IAM PLANNING TO UPGRADE MY SUSPENSION AND BRAKES, IS THERE ANY BRAND BETTER THAN JCW...

 

I don't own either.

I think I've read everything there is to read about JCW and the alternatives for suspension and I've come to this conclusion:

If I liked the ride height of the stock MCS, I'd get the JCW without a doubt. The handling is supposedly great for all but track junkies who desire adjustability.
Since I want to lower the car almost 2 inches, I would have to add mismatched lowering springs to a JCW suspension that is dialed in for the specific springs that it comes with.
So I'm looking at either coilovers or the sport suspension with lowering springs, the latter being a setup that's been lauded and panned on this forum.


Brakes--I have no interest or experience. The stock MCS brakes worked fine and unless I get into serious tracking, I don't need anything better.

 

The current JCW brake kit is the same thing as the standard R56 brakes, so those aren't worth it until '08, when the new JCW brake kit is released(4 piston calipers w/bigger rotors)....I have the JCW suspension with Mach V springs....really love it....perfect ride height, awesome handling, zero weight transfer under acceleration.

 

No springs that I know of lower the car that far. H&R = 1.4". Mach V Technic springs, 1.25". Upcoming Eibach springs will probably be in that range.

--Dan
Mach V

 

If this is the case, and as far as I'm aware it definitely is, what exactly is the brake kit MINI are charging $1300 for in the configurator? If the current standard brakes are the R53 JCW brakes and the new JCW brakes have not been released yet what on earth is it in the configurator? Please don't tell me they're charging $1300 to spray the calipers red and attach a JCW decal. Seriously, please.

 

Nobody can explain this? Hmmmm

 

That basically it. You get the powder coated red calipers, JCW sticker on them, and the drilled/slotted rotors(which you can buy separately anyway).

 

Back to the original question - there are LOTS of brake upgrades that are better than the JCW kits, especially if you have an '07 MINI. I went to a dealer open house this fall and was flabbergasted to see what they were charging for the '07 JCW kit given that the braking performance likely is the same as OEM. Among many good vendors, check out Todd Cook's Wilwood packages at www.tceperformanceproducts.com

 

if you arent tracking the car, you can do some cheaper mods to make your brakes better... Pads and lines are what come to mind. A grabbier pad will make a rather significant difference and so will stainless steel lines. Those fancy multi piston calipers are good for brake feel and reduced brake fade but if you arent doing serious racing, chances are you wont ever reach a point where your brakes begin to fade. But with all that said... multi-piston calipers look awesome and if you got the money, do what you want with it.

 

Pads, too. So the total list would be pads, front rotors and red front prakes with a pretty decal.

Considering you can find the rotors in the $150 range, and the pads for $100... $1000 is definately not wort it for painted calipers.

 

I don't think the JCW calipers are red this year - I saw a (brand new) mini with VPC installed JCW drilled and slotted JCW rotors and the calipers were NOT painted.

 

I would bet the customer only upgraded to the JCW rotors, then.

 

I had the kit installed a month ago and although it did decrease ride quality the car now feels more stable for high speed cornering and reduces wheel spin on exiting the corners. This kit is worth it for any weekend auto X of track person. If you are not going to push the car to it's limits once in a while giving up the ride quality may not be worth it. I am switching to Goodyear F1 GS-D3 tires to combat the bone jarring ride when you hit a small pothole.