Hi there,

I am thinking of trading my MCS with JCW tuning kit for a GP. Spending the $2300 for the kit is rather disappointing. One issue I have with the GP is the ride height. I am not going to track it. Can I replace those coilovers with the ones on the MCS?

 

Why buy a GP if you want to make it... not a GP?

 

The coilovers are adjustable for height, so you can raise it. So you can go up or down approximately 10mm from the "stock" height.

What is your issue with the ride height? Worried about scraping? I have not had any issues at all at stock height.

 

I am pretty sure the GP has more things going for it other than just "ride height", no? As a matter of fact, I already owned one when they first came out and noW I have a MCS HT that I put the JCW tuning kit on and I am rather disappointed.

 

I just cannot stand the look of wheels almost touching the wheel wells. I like the look of some space. Please read my other reply to Zillon--I had Mini adjust the coilovers to the max height and I just do not remember it looking like my MCS. Maybe I am remembering things incorrectly. So what you are saying is the the car will look the same as my MCS if coilovers are set to max height?

I was thinking of swapping the adjustables (selling those) and replacing with stock as I will never use them.

BTW- I am a 44 y/o mother of one teenaged girl who is beyond a Mini enthusiast as I have had more Minis than I am willing to admit to. I have no intent on taking it to the track. 😊

 

I'd hold on the the factory coil overs to sell with the car when comes time. I'm sure the next owner would prefer the factory equipment. Also, I see no reason the S setup wouldn't work on a GP, I just don't see the point. Just keep your S. The whole point of a GP is it's GP-ness and all that comes with it.

 

The S setup will absolutely work on the GP2, it's the same car. But since you can't remember from previous experience, try raising them to the maximum first to see if you like the look.

 

Here's a side shot of my old GP (#173) at stock height (neither lowered or raised). Plenty of gap in the wheelwell with the stock-sized 215/40R17 tires.



Plenty of space to tackle snow tires one size larger than stock, too!



I think the better solution to taking a GP and making it worse than stock, would be to find a regular 2013 JCW instead. Same power, but it'd have the suspension you want, and you wouldn't be paying a premium for exclusivity of a GP.

The best part of the GP is the fact that it's been engineered to work as a whole - no need to change a thing for the best performance (unless you want more power).

 

I thought the JCW sat lower than the MCS? I think I will just keep my car. It is fine. Thanks all!!

 

Very minimally. The JCW's bigger difference is the stiffness of the suspension.

 

Well - only if it ALSO has the JCW suspension, which turns out to not be that common - I got my GP2 because I couldn't find a '13 JCW w/ JCW suspension at the end of '14. (ok, to be fair I also wanted AAC and the recaros) - the large majority of them had the stock basic soft suspension, a few had the sport suspension, and almost none had the JCW suspension. (all FJCW) One local dealer I talked to said of all the '13 FJCWs they sold only 1 had JCW springs. The mini corp demo build with recaro's I was looking at didnt even have'm. Stock non-sport suspension.


Most private and non-mini-dealer sellers won't have a clue, so you have to get your head under there to look for the red springs, unless they've got the build sheet or window sticker or you have a friendly dealer who will look that up for you. Of course, the JCW suspension could be dealer/aftermarket installed, too - but those owners, at least if they had it done, at least know about it. :D

(and just remember: the '13 FJCW is a one-year-only engine/body combination...)

That said - I definitely prefer the GP2 powerband over the '13 FJCW - the torque curve kicks up earlier making for more streetable power. (imo, ime, yadeya). Which is sad since the GP2 overall package (stereo delete, MFSW/cruise delete, rear wiper delete, headlight washer delete, etc) is overall less streetable....

 

To answer your question: Absolutely. You can bolt in a base/sport/jcw strut/shock/spring/swaybar package in place of the GP coilovers. But I'd definitely recommend keeping the GP parts for future resale.

You will definitely want to get the newly installed package aligned, and you'll want to consider aligning it to MCS specs and not GP2 specs - The GP strut towers are unique in that they're slotted for camber adjustment, so you absolutely -must- have the camber reset to one spec or another after dropping the strut.


