new jcw owner

[rigga]

Traded the Lexus today for a Mini jcw, dunno why, as up to a couple of weeks back I hadn't even thought about these as a viable alternative, Lexus is smooth quiet and comfy, then saw a local mini jcw popping and rasping its way around near me and thought, yup, that's for me
It's got what seems like all the toys and must have cost a fair whack when new 3 year's ago, double pan roof, chilli pack, lounge leather, media pack with a funky sat nav., xenons., climate etc etc, can't think of much else it could have had, been blasting around in it today and it's just comical, rides pretty decent, though obviously not Lexus smooth but absolutely fine on the 17"wheels, noise from the exhaust is addictive in sport mode, crackles and pops on the overrun and between gearchanges, inside is plush and the heated seats warm up rapidly, faster than the Lexus which I thought were fine, all in all I'm very impressed.

No idea how I'm gonna get the weekly shopping in the boot though

Edited by rigga on Tuesday 17th December 21:45

|http://thumbsnap.com/DsgXStR5[/url]

[scotty_d]

Lovely a great stable mate to the TVR

[rigga]

scotty_d said:

Lovely a great stable mate to the TVR

You know I thought that too, Lexus was lovely and really thought at one point I'd get the next Gen version come change time, but its too smooth and quiet when compared to the Griff, something in between seemed to be the ideal choice, and I have to say this fits the bill well, plush and well equipped, but with a hooligan side also ......its great

[scotty_d]

They are great at this time of year being fwd and very grippy and very chuckable for a modern car make them so fun.

We have a 2003 supercharged S but I have no idea what I would change it for it has only done 40k for a 10-11 year old car so its getting run in to the ground.

But they do stable well next to Tivs only draw back is lack of boot space but back seats fold down so never stuck really.

Never driven a JCW version whats the specs on the r56 version?

[rigga]

Spec as in the engine? The factory versions from I think 08 onwards come with different internals and Turbo than the previous kit jcw cars, rated officially at 211 but when tested they seem to make more around about 220 to 230hp
Some issues with the Turbo engine in the 56 over the supercharged 53, they can suffer camchain wear due to tensioner problems esp when the engine is cold, they also seem to suffer from coking up of the inlet valves due to recurculation of dirty air from the breathers, luckily now there is a way to remove the coke without taking the head off by blasting it with walnut chippings one set of inlets at a time, costs about £240 and even the mini dealer's themselves can do this, fit a catch can to eliminate the dirty air from entering the engine and that issue is Pretty much gone.
They drink oil about a liter per 1k is apparently acceptable, and I think this is probably the main cause of tensioner problems as with the long 20k or yearly service intervals the oil level gets low so when the engine starts from cold there is not enough oil pressure to keep the tensioner up against the chain guide so it rattles and wears the chain, there is a later version though with a stronger spring and longer plunger which should alleviate this.
56 is regarded as a plusher more comfortable ride compared to the harsher more focused 53, this is just what I've gathered over the last couple of weeks since I was interested in buying one

Did I mention it sounds ace popping and crackling on the over run, not as good as the griff but very satisfying.

Edited by rigga on Wednesday 18th December 14:40

[rigga]

Some better pictures....









Really trying not to start changing things on this as it drives really well as it is ...those wheel gaps though are starting to grate a little