R56 JCW vs Cooper S
Discussion
When I bought my Mini in January I plummed for a Cooper S over a JCW (both at the same dealer) as I loved the Ice Blue and didn't fancy red and black with a red and black interior.
The extra poke of the JCW was nice but I preferred the overall package of the one I bought.
Now I've been enjoying my Mini I wondered what the actual differences are between a 2012 Cooper S and a JCW.
Is it map and exhaust or are there oily bits to change as well.
Not interested in the body mods or wheels or interior trim. just the differences to engine, chassis and brakes.
Also are these reversible? I am quite sure my Ice Blue Cooper S is fairly rare, so don't want to mess it up.
Thanks in advance!
The extra poke of the JCW was nice but I preferred the overall package of the one I bought.
Now I've been enjoying my Mini I wondered what the actual differences are between a 2012 Cooper S and a JCW.
Is it map and exhaust or are there oily bits to change as well.
Not interested in the body mods or wheels or interior trim. just the differences to engine, chassis and brakes.
Also are these reversible? I am quite sure my Ice Blue Cooper S is fairly rare, so don't want to mess it up.
Thanks in advance!
The JCW didn't get the N18 engine until later on in 2012, so your engine is probably more reliable unless compared to a late JCW.
As others have said above, the difference for both engine generations is more than just a remap and exhaust, and the JCW turbo is capable of being tuned to higher levels.
But if looking to upgrade your own car, a simple remap on yours for a few hundred quid will achieve pretty much the same performance as a stock JCW. Maybe even a tad more torque.
You don't even need to change the exhaust really, other than to improve on the somewhat muted sound of the standard Cooper S (tempted to do that on my own car). So you could keep it looking completely standard.
Where things get more expensive is the brakes, the Brembo set up on the JCW is quite a bit better, but dear to retrofit.
Suspension wise, Koni FSDs are meant to work well if you want to retain standard ride height, or numerous options if you want to go lower. I don't think the standard JCW suspension is necessarily the best way to go.
And get rid of the runflat tyres if you haven't already. That is another best bang for buck change along with a remap.
As others have said above, the difference for both engine generations is more than just a remap and exhaust, and the JCW turbo is capable of being tuned to higher levels.
But if looking to upgrade your own car, a simple remap on yours for a few hundred quid will achieve pretty much the same performance as a stock JCW. Maybe even a tad more torque.
You don't even need to change the exhaust really, other than to improve on the somewhat muted sound of the standard Cooper S (tempted to do that on my own car). So you could keep it looking completely standard.
Where things get more expensive is the brakes, the Brembo set up on the JCW is quite a bit better, but dear to retrofit.
Suspension wise, Koni FSDs are meant to work well if you want to retain standard ride height, or numerous options if you want to go lower. I don't think the standard JCW suspension is necessarily the best way to go.
And get rid of the runflat tyres if you haven't already. That is another best bang for buck change along with a remap.
Drekly said:
The JCW didn't get the N18 engine until later on in 2012, so your engine is probably more reliable unless compared to a late JCW.
As others have said above, the difference for both engine generations is more than just a remap and exhaust, and the JCW turbo is capable of being tuned to higher levels.
But if looking to upgrade your own car, a simple remap on yours for a few hundred quid will achieve pretty much the same performance as a stock JCW. Maybe even a tad more torque.
You don't even need to change the exhaust really, other than to improve on the somewhat muted sound of the standard Cooper S (tempted to do that on my own car). So you could keep it looking completely standard.
Where things get more expensive is the brakes, the Brembo set up on the JCW is quite a bit better, but dear to retrofit.
Suspension wise, Koni FSDs are meant to work well if you want to retain standard ride height, or numerous options if you want to go lower. I don't think the standard JCW suspension is necessarily the best way to go.
And get rid of the runflat tyres if you haven't already. That is another best bang for buck change along with a remap.
Excellent info. Exactly what I was looking for. As I am on Hankook Ventus all round (non runflat) I think I'll maybe look at a little map and an exhaust.As others have said above, the difference for both engine generations is more than just a remap and exhaust, and the JCW turbo is capable of being tuned to higher levels.
But if looking to upgrade your own car, a simple remap on yours for a few hundred quid will achieve pretty much the same performance as a stock JCW. Maybe even a tad more torque.
