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2016 JCW Clubman

1K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  Cooper R 
#1 ·
Does anyone know anymore about the 2016 JCW Clubman, over and above what has appeared in AutoExpress etc? (Apologies if it is already on MINI2 and I've missed it). Would be good to know whether it will be 4wd and hopefully in excess of 250bhp, before I consider an Audi RS3 Sportback - which I can have now, is possibly more powerful than the MINI will be and undoubtedly has a vastly superior 4wd system to the one on my current Paceman JCW All4 (and which lets down an otherwise great all round car)
 
#2 ·
By way of update, no more heard from MINI (though ALL4 Clubman now available), but I have driven an RS3 Sportback. With 367bhp, 'proper' 4wd system, brakes up to the job, 7 speed auto and the optional dynamic exhaust, it is a truly awesome bit of kit and goes and stops incredibly well, irrespective of wet or dry roads. I'm not bothered about top speed, just the ability to safely accelerate and stop. A JCW Paceman feels very flat afterwards and the ALL4 system and standard brakes totally inept. In addition, the JCW handling (so far as one can safely explore on a public road) has been left way behind, to the extent that it is actually slightly worrying. I am sure the Audi would eventually bite, but would need a racetrack to establish this. Unfortunately, no JCW Clubman to compare it with and, in terms of voting with my feet, utterly rubbish MINI residuals....
 
#4 ·
I drove RS3 on dry and streaming wet country roads and a dual carrriage way for a whole day. I thought all modern cars had understeer built in to the handling, to scrub off the excess speed applied by the unwary/uninitiated? I grew up with very powerful RWD cars - I know all the magazines rave about oversteer, but it isn't funny, when it's unexpected and all you were trying to do was make rapid, legal progress! The Audi handling is a lot tighter, less bouncy and more predictable than a Paceman, though possibly not an R56 JCW, I agree. The fact it has 1.7x the power means you can go (relatively) slow in and nail it, going out (like with a RWD car). Paceman rolls too much and is too bouncy on crap UK roads, nanny state traction control kills spirited wet road driving (that's if the clutch hasn't taken it all), plus it is all too easy to totally run out of brakes. The only way to remotely bring it up to scratch, would be to spend north of £5k with Lohen, get proper brakes, uprated clutch, plus calibrate All4 and get Lohen handling kit, to lower and stiffen it. Plus, possibly bigger intercooler, injectors and re-chip. That would actually then make it a more expensive car than the Audi. 12 years of JCW loyalty would suggest I love MINIs, but not that much! And, in reality, they have become very expensive, for what they are.
 
#5 ·
Maybe better to try the >:Dnew A45 AMG to see what is a modern all-wheel drive it behaves better than my C63 AMG and miles away from RS3 and forget about the so-called modern SUV if you want mini then buy mini cooper S or JCW hatchback R53,R56,F56 for awesome handling.
 
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