The wife has had a 2006 JCW for the past few years, and I picked up a 2003 MCS as a project car to play with on the track. It wasn't running hardly when I got it so it only recently became drivable.

Now that I've got it up and running well, I'm seeing a big difference when taking off from a dead stop. The wife's 2006 will take off easily with little to no clutch slip while the 2003 seems to require some clutch riding to get up and going. Once in motion, all is fine and it runs great.

Is it normal to have to ride the clutch somewhat with the early pre-facelift trans gearing when taking off? I've never drove an early car other than this one so my only comparible is the wife's car which may not be fair.

If this is normal, then I may keep my eyes out for a late transmission hopefully with LSD as I'm not a fan of riding the clutch.

Thanks.

 

I have an '03, and yes, it feels like it stumbles from a standing start. I feel it's the result of a conservative "tip in" rate by the ECU, that is, the rate at which the ECU will apply requested power. I got rid of the problem with a SprintBooster, and I'm much happier.

I know the facelift cars have a different ECU, and the tip in rate might be one of the changes. I also know the SprintBooster's effect can be done with a proper tune from the tune guys, but since I'm unlikely to have that procedure done to this car, I opted for the device.

 

Thanks for the reply, I never dreamed there was this much difference. I agree the "tip-in" rate is weird and not natural compared to other DBW cars I've driven