Here is a picture of the track configuration: Motegi Traklites (forged 17") and Nitto NT-01 R-compounds.

 

Here is a side-by-side picture of track pads vs. stock pads.



And the installation on the MINI is easy:

 

To finish off this writeup, I did get a chance today to try out the MINI on the track at Laguna Seca. It was partially rainy and partially sunny day, so I got two 25-minute sessions under each of these "weather changes". I decided to go with the Kumho ECSTA SPT tires rather than the Nitto NT-01 because of weather forecast. I did run with the Carbotech track pads however, which was a good call.

I was really impressed with the wet grip of the Kumho tires and they allowed me to even get some passing done in the rain. Obviously, this car lives for corners!

The other thing that impressed me was how the car pulled in the uphill passing zones. I had wondered if I would be feeling the lack of power (coming from the M5) in these passing zones, but was able to get pointed by and make these passing zones work for me. So, the MINI made a favorable impression in both the wet and dry.

The other thing that impressed me was the DSC. I was able to spin the front tires with DSC activated without any unwanted intervention. The lights flashed but the wheelspin was definitely allowed. So I believe that the system is well sorted out for the 2007 model year. I don't have any comparisons to prior model year MINIs, so I can only compare to the older M5 version DSC that I have firsthand experience with.

All in all, the MINI put a big smile on my face and I drove it quite hard with no surprises at all. Much more tossable than my other car. I think the car favorably impressed my instructor as well, and even some other BMW drivers who didn't expect as much out of it. There were about 3 or 4 MINI cars that showed up for this event. It was a great day, and adrenaline has that characteristic of "happy juice" running through you.

If and when the next bigger size turbocharger comes out for this car, it will be giving even more cars a run. I can't wait to try out the R-compound tires at a future event.

 

Great thread! Thank you for posting all your impressions and reviews. It's also great to hear some relative perspective to a well-respected high performance car like the //M5. I look forward to seeing what comes of you and your MINI in the future. Enjoy motoring!

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Awesome thread. I'm almost at the end of the 1200-mile break-in period on my JCW MINI. The machine is incredibly fast, has great burst power, and handles the esses here in the Berkshires at speed with ease. I have yet to use the sport button. I can't wait to see what it's like up in the higher revs.

I'd like to run autocross this year but I'm a complete newbie and have to do the research to see what it takes to play. Does it kill the warranty? Does the machine take a significant beating?

Thx agn for the JCW thread ... I want more of them

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to keep us up your cars progress..It's nice to see how you are enjoying the JCW kit and its ability to make this little car a whole lot of fun and a true performer.Thanks again and enjoy the car..

 

Halifax: I'd say autocross is harder on a car than road course style racetrack driving. The main advantage to road course driving is getting 100 minutes of driving in a day (plus classroom time too), rather than a couple of minutes of driving in the autox. The driving technique is also kind of opposite (smooth=fast in road courses). The risk level is different (making a mistake on a parking lot vs. making a mistake at speed with possible immovable objects). There is a precursor event to driving on the track in my area called a Car Control Clinic, which you may want to look for too. This would let you know if you want to spend money in this direction, since you can try it to see.

The best investment is on the driver skill improvement, rather than on the car improvement. Enjoy driving your MINI however you do it!

 

I got in a 2-day track event at Infineon Raceway under completely dry conditions in March. For this event, I was able to use the Nitto NT-01 tires and the lightweight forged rims. It was my first experience with this setup on this car, and a few notes to share from it.

First, the R-compound tires really stick well and reduce/hide the effects of torque steer so that I honestly don't remember that being very noticeable on the track at all. I don't even remember seeing the DSC light flashing with this setup either. This was different from what I remember with the street tires/wheels setup on the previous track event. Obviously I do notice the torque steer on the street setup.

The MINI was running the corners and the esses better than most of the more powerful cars, and would reel them in. In this way, the car actually teaches you to carry momentum. I liked having that feeling of driving a slower car faster. The car still inspired a lot of confidence when driving beyond the traction limits. The Nitto tires do make some noise when you overdrive their limits and didn't have a sudden limit that is all or nothing.

The brakes held up quite well for a 2-day event, considering I was using the Carbotech track pads, high temp fluids, and the JCW front drilled rotors. I didn't notice any reduction in brake feel and I liked this setup fine.

Mostly, I learned how to drive this car smoothly and brake smoothly and feed in a lot more throttle a lot sooner than I could in my other car. It was quite a good track car. On R-compound tires and lightweight wheels it is quite different feeling.

I would have liked more only for the straights, but everywhere else the car was plenty of fun as is. After the 2-day event inspecting my tire wear, the camber plates seem to be doing their job as the tires were wearing evenly. The MINI got noticed/appreciated by some of the other drivers on the track at the same time.

 

What do you think of the JCW brake kit? (rotors and calipers)

 

I've been thinking about the Motegi wheels; thanks for the review.
I have Nitto street tires (NeoGen); they give up the ghost in that all-of-a-sudden scary way though.
It's fun to dog Porsches...

 

Excellent report. I'm taking the advanced driver safety school and the high performance driving school with BMWCCA/NJ at Lime Rock and BMWCCA/White Mountain Chapter at New Hampshire in April. Looking forward to it!

