Howdy folks! So I'm a coach for a motorcycle trackday organization, motorsports photographer, and overall bike NUT. I love anything that goes fast, but mostly, it has been bike and open wheel related. Well, not even anything open wheel - F1 only!

My girlfriend, Samantha has an 06 Cooper, and it is as stock as it can get. The driver side rear wheel has a horrible wobbly sound coming from it, which I assume is the rotor. Plus, the tires slide just looking at them. HOWEVER, we took that thing to the Dragon today, and......OMMFG that thing is a damn blast! So much so, I'm not sure if I want to spend time in the Mini or on the bike! To drag knees or to Phil Wicks 2-Wheel it all over town?!? It's a dilemma!

While we were up there, we ran into a gentleman who was on a cross country trek from Yankee land to his new (old) home out in California. He had an 03 S which had a few JCW upgrades on it, namely the supercharger. He took Sam for a ride while I followed. Wow, I'm in love.

Anywho, I've been looking around to replace my HHR, and I'll be in the market in about 6 months. After today, I believe I'll be looking forward to hopping in a JCW. I'll probably be asking a ton of questions about them in the next few months. To start off though, Sam needs to do some work to hers, so my posts will be concerning her baby for the time being.

The girl isn't scared of the throttle or the brakes, and she's pretty darn smooth. Brakes have to be first, then we're going to look to beefing up the suspenders and adjusting the stance for looks, and then some proper wheels and tires - maybe go up a size?

So throw it at me. If you had to do it all over again, where you would start, and what would you get?

Cheers, fellas!

 

Good Brakes, Rear Sway Bar, Good Tires, and it will suprise you all over again.
So you're on the right track, a 17" rim & 215 wide tire would be a good "all around" combo. (oh, and a good harness to hold you in place is a real suprise of a difference when driving)

As far as new, stay away from JCW, unless you want the prestige, you can get more from basic mods @ less than 1/2 the price, unless of course you're getting a JCW without paying extra for it.

Have Fun

 

Thanks BlwnAway, I've heard similar about the JCW's. Fitting it all under one financing package is probably what will keep me away from just buying an S and upgrading it. However, if anyone can think of a way around that.....

 

If your talking about brand new or even later model, I personall wouldn't know about the real world differences and mod options, I'm just not up on my 2nd gen cars.

 

Chest2tank, you might want to post on NAM when you start looking for a MINI. It looks like a lot of the members start parting out their after market pieces off their car before they sell it. You might just find a car you like already built. Good luck, it's a fun journey!

 

We just did, we got a new JCW. Its stock except for swapping out the runflats.

 

Yeah, good tires are a must! I am looking forward to doing a sway bar myself, since I've already upgraded my supercharger pulley.

It really doesn't take much... however, nothing will ever beat the kind of speed you can get out of your motorcycle, and for 1/10th the price (unless you ride a Ducati or something).

I know my Mini won't smoke Porsches, but my VFR800 sure will...

 

The difference narrows a bit over 1.0 g.

Acceleration - the bike. Any bike. Christ I've 12 lbs/hp!
Braking - the Mini, because at .9 g it takes less skill and is more controllable.
The corners - mixed:
> the bike takes a straighter line as a single track vehicle, but
> unless you're willing to lean more than 45 degrees on the street the Mini will be quicker at the apex for an equal amount of risk. (Or mine will).

Mind you I went back from bikes to cars after 125k miles on some damned fast bikes and on some of the best roads on the planet.

I stopped feeling immortal you see - not sure why.

Cheers,

Charlie