JCW mods

[philip rodney]

What is included in the basic kit?

Does it include air filter and exhaust?

How much should I pay for kit fully fitted?

[rentagas]

Cylinder head/bolts
Supercharger/belt
Injectors
Exhaust/Hangers
Air intake/filter
Badges/certificate
ECU reprog

Cost £2999 plus labour so around £3500-£3700

BUT factory kit (09/05 on) will include above plus brake kit and LSD for ?how much

[philip rodney]

What is the factory kit?

Hadn't heard about this. My car is an August build? Will factory kit be instead of dealer fit?

[MINIAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by philip rodney

My car is an August build? Will factory kit be instead of dealer fit?

Rumor has it that JCW Kit won't be available as factory fit until at least October.

[rentagas]

It might be worth delaying your order by 1-2 months- check the 2006 changes, The price is going up but for instance the CD player is probably standard. I suppose it is possible the JCW kit will stay at £3500-£4000 and throw in the brakes for free in factory fit

[philip rodney]

Is the Works upgrade worth having?

In Go Mini this month Q& A

"The ultimate of all the options is probably the latest version of the Cooper S Works conversion which turns out a handy 210bhp. It certainly makes for a very quick car, but putting that much power through the front wheels isn't easy and it does lose out on a lot of the finesse for which the MINI is praised. Think torque steer and you're halfway there."

Hardly praise.

What do you think?

[rentagas]

Is it worth increasing the power of an "s" to 210bhp-most definitely yes.

Is the JCW kit the most cost effective way of doing this?-er possibly

The car does have a lot of trouble putting the power down particluarly in the wet-but so do all FWD cars. The LSD should make this much better (i'm driving one today-so i'll find out).

I certainly do not regret putting on the works pack and like many jcw owners want even more power!

Of course for similar money to a specced S or s convertible works you could have a new R32, Astra VXR, Golf GTI, Audi TT, 350Z, Z4, SLK.................all of which would offer similar/better performance....................but it wouldn't be a mini

[rentagas]

drove the garages demonstrator home-initial thoughts:

tighter
quieter
no wheel spin!

the car was a June 2005 car with 600 miles on the clock with JCW kit and brakes but no strut brace and probably no JCW suspension. It had JCW wheels (mine does not)

I got the traction control light on a fair bit in the dry but no power cut and I wouldn't have known except for the light. I couldn't hear any extra noises (ie no LSD noise). My convertible handles the power poorly, wheel spin, power cuts even in the dry. I don't know whether it was the wheels or the LSD but something makes a BIG difference.

The most obvious thing was the JCW exhaust was almost inaudible even at 4500rpm plus (when the air box opens). The convertible roof up or down is gloriously audible.

My car is in the garage for a number of reasons including side skirt fitting and the box was too big to fit in the mini so I returned to the garage in my 2002 Golf V6 4 motion (204bhp).

The Golf does not need an LSD, it has fancy brakes as standard and virtually never stops gripping (but is boring) and has a nice v6 exhaust note (louder than the works mini). In it's day it was a lot cheaper than an MCS works. The MCS works, since launch, has accumulated lots of competitors. The MCSC works, for all it's faults, has virtually none .........................................