i had my test drive on sunday Derek and have to agree with most of that.Well have a good test drive on friday and saturday of the JCW
Exterior Looks
Well its not to everyone's taste at the front end but i like the aggressive look to it and like the no fog lights.
Sits a bit high as all newer cars seem to and needs big wheels to fill those arches, the three quarter on back and front looks good and have to say the White silver Chilli red roof looks the business for me.
Interior Looks and quality
Looks very nice with color line in Red and also those new Alcantara seats firm base and good side bolster support and very comfortable and not to tight for a large frame like mine and 6F 1"
The leather sides looked good and red cloth looked durable and nice touch, loved the alcantara in my e46 BMW and as not on bolster wear should not be an issue.
Well was defo after standard seats till wife saw these and she said need them to set off the very nice interior, it was good not rattles unlike our last mini R56 cooper it had every foam kit mini had still rattled all over the place but we loved the car.
Rest of interior nice touches and big jump in quality from 2nd gen IMHO.
Engine & Noise
Well first drove one with believe it or nut dealer fitted blue tooth activated back box, was fun testing out on test drive but if im honest thought it was a bit to much and on normal mode not load enough and more standard Cooper S just to quiet and refined compared to R56 S.
Well on standard system its a great balance between the two modes and sounds perfect on down shifts and even better than our old motor just perfect balance for me , turbo sounded a lot better than in Cooper S we drove and the wife loved it far better than the F56 S we had out on TD.
Did not feel epic fast and power delivery a bit smooth and i think manual will address this for me,and the auto does suit the car but shifts are not as fast as my BMW 8 speed sport Auto like in M135i and it needs quicker shifts to make it more fun IMHO, but great on rev match down shifts sounds fantastic and addictive.
No drone on m Way and just sounds great and enough sound in cabin.
Well done BMW i think you cant please all but you got it bang on for me anyway.
No noticeable turbo lag and good throttle response but again i felt throttle response could be sharped up further, but i did think my 330d M Sport felt quicker but off course dull compared to this great sounding car.
Handling
Well car had AD's that we would want and i have them on my F31 bmw and i tried them well on bad surfaced roads off and on and made a noticeable difference to noise transmitted into cabin and also removed the sharp edge from any undulations in the road.
Well just remember in on off system only and when in sport i could live with it as daily driver on our poor roads in sport mode , but the extra 20% in standard JCW set up not so sure.
In sport setting on tight twisting B road well i have to say the lateral grip was superb no body roll what so ever and streets ahead of the R56 Cooper S as it cocked its rear wheel at bit and twitchy sometimes but fun.
In my opinion this car could cope with much more as keeping both the rears on the ground gave fantastic grip and confidence so much so like a go kart yes.
Do you need more firmer than AD possibly for track days but then adjustable coil overs would be better to lower center of gravity.
95% will have plenty to spare at 9 tenths for any errors with the AD.
Turn in was great and steering as with all these system loses a we bit of feed back but still felt i knew exactly where i was at , i opted for the quicker rack on the BMW 2.2 turns its great not sure what mini's standard is though.
Well the wife was disappointed with the F56 cooper S compared to her R56 S as she felt it had become to BMW like refined for here and lost the character of old, but she was won over by the JCW she just loved it and the auto box as well great aggressive looks sound and driving experience and no turbo lag and great seats, have to admit i want one a lot more know fantastic car in deed
Hope you enjoyed that and if any questions just ask and i will give my personal opinion and what the better half thought as well
I do have a couple of questions though:
1) it was my first time ever driving an auto with paddle shifters so like the little kid i am, i opted to use them for the duration rather than let the car do the work. Are your gear shift lag points in relation to the above or did you have it on full auto.
2) the exhaust.... can you expand a little? my f56s bangs in sport mode but it is something i definitely feel the car lacks (the noise) i really want to spec a bluetooth exhaust and the more info i have the better for me
Many thanks
