[kevkbuk]

Just back from testing the tuning kit and I must say I'm kinda dissapointed....

Firstly the demo car:
2007 Cooper S with normal suspension and 18" runflats.
JCW tuning kit.
300 ish miles.

My car:
Dec 2006 built Cooper S with sports suspension and 17" runflats.
10,000 ish miles.

First impressions, the exhuast looked nice till I approached it head on, didn't really like how it looked like a back box two big exhaust trims from Halfords stuck on it. Sounded nice on start up, and gentle blipping of the throttle produces more popping than the standard system. You need to have the window open slightly to hear the best from inside the car but even with it shut you can hear a deeper exhaust note and the popping is more obvious than standard.

Driving fairly slowly around town it is a very similiar experience to driving the standard car, the exhuast note is slightly deeper but not much. Couldn't feel much difference in throttle response with sport mode on compared to my car, if anything I thought there was more difference with my car, could be the mileage.

Getting out of town and onto some back roads I opened the throttle.... It sounded pretty good as the revs increased, better intake noise and deeper tone than the standard car. Plus the turbo blow off noise is louder.

Having said that I didn't notice any significant difference in performance. I found this car had more traction than mine, probably due to the wider 18s as neither car had LSD. Though I do wonder if they have played with the torque delivery for this kit, my car seems slightly more powerful lower down the rev range. Of course this could be due to the low mileage on the test car, but from memory my car always pulled really well from low revs even when new.

The only significant difference between my car and the test car was the incar noise when driven really hard. The air filter and exhaust really do help here, there was a small increase/extension of power high in the rev band but I'm not sure its worth the cash to me.

In short I'd consider this more of a sound kit than a tuning kit, and the car really didn't live up to my expectations after hearing the interview with Mike Cooper on MotoringFile. Before I drove it my credit card was burning a hole in my pocket ready for use, and part of me wants a JCW Mini, but I'm really not sure its worth the cash.

Think I will wait and try it again when I have my first service to see if it improves after some miles are put on the car.

PS: Couldn't take vids or sound clips as my camera has died, sorry guys.

[madadd]

Quote: Originally Posted by kevkbuk (original)

Just back from testing the tuning kit and I must say I'm kinda dissapointed....

.

Interesting.

Mine will be fitted Tuesday and as I only have 500 miles on the car so far, I can't really say I know how well it currently performs. However..

A 300 mile old engine is still very tight, and most probably won't be running at its full performance. Also, the tuning kit is only 10% more hp. How noticeable is that ever going to be? I assume that the only real difference is that the boost is upped by a few points of a bar. Thus the difference will only be felt at full boost. And that is not always the easiest place to notice small power gains.

I hope that I am not disappointed. However, do not have huge hopes. I expect a very minor impovement, but a worthwhile one.

Was the reduction of ride quality very pronounced? (due to the bigger wheels)

...Mad

[Washy]

I had my kit fitted today and I am actually quite impressed with it. Need to drive it a bit more and get the car run in before I can comment fully though...

[daro911]

Quote: Originally Posted by kevkbuk (original)

Just back from testing the tuning kit and I must say I'm kinda dissapointed....

Firstly the demo car:
2007 Cooper S with normal suspension and 18" runflats.
JCW tuning kit.
300 ish miles.

My car:
Dec 2006 built Cooper S with sports suspension and 17" runflats.
10,000 ish miles.

.

Tested my dealers demo the other night and was "underwhelmed" too. Have to say it was because the demo car had 33 miles on speedo and we couldn't exceed 3500rpm

My car has 6K on the speedo and felt much quicker for obvious reasons

Until I test a fully run-in demo the jury is well and truly out

[CC07ERS]

You really review it till you have driven your mini hard , & then get the kit on.

[kevkbuk]

Quote: Originally Posted by madadd (original)

Was the reduction of ride quality very pronounced? (due to the bigger wheels)

Ride quality wasn't very different to my car with 17s and sports suspension, maybe a little better but it sure didn't handle so well as mine due to the standard suspension. The main difference was tyre noise/roar from the 18s, much worse than mine and not something I think I would want to live with, guess you would get used to it after a while. Also the turning circle is decreased with the lock limiters.

[kevkbuk]

Quote: Originally Posted by daro911 (original)

Tested my dealers demo the other night and was "underwhelmed" too. Have to say it was because the demo car had 33 miles on speedo and we couldn't exceed 3500rpm

Sounds like fun