The BMW Z4M is one hell of a powerful car and the
JCW will feel noticeably slower.
I haven’t owned anything as powerful as the cars you have but a couple of cars previous I owned a tuned Focus ST pushing out 280bhp. The car was far quicker than my current
JCW, particularly in gear times.
However, the driving experience was very different with the
JCW, as with all Mini variants in fact. My ST was a big lump of a car and although it had good steering the driving experience was never as engaging as a Mini.
Plus, in my opinion, the overall ownership package is hard to beat with the
JCW. 0-60 in 6.5, 35+mpg in real world driving, 165g CO2, 5 years included servicing and a good resale value. It’s hard to beat as an overall package. One thing I would say is if you want to hang on to the strong resale value I wouldn’t go overboard with the options list. Having said that everyone has to buy what they want but be warned that by the time you finish ticking the boxes, the car can lose a lot of money over the years. Sometimes it’s wise to pickup a low mileage, 6 month old dealer demo that is rammed with options. You can pick them up for a great price. However, I guess if you are coming from a Z4M this may not be an issue.
I think one thing to consider will be moving from rear wheel drive cars to the front wheel drive of the Mini. Some people are very keen to stick with their rear wheel drive as it’s a different driving experience. Having said that the Mini
JCW does allow you to turn off most of the computer aids and engage the electronic LSD which can be very fun. I have even managed to oversteer in my
JCW!
Not that I have any issue with anyone of any age driving any car (mouthful) but for those who do, I would reckon you’ll fit better with a
JCW than a Z4M roadster.
Hope some/all of that is useful. If you’re anything like me you’ll know whether the
JCW is the right car within 5 mins of test driving it. Remember to engage that Sport button straight away and see the full beast!!
