Hello,
I'm almost on verge of trading in my '11 MCS for a JCW. was going to wait for the new motor/body style but the dealer said it probably wouldn't be till the end of the production..which he is guessing the 17 or 18 model year. Anyways, a couple questions/opinions as I build one.

- Sport suspension. Anyone have one? Like it? My MCS doesn't, but was thinking that adding one might close the gap on the handling in the twistees between the two...plus lowering it a little more

- I'm really liking the Red Copper seats in pictures. Our Jeep has a similar color and it is a good balance between the black and gray interiors..but i'm not sure if that color would go good with a Red with black roof exterior. Has anyone seen that color combo or anyone have the copper interior that can tell me how they like it? I think it would look great with the green, but since I live on a dirt road the green is a little dark and would be a bear to keep clean, almost like a black. I've had a red car before, and red seems to go a good job of not showing dust..

- If I decide the copper seats are not going to work, my next idea is the red color line interior with champion black seats with the red outlines. Anyone have these seats that can say how they are in the summer heat...they look to be very HOT in the blazing sun, which is why I'm leaning toward the copper. I would do cloth like my MCS has, but the JCW only has the one option....the hot cross pattern, which isnt really me.

- Lastly, is the power of the JCW really noticeable? I've read about getting a JB+ with the S model to boost it up like a JCW, but can you get a JB+ with a JCW and make it that much better?

Decisions..decisions...

Thanks in advance...

 

i can only address your question on the sport suspension ...

i have it on my '12 all4 and 2 weeks after i got it, my dad bought an off-demo '12 all4 w/o sport suspension

i have driven dad's enough to say GET THE SPORT SUSPENSION!

it makes a huge difference

my all4 has 18" wheels with summer tires and dad's has 17" wheels with all-season tires

just for fun, i swapped wheels and drove both cars and have to say the suspension still makes a huge difference ...

my all4 with the all-seasons and sport suspension still handles better than dad's with the summer tires

the ride is firmer with the sport suspension, but since getting rid of the run-flats, it is very acceptable

just my opinion

while on my opinion, if you are custom ordering, these options are not to be missed:

1. heated seats, either alone or as part of the winter package
2. get the alarm system ... i passed on it figuring i could get a better alarm for less money in the aftermarket ... wrong! no aftermarket alarms at all!
3. HID head lights ... must have
4. flatload floor ... must have
5. anthracite headliner ... easy to miss this one ... the standard headliner is beige!
6. i got the powerfold mirrors because they were part of a package, but i love them
7. the standard heat/ac system is more flexible than the auto climate control ... dad's car has auto climate, mine has standard manual heater/ac ... we both prefer the manual system
8. black headlights ... they look great on my black all4, but the chrome looks good on dad's white all4 ... so it depends on the car color
9. tranny ... i have manual, dad has auto with flappy paddles ... i like them both!

scott

 

Thank you very much for the reply. Great news on the sport as i was leaning that way, and i love u did the test with 17" tires as I was going to try and find a set for winter tires...no sure how 18" winters would perform even though they sell them. I pretty much had all the options u list picked out..and was wondering about the manual vs auto climate control. On my 11 MCS i have the auto and I almost always have it on HI or LOW...nothing really in between...and when you start the car, it always defaults to 72 degrees...so I have to move it every time. This answers that question.

Thanks again!

 

for winters, i am using 16 inch mini euro wheels, purchased from ecs tuning

http://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2011-C...oys/ES2159816/

and for tires, i use 205/70R16 dunlop grandtrek sj6 studless ice and snow tires ... they were ~$85 ea from tirerack and work insanely well

being 70 series tires, i have lots of sidewall to protect the rims from potholes

 

there were 2 reasons i bought the dunlop grandtrek sj6 tires
1. they were available as a 205/70R16
2. dunlop calls them a. offroad traction rated and b. studless ice and snow rated

i absolutely recommend these tires

scott

 

Mirroring bmwr606's statement, get the sport suspension. My car wasn't a ME build, it was at port when I ordered it, after being in a car with sport suspension, and being in mine without it, it's 100% better with it.