Hmm maybe it was the angle your photo was I guess. Im still excited to run this soon! MINI is taking forever to get the front section with the resonator to me but hopefully today it will be in, and my catless DP too

 

Wow! Thanks RKW...

Lot of good information there, and it's ridiculous that the stage one is 800something dollars :|

Glad I got the JCW and have a special midsection made by the shop around the corner

 

Yeah I noticed that as well. Does anyone know if that is correct? I haven't had a chance to call my dealership yet.

I was actually thinking about going with the stock JCW front exhaust with the stage 1 rear exhaust because I kind of like the idea of the engraved tips...but not for that much price differential (especially since the tips aren't that cheap either).

You can get a complete JCW stock exhaust system front and back (with tips) for essentially the price of just the rear stage 1 muffler (without tips).

 

So, will the tips from a stage one kit mount to a JCW exhaust? I presently have the stage one kit (with the sweet tips) but am really considering getting the JCW exhaust, the stage one has just a little too much drone for my taste at highway speed.

 

I would be curious to as to the answer to this question as well...

 

I would imagine not, because the exhaust pipe diameter on the JCW is larger than the pipe diameter of the stage one. Even if it could be attached, you'd be restricting the flow by installing a tip that has a smaller air path than the JCW pipe. Look at the pic in post #12. The tips are like a padded bra to make the exhaust look larger than it really is.

 

Is it possible the stage 1 exhaust tips seem so expensive because the price is including a $1000 ECU remap as well? I remember asking my dealer about the JCW Tuning kit and he said the package includes ECU tune, exhaust, and possibly intake for something like $2300 if I'm not mistaken.

If the Stage 1 kit is just a ECU remap with purely acoustic exhaust accessories with little to no gain in performance that seems like a rip-off. If that's the case I'll definitely stick to non-OEM upgrades.

 

The stage one kit boosts horsepower up to 189 bhp. It is not purely acoustic. However you can buy the factory JCW exhaust, and the Alta Access Port remap and get in the neighborhood of 210 bhp for less money.... I already have the Access Port Tuning and am looking into buying the JCW factory exhaust.

Larry

 

I have a ’10 MCS with the Stage 1 JCW tuning kit. The muffler that came with the kit was just a bit loud for me, despite being a beautiful (to look at) stainless piece. There was also a drone at 3000 rpm. I switched out the kit muffler for the JCW factory muffler, based on some positive things I read on NAM about the switch. I now call it my “Goldie Locks” exhaust system. Not too loud, not too quiet. Just right! Pity I couldn’t use the nice engraved JCW tips from the kit muffler, but overall a perfect solution for me.