Which is better a 06:supercharged jcw or a 08 turbo jcw

Which is better a 06:supercharged jcw or a 08 turbo jcw

Author
Discussion

cejsmith

Original Poster:

167 posts

256 months

Saturday 10th September 2016
quotequote all
Which do people think is more fun and also more reliable?

Skosh

72 posts

187 months

Tuesday 13th September 2016
quotequote all
I would reckon the 06 would be more reliable. It was the last of the supercharged Minis so should have had all the kinks worked out. I have a few mates who had heavily modified R53s and they never missed a beat.

I had an 08 turbo JCW and it was the most unreliable car I ever owned, my mate had one as well and went through 3 engines. I think a supercharged R53 would be a much better bet than a early R56. The R56 did get better as the years went on but the R53 is still a cracking car to drive.

Hope that helps.

900T-R

20,404 posts

257 months

Tuesday 13th September 2016
quotequote all
Dpends on your mileage. The '04 JCW I drove was big fun but it had a serious drinking problem. My '12 Cooper S was a lot more palatable in that respect and the JCW shouldn't be far off.

As for reliability, the early R56 versions sound to be a little more problematic, althoug overall build quality was better (I had an '08 Cooper).

mon the fish

1,416 posts

148 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
The 08 will be cheaper to tax, and will drink less fuel. It will also be faster.

The 06 IMO will be more fun, and possibly more reliable - certainly in terms of the engine anyway

cejsmith

Original Poster:

167 posts

256 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
I'm only going to use it as a fun play thing for me and my daughter , if it will do 2k a year that will be it.

900T-R

20,404 posts

257 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
In that case I'd go for the earlier, supercharged one...

pdavison

1,637 posts

277 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
I've got an 05 JCW Supercharged Convertible and it's great fun and so far has been totally reliable.

The fuel costs won't impact you on the mileage you're planning.

If you were interested in a convertible let me know as I'm now doing more miles so am considering selling, although trying to work out what to replace it with is proving tricky!

cejsmith

Original Poster:

167 posts

256 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
I had a cooper s convertible some time ago , it was a great little car, but I had aggro with the roof and got rid of it. That was about 10 years ago.

CarsOrBikes

1,135 posts

184 months

Monday 26th September 2016
quotequote all
R53 supercharged

Very tuneable, reliably, which makes it in standard well maintained form, very strong in comparison I would say.

Then there is the way it behaves, which is just fun. Best with the LSD, or one fitted to upgrade/install. No looking back then ha.


CarsOrBikes

1,135 posts

184 months

Monday 26th September 2016
quotequote all
R53 supercharged imo.

Very tuneable, reliably, which makes it in standard well maintained form, very strong in comparison I would say.

Then there is the way it behaves, which is just fun. Best with the LSD, or one fitted to upgrade/install. No looking back then ha.


R53rider

183 posts

88 months

Thursday 8th December 2016
quotequote all
R53 supercharged. No question. As posted above a facelift 2005 (which is what I've recently bought for fun) or 2006. I couldn't find a 2006 Gen 1 near me. Seem pretty rare. A lot of the early issues are sorted on the facelift.
I found that the changeover wasn't immediate. There are cars with some pre facelift features but not all of them. sort of half and half. I avoided these.
I believe that Rover actually had a fair hand in developing the Gen1 )?) so it is as near as a modern car comes to the feel and handling of an original Cooper S (which I had, heavily sorted). Beautiful weight to the steering and pin sharp turn in. Not the same on a Gen2 (I've driven both), more 'modern' and a lot of the wonderful feel has been wound out. Pasteurised.
And how can the gorgeous whine of the superchager not bring a big smile every time you give it some beans!

GiveItSomeWellie

3,007 posts

196 months

Thursday 8th December 2016
quotequote all
Supercharged. Had both, I wouldn't go near a pre LCI turbo again.