My wife bought me my R56S brand new just before the F56 came out. She knew I always wanted one and she got a great deal on it. I'm glad I have the R56 as I think it's the last gen before they became too much like a BMW dressed up as a MINI.

It's not my daily driver and has never seen snow or any bad weather other than rain once in while. In fact I've only put about 800 miles on it in the past year bringing the total to a little over 18k due to the fact that we have two small children who don't fit comfortably in the back in their car seats. I've come to a bit of a crossroads, as I go back and forth between selling it, or starting to mod. It's literally a time machine....only a few small nicks and chips in the hood as MINI's get, but other than that looks brand new. It's just about paid off, but the warranty is also expired. The plan was to keep it for my kids, but every so often my wife and I walk past it in the garage and wonder if we should keep it or not. But then I drive it like I have this past week and am still in love with it.

Part of me thinks there's something awesome about keeping a car looking new and completely stock, but I also wish the exhaust were a bit better sounding. I go back and forth between the R56 JCW exhaust, or maybe Borla, Alta or Invidia? Any opinions?

 

JCW exhaust is nice. Even the JCW performance tuning exhaust sounds real good. It has a deeper tone to it without being obtrusive and no drone.

 

Do you have a part number for the JCW performance tuning exhaust? I have the part number for the muffler, but not the whole JCW system. The prices really seem to vary on the JCW muffler...anywhere between $300 and $550, but shipping also varies quite a bit. I just don't want to spend a few hundred $ and then have it only be marginally different than stock....if it's noticeable it is worth it. I know the performance gain is minimal if at all...all about sound.

 

 

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...w/18308608933/

This is probably what you'd want in addition to the jcw muffler if that's the route you want to go, although they're a little expensive.

If you want sound comparisons, I've got a few videos of my exhaust's progression, although I don't have one of the stock exhaust.


You can see the exhaust setup in the description of the videos.

In my opinion, the cat/res delete with the JCW muffler sounds the best for street driving - loud enough to sound great, but not too loud to get you in trouble everywhere you go. However, there is quite a bit of drone on the highway at 70+ mph.

 

Thank you for posting these videos! BTW, is that RIT in the background? If so, I graduated in 1997, but I'm pretty sure I see my old home, Kate Gleason Hall back there behind all the new stuff!!

 

Yep, it is RIT! Gleason Hall's still there, and recently there's been so many freshmen coming in that the current amount of housing doesn't even fit everybody so there's always some new building being built each year.

 

So cool! I have to find an excuse to take a trip up and see the place! What’s your major? I was photo. Worked at the financial aid office while I was there. Most of the people I worked for are still there. Small World!!

 

Small world indeed! I'm a Software Engineering major. If you're looking for an excuse to come back up, you should check out the car club (https://www.facebook.com/groups/RITCarClub/). Each semester we do a big meet on campus, so look out for one coming this fall.