 

Somewhere on a motorcycle board a guy is writing '...I was on my bike and got caught in the rain, this guy in a clown car starts tagging me so I go faster and he's still taggin me...' lol. Great thread thanks for sharing.

 

The JCW rotors are cross-drilled, which is a benefit only for heat dissipation. If heat isn't an issue, the solid rotors are probably stronger. But the cross-drilled look very nice, and you see them on most all the high performance cars these days.

The stock calipers are the same as the JCW calipers except for the paint color. So I have the stock calipers.

The next step upwards is the Factory JCW Stage II brake kit, which you may be referring to? That I don't have any experience with.
http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/10/...-the-way-2008/

 

Thanks!

 

honestly....I dont feel as though the JCW upgrade is worth the cost....when you think about it all you get is....A. a "new" intake, which consists of a new filter and a logo badge, B. they cut off your old muffler and attatch a new one, but i will give it the C. the ECU upgrade...the ECU makes SOME difference, but honestly I have an 07 MCS and my dad has an '08 JCW and they arent THAT different...so what i did is I had a DDM/WMW intake put on that is AMAZING, I am having the exhaust changed, not just a new muffler, new downpipe and catback....and then will have JCW software put in for the ECU...ultimatly saving me more money, and getting me more power....JCW is cool if you want to be "official" but necessary? questionable....it really depends on the motorer that you are...my dad loves his JCW car, and I love my custom work.....decide what really means more to you and go for that option!

 

I didn't realize that you could order the JCW software a la carte without ordering the whole Engine Tuning Kit? Is that true?

 

How do you plan on getting the JCW software without buying the whole kit? I heard the JCW software is VIN specific. The JCW software for a different car would not work in your car unless someone figures out how to hack it.

 

you cant dont worry about it haha NOTHING in this world is impossible to obtain, just need the drive and determination(and know the right people) and you can figure out how....it's a work in progress not finished yet....and yes, it has to be unlocked

 

I'm at 10,000 miles now and decided to give the JCW suspension a try. Going from the sport suspension to the JCW suspension is not a huge change. It was more to keep me interested in the MINI since my eye has been wandering to look at other cars recently. (For example, I found myself at the Porsche dealer's lot looking at the Cayman S.)

So I figured putting a little more into the MINI will help me stay with it for a while longer. The JCW suspension kit was purchased from Morristown MINI. I gave them my VIN number and they got me the proper set of springs to go with the kit for $1045. Installation at my independent was $540 and a full alignment was $150.

In short, I got 0.5mm larger swaybars in front and rear, and different springs and dampers. At the same time, I changed my camber settings to put a little more in front (-1.7) and a little less in rear (-1.5) than I had before, based on tire wear. I have moved to a new set of street tires now and am trying out the Yokohama S.drive

Observations are that I can't tell a lot on the street...so it is definitely not a worse or more harsh ride than before (that is good for me). With only a 10mm drop in height I can still get over speedbumps and up my driveway. I probably feel the front camber change more than the suspension change on the turn-in feel, which is improved a bit.

I will get a chance to observe it on the track coming up in March for 2-day event at Infineon, so report back on that later. Since I have about 4 track events while on the sport suspension and had it for a full year of daily driving, it will be interesting to see what differences I can detect. Up for sale is the sport suspension, if anyone is interested.

 

Here is what the car looks like with the new ride height:

 

Sorry to hijack but, why the f would there be less down low power with the JCW Stage 1? I see that there is more power up high, but, how often will I be up that high? Being a street car, the time I spend up high will be limited. If it stayed the same, that would be OK with the gains up top. But, losing low end to gain top end on a street car seems dumb. On a track car that wouldn't really matter, but low end is important on the street. Any thought?

EDIT:
Of course, that graph we are basing this on is probably completely wrong like someone has said previously, but, it still makes me wonder.

 

Yup! It's my JCW MCS on the weekdays, and the M5 on the weekends! Amazing how many more looks and compliments I get with the MCS.

30mpg during the weekdays, and 12mpg on the weekends!

-CT

 

So sad you had to get rid of the M5. I bet that car was soooo much fun to drive. Due to the gas prices and maintenance cost, I had to get rid of my 01 540i 6-speed (and i had a lot of fun with it).

I recently ordered the JCW. I can't wait to get it, but I will always miss the 540.

Bill: Maybe I'll catch you around in the hills of Nor Cal. I love the back-roads. My favorite is HWY 9 doing into Santa Cruz where it passes Big Basin.

 

This is a plot of a stock R56 MCS compared to a stock R56 factory JCW. (I know, it's not the dealer add-on JCW engine pack, but it's similar...)



--Dan
Mach V

 

sarafil-I have seen a number of your posts over at the BMW site (bimmerfest). I don't get over there much since I sold the E46 and got the Mini S.

I have to echo the sediments on the JCW package (dealer installed). I have 1000 miles since the add on and I appreciate it more now. Very smooth linear power all the way to redline (don't get there much-like to not get a ticket!). My milage is down about 1.5 mpg (I don't think my driving has changed much).