Anyone getting a F56 JCW?
Discussion
Looking to order a JCW but can't find any info or reviews. Just wondered if anyone on here has one ordered?
Trying to work out...
a) whether this is standard equipment or is it just a feature of the 'jcw tuning kit' for Cooper S's?
b) whether to spec the variable dampers or just stick with the sport suspension. I'll mainly be using the car around town with the odd trip abroad and one or two track days
c) which gearbox do they use for the Auto? Is it the ZF 8 speed?
Thanks!
Trying to work out...
a) whether this is standard equipment or is it just a feature of the 'jcw tuning kit' for Cooper S's?
b) whether to spec the variable dampers or just stick with the sport suspension. I'll mainly be using the car around town with the odd trip abroad and one or two track days
c) which gearbox do they use for the Auto? Is it the ZF 8 speed?
Thanks!
So I drove one on Thursday. Here are my thoughts...
It seems like a great all rounder. My main concern was it would be too focused, but thankfully its nothing of the sort. More like a perfect half way house between a Cooper S and an R56 GP. What really got me though was how it makes you feel like you're in something far more 'special' than it perhaps actually is. It only had 15 miles on it so the drivetrain felt quite tight, but I certainly got a feel for it. The engine is much more torquey than any MINI I've ever driven... you get plenty of push from about 2-3,000 rpm but you end up pushing it beyond that for no real reason other than the addictively juicy noise the exhaust starts to bellow out (more on that later). In many ways it feels like a Mark 4 R32... stupidly quick for a car of that size, but not unmanageable. The car I drove had the variable dampers and it looks like almost every car coming to the UK will have them... and I see why! In sport mode the suspension is bone shattering but thankfully via the iDrive you can configure the suspension independently to the drivetrain/power in the 'Sport' and 'Mid' modes. I would opt for the softer suspension setting for both modes, but its brilliant to know that if you find yourself on the Dales or at Brands you can quite easily turn the suspension firm. I think there must be some kind of active roll bars as well, because there was ZERO body roll in some corners with the variable dampers turned up - this will certainly be useful if visiting a track.
Steering - not sure here, a little vague? Not as much feedback as I would have liked. In the car's defense, it does feel like its carrying more weight than you'd expect so perhaps the nimble and pointy steering you'd expect suffers slightly. It does get better when you turn it up to Sport mode though as the electric assistance eases off.
As with all the UK launch cars, this was an auto and I'm somewhat glad I got a chance to try it as I never would have if I was given the choice. Whilst I'm sure it would be a more interactive drivers car as a manual, the automatic box delivers enough (or more precisely, doesn't take away too much) enjoyment for the odd spirited dash that I will be putting it through... but for 80% of what I will be using it for (zipping round London on work, commuting, traffic) the auto box will actually suit me better - I usually hate auto's but it really felt very refined. I never thought I would order an automatic MINI but hey, it has impressed me!
Only thing I would add for anyone reading this with a view to ordering - I have a weekend toy and frequent access to other performance cars. If you're a keen driver and this is your 'one suits all' car, go with the manual box - yes, the auto is darn good but it CANNOT be better than a 3 pedal car, even more so a 3 pedal Mini!
Going back to that exhaust note, did I mention how awesome it is? The car is very well insulated (this is a much more mature and refined proposition than the R53 and R56 were) so you don't really hear it when its idling until you open the windows and yep, there it is purring away like you'd expect on any current hot hatch. Give it a blip of the throttle and its certainly playful. Note wise, it reminded me of the Gen 1 Audi TT's - a deeper burble than you expect. Push a little further and it crackles and pops with lovely over-run bangs when you ease off the accelerator too. Upshifts with the auto sound truly excellent - it does that 'fart' sound that all the German whips now do. Again, one of the way this car lulls you into thinking you're in something a bit special.
Interior - lovely. No complaints here. The seats which come with the Chili Pack are gorgeous both in feel and support - yet again, they remind you of more expensive and serious cars. Media interface is great - having owned a few F-gen BMW's in a row everything felt familiar and intuitive. But why oh why does the iDrive twizzle-feature work in the opposite direction to BMW's though!? That was mildly annoying but I'm a victim of habit I suppose. A big surprise was the Head Up Display. Its cheap as far as HUD systems go, but only because its not a real one - it just projects the information onto a piece of plastic. Despite that, it really is useful and (just about) worth the money.
