I went to the dealer to check my MCS for 10,000 miles schedule maintenance yesterday. I talked to my sale person and she knew I was looking at JCW option since last year. She said " We got a JCW demo car. Do you want to try that?".
I had no reason to miss that chance and had a test drive.
My impression was as follows.

1) JCW engine is like an electirc motor. It revs very smoothly up to over 6000 and I feel the gas pedal is directly linked to the motor.
2) The engine note is also like an electirc motor's because of the high frequency note from its super chager. It's really tickles my motor sports mind.
3) I feel very big difference in torque especially at lower rev range. Even with air conditioning there's no hesitation when I start the vehicle.
4) Over all, the vehicle is much more responsive than my normal MCS.
5) I need to improve my skill to manage this vehicle and fully pull out its performance. But it's not a monster but well-balanced high performance street car.

It was an awesome test drive and I've been attracted very much by its performance, yet still not decided after all the consideration I learned through NAM.
Although this article has been discussed a lot, I would appreciate your impression of JCW unit.

Well, the biggest step to clear is to get this project approved by my wife, though...

Happy Motoring!

 

Here's a recent MotoringFile review: http://www.motoringfile.com/2004/05/...mcs_kit_review

 

I had a chance to drive a friend's JCWMCS and it was simply fantastic! Awesome package and, although pricey, probably well worth it IMO.

 

I had my MCS for a year before I got the JCW conversion (#1208). It is a different car. While it does pull faster and smoother through all gears, top end power, keeping it above 4,000rpm's is when you really begin to feel the difference. Enarlging the head and super charger increases air flow dramatically and that's really what power is all about, the more air you suck in and the more air you blow out eqauls horsepower, everything in between, from the front grill to the tailpipe is designed to maximize that flow.
The one problem though with the JCW is that it really now needs an upgraded brake package. The longer you can go faster, the faster you will be and good brakes give you a longer stretch to run faster because they allow you to shorten your stopping distance. :smile:

 

I've had the JCW kit for 12,000 miles (18K total) on the car since last September. I love it - very strong and smooth! My comments echo those of MGear. It's a pricey package, but well worth it!

Last night I took a friend for a test drive and also let him drive it. He was really impressed with how much pull it has in every gear! The oooomph in the upper part of the rev band blows away the stock S.

No problems so far and although the car generally handles the extra power just fine, I did notice some torque steer up small hills and wheelspin going around a very tight corner while accelerating. I did it once just to see how it would react.

My next upgrade will also be a big front brake kit or an LSD.

 

While the price has not come down I suspect that the demand has softened a little. The kits are in stock and you don't have to wait 6 months.

If you have a relatively stock MCS and need more power, you like the warranty coverage and you have an extra $5500 to spend then the JCW kit is a good and safe option.

If you've done some mods already that overlap with the JCW kit like a cat-back exhaust then you'd have to think about selling the Cat-back or maybe the JCW exhaust or storing it.

If you don't have $5500 then just think about $400 which gets you a reduction pulley installed, another $600 gets the new Rspeed cat back, and $150 to $299 for an intake. No warranty but only $1300.

 

Ditto, Ditto, have an '02 with less than 17k miles. Just got finished with the works break-in. It's almost like getting a new car. It is so much faster, especially on th highway going from 55 to 85. It pulls like a champ. You gotta love the suppercharger whine through the Rouge intake filter. I'm sure other modded cars are similar but is the tranformation as seamless.

Later.

 

I'm going through the same situation. I just picked up my brand new 04' MCS, but I'm already craving more power.

I was so close to adding the JCW package to my MCS a few weeks ago before delivery, but I just couldn't justify the HP increase for the rather high price involved. The factory warranty is also very important to me as well.

Also, would the reliability be the same as a stock MCS? I'm just wondering if down the line there may be problems.. ??

I'm selling my 1963 VW Beetle ragtop in a week or two, and I'm thinking I might apply some of this money to the JCW kit. Any objections?

Cheers,
-Justyn

_________________
2004 Pepper White/Black, Aero Kit & Driving Lights

 

>>Also, would the reliability be the same as a stock MCS? I'm just wondering if down the line there may be problems.. ??

If you maintain your MINI properly with regular oil changes I would expect that the MCS with JCW should be fine long term and on par with any stock MCS. The warranty is for only 2 years on the JCW kit. If or when things go bad you can choose to replace with stock or any upgrade parts once out of warranty. The JCW parts will be quite expensive.

But the JCW kit has value as a collector's item so that has some additional resale value.

 

>>I'm selling my 1963 VW Beetle ragtop in a week or two, and I'm thinking I might apply some of this money to the JCW kit. Any objections?
>>
Go with your gut dude!!!

 

>>The one problem though with the JCW is that it really now needs an upgraded brake package. The longer you can go faster, the faster you will be and good brakes give you a longer stretch to run faster because they allow you to shorten your stopping distance. :smile:

When I had a test drive, I was going down a hill and almost at the end of the hill I had to make a 90 degree right turn to get into the small street.
I hit the brake very firmly along with heel and toe shifting down, but the JCW mini could not follow the pass I wanted to go through. It's probably not because of JCW power, but the speed of the vehcle mainly, hoever I completely agree that the more power we have, the stronger brake the vehicle should have.

As far as I know, Mini has not provided any official brake upgrade yet.

Happy motoring!

 

As far as liability is concerned since having mine for a year now (about 6,000 miles) I haven't had any issues what so ever. While I know the upgrade was a bit pricey there are several items you get with the upgrade that everyone seems to forget about when they try to argue about why they get just as good performance with a reduced pulley, ECU upgrade and aftermarket exhaust. The JCW package comes with an enlarged bored out head and bigger super charger with improved vane coating. The performance increase those items add would cost a great deal more if you were to have them made custom. I can guarantee you that when it comes time to sell a JCW it will be worth a great deal more than an aftermarket upgrade. :smile:

 

>>>>I'm selling my 1963 VW Beetle ragtop in a week or two, and I'm thinking I might apply some of this money to the JCW kit. Any objections?

 

>>> I can guarantee you that when it comes time to sell a JCW it will be worth a great deal more than an aftermarket upgrade.

I think that's an important point. While the assumption that a JCW S will become collectible in the future is open for debate, my personal feeling is that it would at least be more desirable in the secondary market than a similarly (but not JCW) modded MCS. If I were buying a used MCS, I would steer entirely clear of any vehicle that had some combination of an owner-installed pulley / ECS and similar performance mods. Just my feeling. I'm still debating whether to have my dealer install a JCW kit on my S when I pick it up this summer. Might hold out with hopes that an "improved" kit becomes available in parallel with the '05 models, or even if the price on the current kit drops a bit (SHOULD it?)

 

Has anybody heard of the JCW kit going up in the near future because of demand?

 

>>Here's a recent MotoringFile review: http://www.motoringfile.com/2004/05/...mcs_kit_review

Thanks for very good review!
Also enjoyed response from freaks.
As a matter of fact, I really felt the polished quality when I had a test drive.
Now I need to start thinking how I can convince my wife...

Happy motoring!

 

>>Has anybody heard of the JCW kit going up in the near future because of demand?
No. What demand?

Prices seem pretty stable right now. Demand is moderate, there is no line of people waiting.
Supply is adequate, there are some kits in stock and dealers can order more as needed.

I'd expect that once the DINAN upgrade kits stage 1 and 2 finally get released that the JCW kit price would fall in order to compete with a cheaper kit that is essentially the same benefit with a full 4 year warranty from DINAN authorized dealerships.

 

MINI: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: (test drive)
MINI S: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: (1500 miles)
JCW: (400 miles)