2nd Gen JCW Most liked posts in thread: 2011 Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works vs. The Aftermarket

Start with the JCW then mod it.

 

Or you can start with a 05 / 06 (1st Gen) R53 and forget about the silly Mini warranty.

1. You can still get a good one cheap.
2. You will have more money for better mods.
3. Your insurance will be cheaper.
4. You can make 250+ Real HP
5. The first gen looks better
6. No carbon problems

 

Guess that car went past 88mph ;-)

 

So, the article writer is a politician. A claim of 27hp gain at the crank for the exhaust, then stating a 17hp gain with all modifications applied; that's a generous 63% drivetrain loss, and no mention of the percentage of exhaust gain from the number. A claim of stiffness increase for the springs with no loss in comfort, but also says handling comes at the expense of comfort later. Larger boost tube? What the heck is that? If he is referring to the inlet tube from the air box, there's no boost there. At least the word "hypothetical" is written a few times in the article, he should also have a few winking emoticons sprinkled among the text.

 

:cornut: Thanks Keith! I always hope for your comments when things like this come up.(And, of course, it has nothing to do with our both being Texans on a Yankee Ohio site:lol When MINI Margi needs the big fixes(engine rebuild, clutch/plate/bearing replacement, post warranty power upgrades,etc), I'm headed 'tord Sanantone.'( north of the Mason Dixon, that's pronounced 'towards San Antonio).The parts that Keith will use,I'll buy from our M/A vendors ,of course.

Jason

 

ROFLMAO..


.....never mind.

 

LOL......we crashed MF!

 

An R53 owners take...

Somehow to me it seems a bit more satisfying to build a car the way you want it, warranty be damned. Our local dealer has been very mod friendly & that helped. I chose to build what to me is a bastard JCW. I could do it a bit at a time when money allowed. Is it a real JCW? Heck no, but it is a whole lot more fun than when it was stock & it was a whole lot cheaper to build than buying a JCW. Works for me.

 

:cornut: That's just what I did with Margi(08 R56 MCS JCW manual).

Jason

 

I'm confused...

MINI Cooper S with a JCW kit (what I think you mean)

or

a factory JCW MINI?

Your terminology is what they used in the article, which is incorrect. But, I think WMW was referring to starting with a factory JCW, which brings the uprated cylinder head, uprated pistons, bigger turbo, etc.

And yes, I have been to Sherman, though not recently...

 

:cornut: Correct me if I'm wrong but, when Margi(08 R56 MCS/JCWm) was built in Dec 07 and delivered to me in Feb 08, There were NO FACTORY JCW being built. All of the early R56 JCW were dealer kits so.......differentiating between existing(dealer kits) and non existing(no factory made JCW) is superfluous. She is an 08 R56 MCS/JCWm. It was ~ 09 before factory JCW became available again as in previous JCW/GP R53s. Margi is a proud Lady and the best available at the time.

Jason

 

You said it Bro !

This is a good article and definitely gives one pause for thought ! But lets take a closer look at this article and read between the lines on this slightly eschewed point of view. Another words as good as this article is I give it a c- on being a full accurate comparison. There is a little bit of apples and oranges going on here. To his credit the writer described the JCW upgrades accurately and so lets directly quote him

"JCW features reinforced pistons, a lower compression ratio (10.0:1 versus 10.5:1 in the Cooper S) and more boost (1.3 bar in the JCW, 0.9 bar in the Cooper S) from a larger turbocharger and exhaust manifold."

Then he builds up his mock cooper to match or surpass the added power gains of the JCW with his mock bolt on Mods which is cool. But they are not the same mods as the JCW mods... The JCW modifications are far more significant then a bolt on intake & airflow pipe upgrades, and a reworked exhaust. The JCW upgrade was Pistons, lower compression ratio, and a larger turbo and a larger exhaust manifold ! WOW... lets face it these are not bolt on mods they are actual engine upgrades. To have these done after market would be thousands of dollars and only the more advanced home mechanics could even think about attempting to do them. For the less accomplished, like my self, it would be thousands more in actual build time & labor cost. Just a manifold upgrade (swap) alone in the Honda mod World would be between 2-4k. Subaru even more then that... & MINI if such a thing was even available in the gen 2's would be pretty pricey ! And all of the JCW true engine upgrades all together would be far far more expensive after the fact. The JCW engine upgrades in actuality are an absolute bargain. Think about it .. To take a "S" and reconstruct the pistons, buy and install a larger turbo, remove, purchase, and the install a larger manifold, tuning to a lower compression... and we're not even including a true Brembo brake upgrade! No it's easy to see that it would be far more then 6k no doubt, no debate, about it.

Now like anything in this world it all comes down to price and I guess that was the over all message of the article. However I think it would have been less, lets say disingenuous, if the writer didn't make the article read like an "either" "or" situation or choice. Yes, and it is awesome, that with some bucks labor and time you can make a "S" have the same or even more power gains then a stock JCW. However, to make it seem that by just adding these bolt on power gains is somehow truly equivalent to a JCW is just not correct in reality. IMO

 

Winding Road has some interesting ideas ...... especially if your warranty has expired
I'm not much of a mechanic, any ball park on how much this would cost to get done? What might be a great idea is a company that sells you the parts, you do the work under their guidance at their shop (for a fee) ...... i would get experience, enjoy the process, but not cripple my MCS. Suspension mods are always interesting when you drive a convertible.