Biggest gripe on the inside was the armrest. How these-days a company with such resources and R&D expenditure can get the ergonomics of something like an armrest so catastrophically wrong, I cannot fathom. It's fine until you want to change the radio station, select your driving mode or do pretty much anything through the iDrive controller at which point it becomes an absolute pain whether it is up or down. I'll try and remove it perhaps.
All things considered, its the perfect all rounder which is practical enough to use everyday and feels properly special to boot.
Is it good? Yes
Will I be ordering one? Yes
What colour? Can't decide - they all look awesome
Thanks for reading. Hope its helpful.
It seems like a great all rounder. My main concern was it would be too focused, but thankfully its nothing of the sort. More like a perfect half way house between a Cooper S and an R56 GP. What really got me though was how it makes you feel like you're in something far more 'special' than it perhaps actually is. It only had 15 miles on it so the drivetrain felt quite tight, but I certainly got a feel for it. The engine is much more torquey than any MINI I've ever driven... you get plenty of push from about 2-3,000 rpm but you end up pushing it beyond that for no real reason other than the addictively juicy noise the exhaust starts to bellow out (more on that later). In many ways it feels like a Mark 4 R32... stupidly quick for a car of that size, but not unmanageable. The car I drove had the variable dampers and it looks like almost every car coming to the UK will have them... and I see why! In sport mode the suspension is bone shattering but thankfully via the iDrive you can configure the suspension independently to the drivetrain/power in the 'Sport' and 'Mid' modes. I would opt for the softer suspension setting for both modes, but its brilliant to know that if you find yourself on the Dales or at Brands you can quite easily turn the suspension firm. I think there must be some kind of active roll bars as well, because there was ZERO body roll in some corners with the variable dampers turned up - this will certainly be useful if visiting a track.
Steering - not sure here, a little vague? Not as much feedback as I would have liked. In the car's defense, it does feel like its carrying more weight than you'd expect so perhaps the nimble and pointy steering you'd expect suffers slightly. It does get better when you turn it up to Sport mode though as the electric assistance eases off.
As with all the UK launch cars, this was an auto and I'm somewhat glad I got a chance to try it as I never would have if I was given the choice. Whilst I'm sure it would be a more interactive drivers car as a manual, the automatic box delivers enough (or more precisely, doesn't take away too much) enjoyment for the odd spirited dash that I will be putting it through... but for 80% of what I will be using it for (zipping round London on work, commuting, traffic) the auto box will actually suit me better - I usually hate auto's but it really felt very refined. I never thought I would order an automatic MINI but hey, it has impressed me!
Only thing I would add for anyone reading this with a view to ordering - I have a weekend toy and frequent access to other performance cars. If you're a keen driver and this is your 'one suits all' car, go with the manual box - yes, the auto is darn good but it CANNOT be better than a 3 pedal car, even more so a 3 pedal Mini!
Going back to that exhaust note, did I mention how awesome it is? The car is very well insulated (this is a much more mature and refined proposition than the R53 and R56 were) so you don't really hear it when its idling until you open the windows and yep, there it is purring away like you'd expect on any current hot hatch. Give it a blip of the throttle and its certainly playful. Note wise, it reminded me of the Gen 1 Audi TT's - a deeper burble than you expect. Push a little further and it crackles and pops with lovely over-run bangs when you ease off the accelerator too. Upshifts with the auto sound truly excellent - it does that 'fart' sound that all the German whips now do. Again, one of the way this car lulls you into thinking you're in something a bit special.
Interior - lovely. No complaints here. The seats which come with the Chili Pack are gorgeous both in feel and support - yet again, they remind you of more expensive and serious cars. Media interface is great - having owned a few F-gen BMW's in a row everything felt familiar and intuitive. But why oh why does the iDrive twizzle-feature work in the opposite direction to BMW's though!? That was mildly annoying but I'm a victim of habit I suppose. A big surprise was the Head Up Display. Its cheap as far as HUD systems go, but only because its not a real one - it just projects the information onto a piece of plastic. Despite that, it really is useful and (just about) worth the money.
Biggest gripe on the inside was the armrest. How these-days a company with such resources and R&D expenditure can get the ergonomics of something like an armrest so catastrophically wrong, I cannot fathom. It's fine until you want to change the radio station, select your driving mode or do pretty much anything through the iDrive controller at which point it becomes an absolute pain whether it is up or down. I'll try and remove it perhaps.
