Picking up a new 5 door with the JCW Eastern Region package (Basically the JCW tuning kit, adaptive dampener suspension, Sport Auto, and some JCW Bling). Been reading a lot on the newer minis, and would like some feedback on the following first mods: Note, this is a lease, so i can't get too crazy:

- Continental 205/40/17 Extreme Contact Summer tires (awesome price at TR)

- JCW Brake kit (think this is worth negotiating as an dealer installed option?)

-OZ Ominia 17x7.5" black wheels (great price and weight, but not too comfortable with having to add a centering ring)

-Some sort of mild rear sway bar with adjustment links


Looking at doing some Autocross and a few road track days with the car. Nothing competitive, just fun. Use to Auto X my 2011 stock GTI, and that was a ton of fun!

Note that this is just a weekend city car, but need to be considerate of the city road conditions. Nothing that's harsher than stock, although i know the tires along with make a huge comfort improvement.

Open to other 17" black wheel solutions, just want something strong, lighter than stock and not too $$$.

Thanks, and looking SOOOO forward to getting this car out in its 'natural' environment ;-)

 

- Continental 205/40/17 Extreme Contact Summer tires, get them and ditch the run flats, much better ride.

- JCW Brake kit (think this is worth negotiating as an dealer installed option?) Get it, the JCW 4 pot brakes are amazing. You will love the feedback. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...it-issues.html

make sure you get the right wheels or you will need spacers.

-OZ Ominia 17x7.5" black wheels (great price and weight, but not too comfortable with having to add a centering ring) , make sure they will clear the JCW BBK.

-Some sort of mild rear sway bar with adjustment links #1 first mod to tighten up and flatten the rear. https://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2017-Cooper-F55-S-5_Door-B46A20A/Suspension/Sway_Bar/


Congrats on a rare special region edition MINI. When u get it post up some pics.

 

Hum, looks like there's no good 17" wheel options for the JCW brakes?

Maybe some pad or caliper options to improve the brakes is a better option?

 

There are absolutely no good pads out there for the non-JCW brakes. It sucks. And no EBC are not good.

 

Genuine MINI, The R506 JCW BBK wheels are nice:

https://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2017-Cooper-F55-S-5_Door-B46A20A/Wheels/OEM_Alloys/2

https://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2017-Cooper-F55-S-5_Door-B46A20A/Wheels/Aftermarket_Alloys/3


Look for JCW in the title. On the other wheels we have not tested fitted them all yet with the JCW BBK.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-wheels-2.html

Some of the NM Eng wheels are good also. We also have wheel spacer kits that can make certain wheels fit.

Hawk does not have pads yet for the Cooper S or JCW gen 3 MINI.

 

What are your take on these OEM Clubman wheels?

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-tpms-set.html

Can't seem to find any info on weight though. Parts guide says they're optional for JCW brake cars, what ever that means

 

All the stock wheels are over 20 pounds. I went with the NM RSe05 wheels in 17". They clear the JCW brakes easily and weigh 17 pounds. Here's a link and a picture of mine.

http://www.nm-eng.com/345/0/0/3249/n...ght-wheel.html

 

Well, received an awesome lease deal on an Eastern Region Edition F55 from Manhattan of Mini, and then they showed me something even better: A white silver F55 with the same JCW kits/options AND XL nav, rear park control, JCW spoiler and carbon fiber scoop and tail pipes. $40K list price, and lets just say, they took a HUGE amount off :-)

Just needed some black out trim, stripes and tires. Scored a set of black JCW wheels (lighter weight) and some Continental Extreme contact sport summer tires for a happy ride/handling:

Recent picts, just need to add red to the vertical piece on the grill.




And of course, had to get the little guy in its proper environment (Autocross) ASAP :-)




Pretty sure i was the only one there with temporary plates, and under 300 miles :-). Also let my girlfriend take it out for a dozen or so sessions. First time for her on a 'track' and she had a blast. She cut her times from 92 to 57 seconds! Record for the day was 47.5 in a 300z, so not bad for a first timer in a car she never drove.

Very fun day, big props out to NJ BMW club.

 

Looks like fun. Great looking car! Congrats.

 

Only seen pics of a couple of those eastern region cars. Congrats. And glad it went straight to the auto X.

 

Funny: quite a few guys were taping over their license plates; i think an effort to keep insurance and warranty companies from photographing their non-approved activities.

Not only did i leave my tag as it, but i even told the dealer i was racing it. Rather than give me crap about voiding a warranty they asked me to send picts! :-)

 

Undercover autoX

 

Ha, pretty Sure NJ BMW club isn't hiding anything!

Next stop is a track day at NJ Motorsports park or Lime Rock.

It's nice racing with the AC on, something we couldn't do with motorcycles.

 

LOL Sounds like some fun. Just slap some starry night yellow graphics on your MINI and they will think its a test mule and look the other way.

 

Definitely shop for your wheels and tires based on weights, not just appearance. I swapped my Hankooks RF and Tentacles for Conti Extreme DW's and Enkei 17" PF01 and shed 32lbs of unsprung weight (6 lbs per wheel and 2 lbs per tire). Completely changed the driving dynamic of the car plus I picked up 10WHP and 11 Lb Ft of wheel torque in the process.

 

Oh I know! Purchased the JCW track wheels that you see in the pict: shed about 4-5lbs per wheel according the specs. These were the factory rims: VERY heavy:




I'm sure another pound or so each from the runflats as well!

 

I've heard that story before. Why does that happen?