Looking at replacing my Boxster S with a Mini S or JCW. I participate in both Auto X and DE. There are so many options for Mini's, it makes my head hurt.

A few questions:

Is the JCW car worth the $7K premium in price?

What options do you reccomend/not reccomend for Auto X and DE, and why? Which suspension upgrades? LSD? DTC? ETC. Looking for some guidance.

Is Sport Suspension with LSD and DTC w/ 17" wheels a good place to start? An MCS with those options still comes in at $4K less than the bare bones JCW. And $4K buys a lot of track time.

Anything else? Are the factory strut braces worth the money?

I don't like or need a lot of stuff in or on the car - no moonroof, subwoofer, navigation necessary.

 

Agree with the no moon roof. Its just like strapping a bag of cement to the top of your car. You couldn't put that weight in a worse place.

Also, if I did it over again - no leather seats, get cloth. Leather is too slippery. No Xenon headlights. Save the weight with regular headlights.

Alan

 

There are some really good threads that will answer (or at least give you lots of info) on your MCS vs. JCW and your suspension questions.

Search for these because even if you get responses here, you might miss good info in these threads.

i love my cloth seats. you must get leather if you want lumbar support but i think the cloth seats are very comfortable (even on a long trip to Vermont) and i am an old guy.

Steve

 

If you're not interested in doing any kind of aftermarket modification, then sport suspension and LSD are good starting points. DTC/DSC will only get in your way on the track and I would advise against it. 16" wheels will be faster, but there is far greater tire selection in 17" if you are considering a different set of tires. I have a seperate set of rims for my track tires and they are 17's.

I also agree with the cloth seats and no moon roof. The only really mandatory option is the LSD, especially if you are considering any aftermarket coilovers, which I would highly recommend. I've been happy with my S and it will keep you in a very competitive class in Auto-x, but sometimes I wonder how the new JCW would perform. I certainly wouldn't mind the extra power!

 

Two bits?

Mind you the JCW puts the Cooper S in B Stock, so if you get serious about Autocross (at least in the SCCA) that's worth bearing in mind. The car also runs in STX if you like street tires, but either choice will result in a less competitive car than simply running a bone stock Cooper S in G Stock (which will become D Stock in 2010).

I went with the JCW in an act of unbridled enthusiasm and have never regretted it.

Getting the Works Cooper these days is a bit of a different proposition however, although reputedly the power bump is comparable.

I ran my car in ASP in '04 and '05, which was pretty funny (but so was my driving so it worked out fine). I ran slicks in '05 which was great some of the time and very backwards in a few spots - the car does not heat the back tires very quickly...

When the SCCA allowed the Works in STX I went to coil-overs, a Quaife, and a few other legal bits to try and get competitive. I succeeded in the sense that twice in the last two years I've had faster drivers in the car, and in both cases they liked it and put it in the top 10 for PAX on the day. My driving is getting better, but not that good.

Would I do it again with the Works? Yep.

Cheers,

Charlie

Ps: Cloth seats. No sunroof. Think minimum weight. LSD is good, but DSC or any non-switchable drivers aids would probably not be helpful - you will be sliding a bit here and there, and spinning the tires at launch, it's the nature of the beast.

 

Thanks guys!

The auto X I do is via the local PCA. Anything non-Porsche gets lumped in the "X" class (Porsche's are broken into classes). I would have no pretention of winning the x-class since there are a bunch of cars in X that are huge horsepower and suspension set ups, slicks, trailered in for the even etc. I do it for fun, although I finished 2nd in my Porsche class this year.

Is the JCW suspension upgrade worth the money? It seems expensive. The website doesn't even make it clear if it is just different shocks, or shocks and springs or if it also includes the beefier sway bars.

I went to the local dealership to inquire about it, and they were not very helpful. The first person I spoke to wasn't even aware there was a JCW suspension upgrade on the website.

Thanks again

Tom

 

Never mind - found the JCW suspension answer in another section.