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320 Posts
So I picked the Mini Beast up on Sat 4th and I've now had a few days to bond with it, including a couple of local driving roads and a trip today to Manchester for work (it has to earn its keep) so I thought I'd throw up some initial thoughts, see how they compare with others experiences of the mighty JCW......
The Good
- Just look at the damned thing, its a beast and I love it to bits, so chuffed I went with the White / Red Combo with Black Track Spokes. All of the other red/black bits just compliment it. Orange was a very close second at the time, but had to have a red JCW roof
- Second gear, low torque exits (running it in for the first few hundred miles), yep, you know its going to fly..... Talking of torque, weird pottering around town in 6th???? Bloody ****, hardly need to change gear. Almost 3 litre diesly torque.
- The Pro Exhaust is simply brilliant, makes it sound like it looks and suits it so well, still cant believe a european manufacturer in this day and age is prepared to supply this, good on you BMW/Mini
- The interior (standard JCW, no packs) is really smart, love the JCW Cloth/Alcantara seats, very comfy, keep your arse where its supposed to be and really look the part, been hunting for cheap plastics, cant find anything I'm not happy with
- Harmon Kardon Stereo is right up there, nice bit of punch for everything from 6Music, through Metallica, Red Hot Chilis to Joy Division and The Smiths (well I was bombing around Salford earlier.....)
The Bad
- Mini Connected, Bluetooth etc. and Android is f*****g b*ll***s, Galaxy S6 nearly flown across the drive a few times. Basically doesn't work. iPhone / iPad, perfect, couple of clicks all done all working. No Sotify support on Mini Connected for Android?!?. Its a company phone and everything we do at work is though the Google Cloud so the S6 ain't gonna change sadly (unless I buy my own!) Been and purchased an aux lead before I crash my new car whilst unplugging / plugging back in the USB lead for the 8th time in 50 miles. Gutted, been sold a pup there as the Mini Connected brochures are very very unclear on capability. Bluetooth for phone works fine.
The Surprising
- 240 miles on the M5 and M6, ride absolutely fine, although a bit firmer (obviously) I found it a far less jarring, crunching ride than my old A4 which had lowered sports suspension as it was a TDI-e eco model. I thought it would be one of the biggest compromises as a daily driver.
- 240 miles and get this, 48.7mpg. Its only supposed to do 42mpg and thats the factory figure which (if its anything like Audi) is supposed to be completely fictitious. Old A4 was 65mpg, never got close. Clearly I'm running it in, but that was 20 - 30 miles of M6 stop start traffic, otherwise sticking it to 70 on cruise control, but also a bit of local stuff and the school run this morning!!!!! Wow!!!! I wont bore you with the maths, but at 13p a mile, even with a diet of Super Unleaded, its actually making me money..... enough for a pint, almost two at the cricket club later.....
Like my Nan used to say..... look after the pennies and the pounds will buy you a shiny new JCW.
Made the last bit of the last bit up!
The Good
- Just look at the damned thing, its a beast and I love it to bits, so chuffed I went with the White / Red Combo with Black Track Spokes. All of the other red/black bits just compliment it. Orange was a very close second at the time, but had to have a red JCW roof
- Second gear, low torque exits (running it in for the first few hundred miles), yep, you know its going to fly..... Talking of torque, weird pottering around town in 6th???? Bloody ****, hardly need to change gear. Almost 3 litre diesly torque.
- The Pro Exhaust is simply brilliant, makes it sound like it looks and suits it so well, still cant believe a european manufacturer in this day and age is prepared to supply this, good on you BMW/Mini
- The interior (standard JCW, no packs) is really smart, love the JCW Cloth/Alcantara seats, very comfy, keep your arse where its supposed to be and really look the part, been hunting for cheap plastics, cant find anything I'm not happy with
- Harmon Kardon Stereo is right up there, nice bit of punch for everything from 6Music, through Metallica, Red Hot Chilis to Joy Division and The Smiths (well I was bombing around Salford earlier.....)
The Bad
- Mini Connected, Bluetooth etc. and Android is f*****g b*ll***s, Galaxy S6 nearly flown across the drive a few times. Basically doesn't work. iPhone / iPad, perfect, couple of clicks all done all working. No Sotify support on Mini Connected for Android?!?. Its a company phone and everything we do at work is though the Google Cloud so the S6 ain't gonna change sadly (unless I buy my own!) Been and purchased an aux lead before I crash my new car whilst unplugging / plugging back in the USB lead for the 8th time in 50 miles. Gutted, been sold a pup there as the Mini Connected brochures are very very unclear on capability. Bluetooth for phone works fine.
The Surprising
- 240 miles on the M5 and M6, ride absolutely fine, although a bit firmer (obviously) I found it a far less jarring, crunching ride than my old A4 which had lowered sports suspension as it was a TDI-e eco model. I thought it would be one of the biggest compromises as a daily driver.
- 240 miles and get this, 48.7mpg. Its only supposed to do 42mpg and thats the factory figure which (if its anything like Audi) is supposed to be completely fictitious. Old A4 was 65mpg, never got close. Clearly I'm running it in, but that was 20 - 30 miles of M6 stop start traffic, otherwise sticking it to 70 on cruise control, but also a bit of local stuff and the school run this morning!!!!! Wow!!!! I wont bore you with the maths, but at 13p a mile, even with a diet of Super Unleaded, its actually making me money..... enough for a pint, almost two at the cricket club later.....
Like my Nan used to say..... look after the pennies and the pounds will buy you a shiny new JCW.
Made the last bit of the last bit up!