All things considered, its the perfect all rounder which is practical enough to use everyday and feels properly special to boot.
Is it good? Yes
Will I be ordering one? Yes
What colour? Can't decide - they all look awesome
Thanks for reading. Hope its helpful.
Edited by AOK on Saturday 2nd May 22:44
Update - I ordered one last week but have told them I will provide a final colour choice next week - there are so many combinations of body colour, roof colour, stripe colour and wheels that I'm finding it hard to decide!
It would be rude not to take the two-tone JCW wheels and the red roof seeing as these are exclusive to the JCW. Thereafter, I've narrowed down my colour choice to Thunder Grey or British Racing Green (not Rebel Green) with the black JCW stripes... essentially one of the top two in the picture below. I've submitted the order with TG but very tempted to change to BRG as I think it will be very rare and I'd like something a little different. But TG will probably be better for resale.
Any thoughts welcome!
It would be rude not to take the two-tone JCW wheels and the red roof seeing as these are exclusive to the JCW. Thereafter, I've narrowed down my colour choice to Thunder Grey or British Racing Green (not Rebel Green) with the black JCW stripes... essentially one of the top two in the picture below. I've submitted the order with TG but very tempted to change to BRG as I think it will be very rare and I'd like something a little different. But TG will probably be better for resale.
Any thoughts welcome!
AMDBSNick said:
Thank god I found this thread as I have been having exactly the same dilemma re colour choice.
I am about to pull the trigger on TG with a red roof.
What did you go for AOK?
Mine is going through build as we speak, a Netherlands car unfortunately but hey ho. I spent many hours pondering the colour choice and in the end went for Thunder Grey with a red roof and JCW stripes. I'm going to black out all the chrome and may also wrap the roof black, leaving the cross member in the grille and the mirror caps the only things red on the car. Will see. I am about to pull the trigger on TG with a red roof.
What did you go for AOK?
Also fitting spacers all round and the tuning kit electric-flap exhaust system.
What can I say, it's brought out the kid in me!
Boogs said:
3 days in - absolutely delighted!
Here's the spec:
Thunder Grey Metallic
Dinamica/Leather Carbon Black sport seats
Sport automatic transmission <--- I know, I know...
Variable Damper Control
Reversing Assist camera
John Cooper Works Bonnet Stripes
Roof & Mirror Caps in Red
Comfort Access
Chrome Line interior
Heated front windscreen
Interior Trim Piano Black
Panoramic glass sunroof
Sun protection glass
First Aid Kit & Triangle
Ext. mirrors - folding. auto dimming
Seat heating, front
Driving Assistant Pack
Adaptive LED Headlights
Parking Assistant
Park Distance Control (PDC). front and rear
Intelligent emergency calling
MINI Head-up Display
Harman Kardon Hi-Fi system
Media Pack XL
CHILI Pack
MINI TLC with MOT Protect
Here's the spec:
Thunder Grey Metallic
Dinamica/Leather Carbon Black sport seats
Sport automatic transmission <--- I know, I know...
Variable Damper Control
Reversing Assist camera
John Cooper Works Bonnet Stripes
Roof & Mirror Caps in Red
Comfort Access
Chrome Line interior
Heated front windscreen
Interior Trim Piano Black
Panoramic glass sunroof
Sun protection glass
First Aid Kit & Triangle
Ext. mirrors - folding. auto dimming
Seat heating, front
Driving Assistant Pack
Adaptive LED Headlights
Parking Assistant
Park Distance Control (PDC). front and rear
Intelligent emergency calling
MINI Head-up Display
Harman Kardon Hi-Fi system
Media Pack XL
CHILI Pack
MINI TLC with MOT Protect
-Z- said:
Ahhh, but I'm hoping that the cruise control works like BMW's where in traffic it's a full 'feet off' system that handles crawling stop\start traffic fully automatically.
I've only tried it once (London-Brum-London) and I don't think the system is as sophisticated as what you get on 5 Series etc. As far as I could tell, it won't bring you to a complete stop and then get you going again if it starts moving again within 5 or so seconds (which is what happens on BMWs).Might just not know how it works.