You don't even need to change the exhaust really, other than to improve on the somewhat muted sound of the standard Cooper S (tempted to do that on my own car). So you could keep it looking completely standard.
Where things get more expensive is the brakes, the Brembo set up on the JCW is quite a bit better, but dear to retrofit.
Suspension wise, Koni FSDs are meant to work well if you want to retain standard ride height, or numerous options if you want to go lower. I don't think the standard JCW suspension is necessarily the best way to go.
And get rid of the runflat tyres if you haven't already. That is another best bang for buck change along with a remap.
Cheers.
Challo said:
Broccers said:
We've a N18 cooper s with a k&N typhoon intake and JB+ remap plug in. The difference is night an day from stock.
Can ask how much the plug in remap costs? I have the N14 and the wonder what a performance hike would look likehttps://orranje.co.uk/product/burger-motorsports-m...
https://prodigymotorsport.co.uk/kn-typhoon-air-int...
I bought them used for half the cost. Worth every penny
It's gone from ok to pretty quick.
It is true in the sense that they are taking a live feed, amending it with a default value and then sending the information to the ECU. A remap is changing the way that the ECU responds to the actual live data.
A 'plug in remap' and a 'performance box' that you leave plugged in are 2 different things. One is a hardware fix that fits in line with a couple of sensors in your engine and alters the data that feeds the ECU, the former is a software ecu remap, you just do it yourself with hardware shipped to you from the tuning company.
The JB+ box is a performance box, IMHO it's misleading to use the phrase 'remap' in the context of the product.
Some people say that a remap on a rolling road is the only way to go. I think this may be the case if you have a custom ecu that allows live mapping but I don't think any OEM ones do that and Mini's certainly don't, I've not had a rolling road and it's been fine so far.
You just need to do a little bit of research on remapping companies, make sure you pick one that has a reasonable level of competence and backup and ask about the maps they use and where they come from so you are balancing pragmatism with cost/travel.
You could opt for a solution where they ship you a remap tool, and you do it yourself, which means you can take it off whenever you need to.
A 'plug in remap' and a 'performance box' that you leave plugged in are 2 different things. One is a hardware fix that fits in line with a couple of sensors in your engine and alters the data that feeds the ECU, the former is a software ecu remap, you just do it yourself with hardware shipped to you from the tuning company.
The JB+ box is a performance box, IMHO it's misleading to use the phrase 'remap' in the context of the product.
Some people say that a remap on a rolling road is the only way to go. I think this may be the case if you have a custom ecu that allows live mapping but I don't think any OEM ones do that and Mini's certainly don't, I've not had a rolling road and it's been fine so far.
You just need to do a little bit of research on remapping companies, make sure you pick one that has a reasonable level of competence and backup and ask about the maps they use and where they come from so you are balancing pragmatism with cost/travel.
You could opt for a solution where they ship you a remap tool, and you do it yourself, which means you can take it off whenever you need to.
Edited by TimmyMallett on Wednesday 21st October 12:03 :spelling
Edited by TimmyMallett on Wednesday 21st October 12:08
scrw. said:
isn't there also a dealer JCW kit, that was bolt on, as opposed to a factory JCW? so no engine mods bar intake/ehaust and a remap.
There was, for both N14 and N18 Cooper S models, the latter of which gave 200bhp. But by that time it made no sense to buy as you'd be better off just buying a factory JCW for barely any more money. And even less sense now that the cars are out of warranty and you can get better gains aftermarket for much less.I only ever saw one N18 Cooper S with the JCW tuning kit for sale in 6 months on Autotrader. There were a few more N14s with the tuning kit as they were available before the factory JCW came out in 2008.
As for the plug and play add ons, I don't see the point when you can get a rolling road remap for about £300 anyway.
The N14 JCW tuning kit had a remap, bigger airbox with cone filter, the JCW exhaust manifold with better flow, and a different silencer with larger tailpipes. It's not the same as the JCW backbox iirc as the exhaust trims can be removed whereas on the f(actory) JCW they're not. The fJCW brembos are expensive but if you're not bothered about a JCW sticker then Budweg calipers fit just as well but without the Bini tax.
Parts in the tuning kit are:
(edited to add picture)
Parts in the tuning kit are:
(edited to add picture)
Edited by csd19 on Tuesday 27th October 03:06
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