 18mm
JCW Suspension = 18.5mm

I have the JCW suspension. After a year I swapped the JCW rear sway bar with the H-Sport 25.5mm hollow rear sway bar. Its on the softest setting (first hole). I like it for what it is but if I knew more about coilovers, camber plates and corner balancing then I would have gone that route.

Whatever route you take, get rid of the run flats. That alone makes a huge difference on the JCW.

 

I have the JCW suspension and I think it's quite good but, like anything, it has it's weak points. For everyday driving and peace of mind that comes with the warranty it's very good. Plus it lowers the car a bit which eliminates some of the wheel gap that's so prevalent on the R56.

When I bought the car I had no plans on tracking it. That's changed since then though and I'm swapping out the JCW suspension for the TSW KW V2 coilovers. If you have any plans at all of tracking the car I'd strongly recommend getting the entry level suspension and upgrading later, even if you don't decide to buy coilovers. Not that the JCW suspension isn't very good, which I think it is, but why spend that money if you plan to upgrade it at some point anyway.

Also, as recommended above, changing the run flats and just adding a larger sway bar will make a huge difference, and you can always add to that as you see fit.

 

Where are you getting these from?

 

Way at Way Motor Works took over TSW when they closed.

http://www.waymotorworks.com/kw-vari...r55-56-57.html

I got mine from Way, along with the H-Sport sway bar and lower control arms, and Vorshag camber plates.

I few guys here in Dallas have the same setup and they all rave about it. From what I understand the custom springs on the TSW spec KWs make a big difference on the MINI.

 

That is what I thought and I took a look on his site before asking this question. Its odd that he does not call out the TSW springs. In the description for the KW V2 it merely states the springs are "selected specifically for the MINI."

That is a nice suspension setup but a bit too costly for me. I am pretty happy with the JCW suspension but I am always thinking of going your route.

 

Yea, it's barely mentioned there. I was already familiar with them from when Texas Speed Werks was still open here in Dallas. They went into more detail about the specifics on their web site when it was still up. If you decide to go that route call Way and he'll give you the low down.

I agree with you, the JCW suspension is excellent. If I wasn't going to track the car, simply adding the sway bar along with some sticky non-run flats would be a perfect setup for spirited/daily driving in my opinion.

For those that want a similar setup to the JCW suspension, I've heard great things from folks with this package:

http://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-sus...n-package.html

It's a lot cheaper than the JCW suspension too.

BTW, I don't work for or represent Way Motor Works in any way. Just a happy customer, and Way is very knowledgeable and always willing to help.

 

I have had the TSW KW v3 coilovers on my JCW since last summer. I did it for autocross. Amazing difference in the car. Added camber plates, front and rear sways and endlinks along with 17 x 7.5 Rota SVNs with 235/40-17 Direzzas. This requires a 15mm spacer in the front.

The springs are KWs; the rates are simply specified by TSW for the MINI. They are 70s all the way around.

Enjoy.

 

Sounds almost identical to mine, except I have the Rota RBs (also requires the 15mm spacer up front) with Nitto NT05s at 235/40-17. I was torn between the Nittos and the Direzzas, which are legendary, but settled on the Nittos even though they're the new kid on the block based on good reviews and price.

I kept the front swaybar stock on mine though.

You're right, the springs are still from KW, just rates specified by TSW that are not normally on the off-the-shelf KW V2s unless you specifically order the TSW version.

Installing the suspension components tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the improvement in handling. I plan for a very spirited drive back from the shop tomorrow afternoon!

 

Thanks for the information. When I order my JCW, I do not want to mess around with it too much. I would probably just go with the JCW suspension, and be done with it. If I have money to worry about upgrades from there, I would rather put that towards performance driver's education.

 

It's a good suspension, you won't regret it.

 

last time I checked there were no aftermarket front bars for the R56 only rears. Which makes sense since the car understeers out of the box.

 

The JCW suspension has a new larger front sway bar. That is actually a time consuming part of the install.

 

I little too much glib B/S and short on information for my tastes...

 

I know. My point was that no 3rd parties make a thicker front swaybar, which should tell you something. The car understeers, and a thicker front bar makes it understeer even more, rear bars make it understeer less. I think that's why there are many rear sway bar choices (and thicknesses), but no fronts. You don't want a thicker front.

 

Agreed. I've seen a few on the market but, like you said, why put back all that inherent understeer that the larger rear swaybar finally removed.

After installing the KWs, H-Sport competition sway bar and lower control arms the car is really planted with neutral turn-in now. Gone is the overster and lean I experienced before when heading into sharp turns at high speed.

It's amazing how much of an improvement there is over the already good JCW suspension. I can take corners now at speeds that would have gotten me into big trouble with the JCW setup.

It also stays composed over bumps really well. Ride is not as comfortable as it added more NVH, but I knew that would be the case before the swap so it's nothing surprising and it really isn't too bad, especially compared to the gains the setup provides.

I'd recommend this setup it to anyone planning track time or who simply wants a lowered look or better cornering performance on the street.

 

Awesome feedback

Another question. Going a bit off topic, but whatever.

Moonroof. Yes, or no? I am not intending to order it because I would not want to affect the composite roll center anymore than what the car naturally has with the moonroof free top. Especially considering the mission of the JCW being the most dynamically focused of the MINIs. How many of you decided to spec. the moonroof?

 

I have the moonroof on mine. I really enjoy it when the weather is nice but if I had to do it over again I'd skip it for two reasons:

1) weight savings
2) it rattles like mad which drives me insane

Also, I live in Texas where the summers are brutal so it stays closed much of the year. I guess it depends on where you live as well and what kind of weather you have. Like I mentioned above though, if you get it be prepared to live with a constant, annoying rattle.

 

sooper_cooper,

Thanks for the feedback. I actually had a feeling the answer would be something along those lines. If the moonroof was reasonably sized, I might have actually considered it, but as it takes up something like 60% of the MINI roof surface area, that's just excessive.

I live in Woodbridge, VA, which is just south of Washington DC. During the summers I think the moonroof would be brutal, but some solar loading probably would not be so bad during the winter

Either way, if I am looking through the moonroof while driving, you know I am doing it wrong

Well, I have my car mapped out, now it's just a matter of selling the TL, and ordering the MINI. I love progress!