That said - IMO/IME the GP2 spring/shock/strut package is -extremely- well tuned (though for the street that camber could go...)...... If you hate the wheel well gap, slap some lower profile rubber on the wheel (that fits the brakes) of your choice.

 

Looks like I won't be getting a GP after all. Last Saturday, my husband and I went to Willis Auto in Iowa to pick it up---everything was done, finance papers and they were giving me a decent trade...however, when we arrived (5 hr drive), the GP was not in the shape I was told. Clearly someone smoked in it, the windshield had a chip and the clutch was spongy. Needless to say, I was beyond upset and I told them the deal was off! Turned around and drove 5 hrs home. Talk about disappointment.

 

That's a shame.

 

I think I have seen a lot of ridiculous ideas and posts, this takes the cake! Just about spit my drink out while reading this... "I want a iPhone but I want to run android on it." Honestly, to each their own but to buy a dedicated niche track car and make it into a cooper S? Wow... maybe buy a FJCW.

 

Now what was the sense in posting your "opinion?" You state your opinion (which is negative and unnecessary) and then follow that up with "to each their own" in a feeble attempt to cancel out your inappropriate post.

I have decided to keep my MCS and not spend the extra money on a car that I would want to change many things on---that is my opinion and certainly not negative to GP owners.

The GP is very exclusive and yes, meant to track and stay as it is with the stickers and wheels. I personally wanted it for the exhaust note, a bit faster and the cool seats. BTW, I already owned one. I bought one brand new a year after they first came out for 4k under sticker. I sold it for some reason. Perhaps because of the lack of features?

It really is a good thing that I read your feelings because now I wouldn't dream of doing anything to the height of a GP or buying one for that matter. Thank you for that.

 

You're vey welcome it's just a laughable thing. Literally everything you are describing is a FJCW so why are you not considering this? Yes as you mentioned you owned one before... cool. I think what really made me stop and give my two cents is when you had your first one and you made a thread about how annoyed you were when people tried racing you in your GP... if I recal you wanted to take the spoiler off to make it seem less racy... so this adds to the fact of WHY WOULD YOU GET A GP? YOU WANT A 13' FJCW.

 

I did sell the wing off of that first GP for $1500 and still the car to a Mini dealership who did not notice the wing was gone. I had it for a pretty short period of time...I had this awesome idea of getting an '06 that I could pay off quickly. However, I got sick of that one, traded it for a '14 JCW coupé with almost every single option...sold that thing for $500 less than I paid for it and now I have a 2013 MCS, Green Park Edition with the JCW dealer installed tuning kit. My "Pepper Jack" has almost every option other than an alarm, if you can believe that? It was $33,500 sticker-one would think it should have come with an alarm. It also has the extended 100k warranty that transferred with the car. The VIN is T477726 if you care to look up the specs. I literally just bought the black headlights today. I will be posting my xenons in a day or two for sale.

I have owned 13 minis-most of which were of the JCW style. My car is perfectly fine...I think I am remembering the exhaust sounding differently or maybe the Youtube videos are misleading. Ha

I wish the exhaust was a bit more aggressive sounding, with lots of burble. Perhaps it needs to break in more? I have only put 400 miles on the JCW muffler.

 

Yeah... I'm having trouble for what you are looking for in your perfect MINI. Yes a little more break in may help, but if you want more aggressive tone you can do what I did which is take it to a muffler shop and do a 2nd cat and resonator delete, makes it louder without making it too loud and makes way louder pops. No check engine light or drone. Did it on my Cooper S and JCW.

 

Really? No drone with resonator delete? I have another post that talks about the terrible drone I get at highway speeds. My husband and I had a difficult time hearing each other talk.

I was just getting ready to put the resonator back on. Now I am confused even more! 😳

 

Drone is a subjective thing, one person's noise threshold for drone might be different from another. If you think the resonator-free exhaust note is too drony, then I suggest you put it back on and it should eliminate the drone.