Hello. I'm curious... on inspecting a stock MCS's front bumper, I find a thin recessed plastic lip that is considerably lower than the bumper. The JCW Aero Kit doesn't appear to have this lip. Thus, I'm wondering if the JCW Aero Kit is actually any lower than the stock front bumper.

1) Has anyone measured the difference in ground clearance, kit vs. no kit?
2) I'm also wondering how much the JCW Aero Kit reduces side clearance...

This is leading up to a composite question of whether I want to get the JCW Aero Kit and the JCW Suspension or whether I'll be bottoming out all the time on bumpy roads, and parking structure up ramps.

Thanks for the help.

 

My dad got the JCW aero kit on his 07 and it is quite a bit lower in the front....you have to be pretty careful with it now when going over certain speed bumps or in steep driveways. If you'd like, I can take a pic of his vs. mine (I don't have the aero kit yet) and then you can see the difference.

 

Chilired,

I too have been wondering about clearance issues with the JCW Aero Kit also. I would appreciate it if you could take those pics and post them for us as a comparison.

Thanks for the offer!

Motor On!

 

I don't know if it's lower than a non-JCW, but I can tell you it's low in front. There are two flaps that hang down. I already lost one of them on a driveway that was not very steep.

BTW, bradchatellier, I'll have those BRG/JCW Aero photos for you soon. I took them. I just need to clean them up and post them.

 

When the yellow MINI gets home today, I will get the tape measure out and take pics of the aero kit vs. non aero kit height and post it on here.

 

Where did you get that "Actual Size" decal its hilarious!

 

I got them from Aesthetic Creations. We have them on both MINI's and a lot of people comment on them.

 

Ok guys, as promised, here are some pics showing the difference between the JCW aero kit and one without the kit. Over all, it seems the JCW aero kit is about an inch lower in the 3 areas I measured...the front bumper, side skirts and rear bumper. Here are the pics...side skirts

The yellow MINI has the JCW aero kit, my CR/B does not.....yet

Front bumpers...5 1/2" vs. 6 1/2"

Rear bumpers...10" vs. almost 11"

They seem to have about the same amount of clearance as far as the plastic lip under the front goes though...

 

I just measured mine and it sits 6 1/2" from the ground to the bottom of the front bumper. The side skirts have the same clearance. I just picked mine up on Friday. Hope that helps.

 

This was what I was suspecting. And if it's the lip that's the first point of contact with the ground, then essentially it doesn't matter if you have the JCW Aero Kit or stock...

I suppose to really be thorough I should check the angle from the base of the lip to the base of the front bumper tip. It sounds like there is a higher angle with the stock configuation, but I imagine you'd need a pretty extreme slope (maybe an up ramp in a parking garage, or Lombard Street San Francisco) for the bumper to hit ground before the lip.

Thanks for all the input everybody, and thanks GKP for those pix, I can't wait to see what she looks like!

Cheers, Brad

 

Thanks chilired, much appreciated!

 

The rubber apron thing on my non-JCW MINI scrapes when I go on the ramps for an oil change at home, but not hard enough to cause damages.

 

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but with all the "aero kit talk/news" of late, I find my self really wanting the kit. However, my garage has a pretty steep grade to get down into it and my lowered R56 already scrapes the air damn/plastic lip on the sliding garage door track when entering. I go very slow and try to go on an angle, but am worried the kit would be even worse.

It sounds like from this thread the clearance is about the same but, these pics don't seem to work anymore and was just wondering if any one else has additional experience or insight.

thx!

 

Hi Dez, front edge of aero kit is 5 1/2 inches off the ground..just measured it on a stock height car. Hope this helps. I like your new sig!

 

Thanks MINIGEZR! Yeah the front edge of my bumper lowered is about 5 6/16 inches off the ground. I'll have to compare it to my wife's stock height bumper when i get home, and see how much lower then stock my car already is... every time i see the aero kit I WANT IT!

One of these days we really are going to have to get an all black jcw canyon run planned!

 

Here is a shot of 2 clubman S with stock suspension. Mine on the right has the JCW Aero Kit and my brother in laws does not

It is lower but maybe like an inch or more.

 

thanks slimjimtell. nice clubman(men)!...

So I remeasured my front bumper... not sure where I got that measurement this morning, not enough coffee i guess ... and it's actually 5 3/4"...

my wife's stock suspension R57 measured to about 7"

so on H&R sport springs i'm about 1 1/4" lower then stock... so guessing another 1 1/2" lower with the kit... i think i might be waiting a bit longer now to see what comes about with the potential JCW GP2 kit...

a little off topic, but MINIGEZR here is the full shot from my sig

 

it is definitely lower than stock, i really want to lower my car, but because its lower I will be scraping my car at all times, here is a pic, hope this helps!