This week has been my first long distance travel since ownership and it has been an interesting experience.

I drove back and forth from Vegas to Santa Clarita CA, mostly desert and mountain range driving. The total mileage has been a bit under 600 miles. the odometer is now about 2900 miles.

I call it performance driving because I have been able to drive fast most of the time (85-100MPH) and see how the JCW handles in the desert but most important in the mountains twisty roads on I-15 and I-14.

The "trunk" was full with about 200lbs of cargo plus my wife and me in the cockpit...another 350lbs.

I averaged close to 32 MPG sometimes going uphill for 18 miles stretches at 95 MPH with a lot of power to pass if needed ( by the way , I have a radar detector for high speed driving).

The Coupe is stable, even more enjoyable at these very high speeds because it performs better in the 3500-5000rpm range. It is very comfortable on long travel and very fast with plenty of power in reserve.

The 6SP manual is for sure the best choice to enjoy the car potential.

Overall, I like it and my wife too (not when I drive fast LOL).

 

I have 7000 mi . On my 13 JCW coupe also very happy .

 

Have had my coupe for a couple of years now,my fourth and favorite one.I have done a lot of cosmetic work to inhance the appearance and am pleased with the results. Have a look at my gallery if you please. Q

 

Congratulations on the mods and color combo. your car looks really nice.

I would have never bought a Mini other than a Coupe. I have never been impressed driving the other models.

 

In car video of my coupe:


Got 11mpg for the day ;-)

 

NICE driving. Smooth. Great use of curbings. Passed some big guns. What mods if any. Do you have harness? What tires. Any "issues" tracking the R58?

Lol. 11 mpg. Yeah I used to set the mpg at every even (in my 128). Got 7.7 once.
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Cool! What's that red car you were chasing most of the time? What tires and tire pressure? Top speeds? Do you use the brakes much? I'd love to try that sometime. I assaulted Hwy 89 near Prescott last weekend. This is definitely more car than my 2007 MCS. Serious brakes.

 

It seems to do pretty well on the track. The rigid chassis coupled with the sport suspension and brakes and more power than the S are for sure the best assets of the JCW Coupe.

Last week, you expressed in another tread that you were disappointed with yours. It would be interesting to read your comments after this experience.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Answers to your questions: No I don't have a harness, Mods: JCW Suspension, Bridgestone RE11 tires, and Hawk HP+ pads, ATE higher temp fluid.

I didn't have any issues. The car was awesome. I was running with the beginner group, even though that was my 3rd track day (2nd time at laguna, 1st in the JCW).

The brake pad's paint backing burnt off, and I think I melted my dust boots, but the brakes were strong / fade free.

For the record my coach for the first half of the day drives a JCW clubman, and runs totally stock brakes. I guarantee that dude turns a better lap time than I do. He also is very conservative with his braking whereas I tend to ride the brakes a bit more.

 

Haha well... I must say as a track car the JCW R58 is awesome. I have no frame of reference since I never tracked the car in stock form. I have the factory JCW suspension, and bridgestone RE11 tires. So I would say in it's current fun it's a GREAT track car. Had no problems, ran very strong all day long. Sessions were approx 20-25minutes each.

I think the main issues I have with the car are creature-comfort based. Road noise / stereo sucks / rattles rattles rattles rattles / mini connected is a joke (see my thread about the iphone lightning adapter abysmal sound quality) / my bumper has damage pre-delivery which I need to deal with, and some numbness in general daily driving.

So now my opinion is this: The car is GREAT at the track, and I assume it's going to be a ton of fun at autox. So as a toy/fun car it's a 10/10. As a daily driver it's more like a 6/10 for me. Luckily I have an old GTI beater I use for slumming in traffic.

So would I buy this car again? after this track day, yes I would. But now I'm honestly wondering what the F56 JCW w/JCW pro suspension is like. If that car is put together better, less rattles, good stereo, I may strongly consider it. Since I could fit the kid back there in a pinch. I just wonder if it could match the coupe dynamically. Styling-wise the coupe wins in my opinion.

So yes, I'm happy now and satisfied with my purchase.

 

I have mostly to agree with all your comments. I downgraded from Infiniti to Mini and I understand what it means as creature comfort LOL.

My wife is happy, no complains.

I agree on so much rattles but I have gone over much of them by myself. Check your sun visors brackets. You will be surprised.

 

I don't have those yet. I have some from the front right side of the dashboard and one in the rear hatch which seems to be louder as the weather gets colder.

 

My wife's Honda Element had a HORRIBLE squeaky rattle that was obnoxious, and of all places it came from the visor bracket. We looked all over for it and she just pulled it out and snapped it back in ....Rattle was gone. Mine has almost no rattles I'm glad to say. It's a good DD and a demon on the twisties. Never had it on a track though. Good comments on this thread, and loved the track GoPro video. Thanks.

 

The rear hatch......... the lower part of the rear right inside trim surrounding the side window is prone to vibration on rough pavement. As for the the dashboard, you should take a look at the outside cowl trim that covers the wiper mechanism. I fixed both of them.

 

Me and my fiancé love our(her) new 2012 R58 JCW coupe with 6 speed manual. This thing is a rocket and handles like a race car. And I thought her 2004 mini S handled great with the koni adjustables. But yeah every time I get to drive it I am going all out. I push it as far as I can in the turns and on the freeway. I am very impressed and we are haven't even begun modding it yet. And this is coming from a guy who has owned twin turbo mustangs, C5 corvette Z06 modded, C6 Z06 modded and pro touring 1969 Camaros with corvette LS stroker engines and full suspension.

 

Yeah. They are fun to drive. And they bring a lot of smiles per mile. Just remember the car acts differently then ur rear wheel drive cars. It's only different not bad in any way as front wheel drive cars have different thresholds

Enjoy your new car. Saw all ur other posts. Your like new happy grandparents or something !,, MOTOR ON

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Glad you enjoyed your JCW coupe on your trip!