wall

MCS JCW here ... after Turbo MY99, STI MY00, BMW 330Ci, Elise 111S MY00. Wanted something small (only 2 of us) and really nimble but with a back seat for occasional passengers or extra luggage, and some luxuries (sat nav, climate, stereo you can hear) so Elise went.

Once moving easily as fast as my Turbo, not much slower than STI, and definitely a better handler in the "twisties" than all of the above, especially on really tight mountain roads full of switchbacks where the short wheelbase is great Only Elise was better handler but only on dry smooth blemishless tarmac, in all other conditions (read 90% of the time) the Elise would get rugged way before the Mini.

Frankly first car in ages I actually see myself keeping for longer than 12-18 months, great in town, small for parking, good freeway cruiser (not too noisey and very comfy), and perfect for the sunday alpine drives

W

mn_angrybeats

You upgraded your brakes chaps ????

Got Mintex 1144's on mine and they are excellent, far better to try pads first before buying a big brake conversion...

wall

mn_angrybeats, still on original pads (car's brand new) ... so far first 2-3 spirited mountain drives the brakes held up rather well, although I was really pressing on the climb up to the passes but taking it fairly easy on the way down. Will wear out the original fitment pads (fairly quickly I think) and then ponder aftermarket pads or whole bigger brake kit...any recommendations?

W

mn_angrybeats

I have taken mine on the track and would recommend upgrading to a harder pad, the Mintex 1144's I have on mine are great, so much more stopping power / bite without the massives amount of squeal you tend to get on proper hard race pads..

Also recommend getting rid of the run flats, if your on 17" I'd get some 215x40x17" Toyo's T1's, actually improves the ride, quieter and more feel IMO. Drawback is you will have to store a can of Tyre Weld...

Oh and a thicker rear antiroll bar also transforms the car IMO

wall

Been reading up a lot on wheels before purchase and ended up not getting the heavy 17" S-spokes (huge unsprung weight) and going for the 16" X-lites. Now I'm debating weather to fit sticky non-runflat 205s on the 16s or get some 17" OZ Superleggera wheels with 205s.

Any ideas?
X-lites and Superleggera are both around 8.5kg per wheel so is just a question of how 205s fit in the X-lites and weather a little more/less sidewall is optimal for the Mini setup.

W

mn_angrybeats

When I fitted my stiffer springs I tried my 17" S Spokes and also a set of 16" OEM wheels, I didnt really notice the difference in unsprung weight to be honest, maybe the stiffer spring makes the extra few kilos less obvious...

The 205's will fit just chose a slightly lower profile than the OEM fitment, the improvement over the runflats will still be evident even with the lower profile

wall

Cool, think I will keep the 16" X-lites and replace the 195s run-flats with some aggressively cut 205s super-sticky summer tyres. I'll put the 195s run-flats back on as winter tires in November.

wilf

BBR 220 conversion looks v tempting with quad exhaust, front intake and suspension mods all for £2200.

Is it worth the sacrifice over the JCW in terms of the warranty and servicing package?

wall

I went JCW because I put huge value on peace of mind + ease of service\claims\etc + availability in Italy (other kits are hard to get and insure here).

W

PaulMc

Like Wall, I have a new MCS and will wait until the original pads are worn before replacing them. I will then probably look at just pads change to Ferrodo 2500's.
Wilf, I reckoned the extra grunt with the BBR package was worth more than the JCW offering before price was considered My dealer is still honouring the TLC and warranty side of things. I have been subtle with my approach.

Looking at Eibachs and exhaust now

wilf

Driving them back to back on Thursday now. Works was out on loan from local dealers at the weekend.