Interesting article comparing a JCW to MCS with aftermarket add-ons. Definitely a good read for a performance oriented person on the fence about what to get.

With the arrival of a 2011 John Cooper Works Mini Cooper S in our test fleet, and representing the manufacturer-backed side of the speed equation, this is the perfect time to see if the price premium for our JCW can be bested by the aftermarket.....

http://www.windingroad.com/articles/...e-aftermarket/

 

I think the comments in the article pretty much sum it up. The aftermarket setup described in the article wouldn't be street-legal, doesn't replicate all the parts of the factory JCW, and is using *wildly* inflated estimated horsepower gains for things like the cold-air intake and the exhaust.

That's not to say that you can't match the performance of the JCW package for less money (especially if you do the labor yourself), but I don't think that the linked article is a good example of how to do it.

 

I think one could easily do brakes - as wilwood has an option out there. Intake - tune - exhaust - turbo wheel upgrades and exceed the power and performance of the JCW for less.