MINI Cooper S with JCW upgrades

[JackThrust]

After a brief attempt at bangernomics with a £500 Mondeo bored me to tears after a month I decided to look for something a bit more fun.

Now I'm not the biggest fan of MINIs, I have been known to refer to them as the automotive equivalent of a handbag; but I've always had a thing for superchargers. The name, the noise, there is just something about them that I love and consequently I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the R53 Cooper S. A quick browse of autotrader threw up an interesting looking Cooper S with the JCW upgrade pack, so a test drive was quickly arranged. The supercharger whine alone sold it to me, the fact it handles brilliantly and is really very quick was just a bonus!

The JCW upgrade kit consists of:

Uprated cylinder head, gas-flowed and ported
Uprated supercharger, faster-spinning
Uprated spark plugs
Uprated exhaust system
Remapped ECU
Uprated injectors
Uprated air intake system and air filter

All this brings power to somewhere between 200-210bhp.

I collected it on Monday night and have been grinning like a fool ever since, here are some snaps:











It's actually fairly practical if you're not bothered about carrying passengers!



I'm trying to find a decent MINI forum/club preferably Midlands/Staffs based, any recommendations?

[ArsE92]

Great fun aren't they?! We have a standard R53 that we've had for just over year, but will be up for sale in the next week or so

Short video of ours. Love the whine with the Dave F airbox.

[WokkaWokka]

fk passengers!

[bakerstreet]

Good looking car and the JCW bits make it stand out from other standard S cars

If memory serves, the JCW just had a smaller pulley fitted to the Supercharger. I still think the R53 is a great looking car in S form.

Keep an eye on them though. They are known to have quite a few problems. Steeering rack, Hg and gearbox are all prone to issues. I think its one of the reason why the S is now so cheap.

I had a grey and black one for 6 months, but had to sell it for various reasons. Made a great noise and the exhaust used to pop on the over run

[AuthurDaley]

I like that - awesome colour too.

Had a R53 JCW myself - agree on the noise. It always seemed like mine was going a lot faster than it felt when looking at the speedo

[Biscuits55]

ArsE92 said:

Great fun aren't they?! We have a standard R53 that we've had for just over year, but will be up for sale in the next week or so

Short video of ours. Love the whine with the Dave F airbox.

I am in the market for one for my other half in the next month, if you're still planning to sell yours then drop me a PM. I would far rather buy off of a long standing member of here

Cheers, and apologies to the OP for the hijack .

[ArsE92]

Biscuits55 said:

ArsE92 said:

Great fun aren't they?! We have a standard R53 that we've had for just over year, but will be up for sale in the next week or so

Short video of ours. Love the whine with the Dave F airbox.

I am in the market for one for my other half in the next month, if you're still planning to sell yours then drop me a PM. I would far rather buy off of a long standing member of here

Cheers, and apologies to the OP for the hijack .

Hi Biscuits

Mrs A has her new car now (Audi Q3 for baby duties) so when we get a chance we'll be giving the MINI a wash/wax and getting it advertised. It's currently sat on the drive not being used

So yeah, definitely for sale. I'll drop you a PM with details.

[martin mrt]

Cracking cars these, trading the OHs R53 Cooper S JCW for our E46 M3 was one of my biggest motoring regrets, honestly.

The amount of fun and the smile these put on your face along a twisty back road is awesome, one of my all time favourite cars.

[iacabu]

Looks good and great colour. I could definitely be tempted by one like this.

[0llie]

Looks great, love Black Eye Purple.

Any other plans for it?

[JackThrust]

Bit of an update, the MINI and I went on our first track day on Thursday to Curborough sprint course.

Had a great time but the MINI feels in need of a service now! Plus the rear tyres are on the legal limit at this point, May is going to be expensive!

A few pics of the day, credit to Jordan Cooper for some lovely snaps.









I would really recommend Curborough to anyone, it was a great day with some great people and at £60 for a whole day's action it's an absolute bargain!

No plans for the MINI as yet other than a service and some new tyres. Had some Kumho Ecstas on the front a while ago which I'm happy with so will stick with them for the rear. Also planning to attend Curborough in May if I get permission from my wife! I can see Track days becoming addictive.....

[Beedub]

JackThrust said:

Bit of an update, the MINI and I went on our first track day on Thursday to Curborough sprint course.

Had a great time but the MINI feels in need of a service now! Plus the rear tyres are on the legal limit at this point, May is going to be expensive!

A few pics of the day, credit to Jordan Cooper for some lovely snaps.









I would really recommend Curborough to anyone, it was a great day with some great people and at £60 for a whole day's action it's an absolute bargain!

No plans for the MINI as yet other than a service and some new tyres. Had some Kumho Ecstas on the front a while ago which I'm happy with so will stick with them for the rear. Also planning to attend Curborough in May if I get permission from my wife! I can see Track days becoming addictive.....

Curborough is EXCELLENT, very little run off however I've seen many car gets written off their, very challenging little sprint course and i love the new track layout, ill be their within the next 4 weeks as me and some friends hire it for the day and basically beat the crap out of our cars ALL day, we time it and everything, basically run it as our own sprint, no messing we a going for it!! brilliant venue!