PS starting my subtle mods soon
Hi all. By way of an update:
Glass Driver and passenger glass is being tinted as we speak
Wrapping I am having the following wrapped early next week: front and rear light cluster rings, fuel cap, handles, waistline chrome, front chrome grille, full roof (apart from spoiler which is remaining red).
Spacers These are on order. 12mm front and 15mm rear.
Exhaust Sticking with the standard set up for now. May change my mind later
Dashcam Fitted and tapped neatly into glovebox fuse box to keep the cig lighter free
Paintwork Applying G Techniq Crystal Serum... anyone have advice on how expensive this should be? The paintwork has never been washed so there should be no contamination / swirls to correct before application... hoping £3-400 will be enough!?
Will post photos as things progress.
Glass Driver and passenger glass is being tinted as we speak
Wrapping I am having the following wrapped early next week: front and rear light cluster rings, fuel cap, handles, waistline chrome, front chrome grille, full roof (apart from spoiler which is remaining red).
Spacers These are on order. 12mm front and 15mm rear.
Exhaust Sticking with the standard set up for now. May change my mind later
Dashcam Fitted and tapped neatly into glovebox fuse box to keep the cig lighter free
Paintwork Applying G Techniq Crystal Serum... anyone have advice on how expensive this should be? The paintwork has never been washed so there should be no contamination / swirls to correct before application... hoping £3-400 will be enough!?
Will post photos as things progress.
Dechrome, tints and roof wrap now done.
Crappy phone pic. Will get better ones done shortly.
Ps to answer question about spacers, I just don't think the car has enough stance. Almost looks awkward at the back. It's strange, the alloys almost buckle back on themselves to clear the bigger callipers, not sure why they didn't just increase the offset and fill the arches better
Crappy phone pic. Will get better ones done shortly.
Ps to answer question about spacers, I just don't think the car has enough stance. Almost looks awkward at the back. It's strange, the alloys almost buckle back on themselves to clear the bigger callipers, not sure why they didn't just increase the offset and fill the arches better
All my aesthetic mods, including the H&R wheel spacers, are now done and I'm thoroughly enjoying this car.
Two issues:
1) Both seats are squeaking like mad. Its unbareably annoying so I have to turn the music up to drown it out. Anyone else suffering this? I feel like an idiot going in to the dealer over something like this but ultimately I wouldn't expect it to be that bad on a 10 year old used car, let alone a £35k new MINI!
2) Fuel economy... not good. <25mpg and I'm in Green mode 80% of the time. I was getting 28-30mpg doing the same routes in my 125d... perhaps it will get better, it hasn't even done 1000 miles yet so barely run in.
Two issues:
1) Both seats are squeaking like mad. Its unbareably annoying so I have to turn the music up to drown it out. Anyone else suffering this? I feel like an idiot going in to the dealer over something like this but ultimately I wouldn't expect it to be that bad on a 10 year old used car, let alone a £35k new MINI!
2) Fuel economy... not good. <25mpg and I'm in Green mode 80% of the time. I was getting 28-30mpg doing the same routes in my 125d... perhaps it will get better, it hasn't even done 1000 miles yet so barely run in.
AMDBSNick said:
It just gets better and better 
Yup!Seats still squeaking... but hey ho, its such a good car that I forgive it.
Still not sure whether leaving the spoiler red looks OK... I've got used to it, but sometimes I catch glimpses of it and think it looks stupid. I just wanted to leave something red at the back of the car to compliment the mirrors and stripes at the front... hmmm. Thoughts?
amgmcqueen said:
Are you guys still enjoying your cars? What is the ride quality like in these and the quality of the car in general?
In a nutshell... Hugely enjoying it. The seats have stopped squeaking and it's just the perfect car around London... And then it comes alive on the twisties too.
I have the variable dampers (along with every single other option) and I permanently leave it in the soft setting. It feels 'just right' in every situation.
I thought long and hard about fitting the asbo exhaust, but in the end decided not to. I've now started driving with the rear seats down and that brings the exhaust acoustics in the cabin to exactly where I want them, without making the car any louder outside.
Sadly, I might need to sell it soon as my work is meaning I'm doing a lot more out of town mileage than anticipated, so i end up leaving it at home and opt for the comfort and better economy of a 520d. The JCW could easily manage it though, and I'd happily use it on long journeys if I didn't have the other option. Might hold onto it into the summer but just not using it enough.
I think I posted the spec earlier on this thread. And it's only on about 2,000 miles. Let me know if interested!
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