[Evlkarl]

Two limited edition track hatches with the focus on fun - which is best?

Let's clear up two points before we begin, one more significant than the other: no, you can't buy a GolfGTI Clubsport S anymore. Hopefully the work invested in it can be seen in future models but, for the moment, a Golf capable of 7:49 at the Nurburgring cannot be bought from your Volkswagen dealer.
Second point? The Mini JCW Challenge you see here is £32,000, only a couple of thousand less than the Golf and, regardless of your loyalties, quite a lot of money. Still, when people are spending over £30K on JCW cabrios, that doesn't seem so extortionate.

here is the rest from Piston Heads.

http://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-features/golf-gti-clubsport-s-vs-mini-jcw-challenge/34969

 

[Desert Rat]

On the picture alone I would pick the JCW, the GTI looks downright boring.

 

[jeremybingham]

Absolutely. What do you want a boring euro hatch with a sad and boring dash built by a company who have been happy to con millions of people or a smartly unique characterful hatch. Mmmmmm we dont all want the fastest car rou nd the nurburgring.

 

[KYDan]

A quick and very biased opinion follows. The Golf appearance is ho hum and although most likely it is a brilliant automobile it doesn't speak to me. It does come stock with significantly more horsepower than the mini, but with a relatively small amount of money the horsepower can be matched or surpassed. The exhaust note of the mini is stellar, the exhaust note of the Golf is disappointing, I have driven actual golf carts that sound better! I really could not tell much about the Golf interior, but it seemed sort of bland from what I could surmise. The mini is unique, somewhat whimsical and engaging. Being a confirmed miniphile this offhand review is obviously quite biased. The finally comment is a real life event that actually transpired yesterday evening. I was returning home from the farm store in my pickup truck last night and a hopped up Golf, black with black tinted windows and a coal license plate that was also black was trapped for a bit in traffic. He swerved into the left lane and put the hammer down. It made a significant amount of noise, but it was not engaging at all and the performance was anemic, I believe I could out accelerate it even with a load of fence posts and material in the back of my diesel truck.

 

[Evlkarl]

Nuerburg Ring Lap time is totally overrated imho what counts is the fun factor with the right car on the Ring. Bias .....who me???

 

[dgswick]

The article does say that the Challenge is a hoot to drive, which is exactly what should make it fun and accessible to normal people on normal roads rather than flat out on the limits track day warriors. Sadly people will buy off spec sheet, as an investmet and the 7 min lap time [email protected] as there will be no test drives. Knowing what I know about Golf GTI / R versus JCW on real world test drives, its the Mini everytime for me and I happily put my money where my mouth is!

Seats look nice in the Golf though. And its got those extra horses..... come on Mini, wheres my official 275bhp upgrade?????

 

[Cessa]

I reckon if we have look at the golf forum regarding this article, they would be blowing their horns saying that it was never a REAL challenge.
I totally agree that the mini is in a class of its own with its looks, fun factor, street appeal but there are a few cars out there that are just better engineered for race performance.
Having said this, did we buy our Minis for its race cred. I bought my JCW based on the above and the ability to have some fairly legal fun on the streets and not having to go to a race track just to make the car more fun. This is where the mini has been aligned now days, the racing history is still in the name but they were the glory days. Not even the price is comparable to the old days.

The dissapointing thing is not many reviewers base their articles on character, street leagl fun, inclusions, possible build options, build quality and reliability.

 

[sootyvrs]

I think it's great that we get car manufacturers endorsing the development of such cars which were soley designed for fun...

Not sure why some feel they have to defend the Mini by slating the Golf especialy this driver focused model?

 

[Blue al]

Golf can also be mapped, with an aftermarket exhaust, it will sound much better,
But it's the low lease cost of the Golf R, that is the real killer for both these cars,
for most people who haven't a spare pot of cash to invest in a second or 3rd "specialist" car

Having said that I'm up for a 4yr old sub 20k miles when the GP3 is about, if the man maths stacks up at the time

 

[dgswick]

I'm not going to knock it, its just not my cup of tea! Saw four golf r's on the way to work this morning - 16 miles of provincial midlands roads - you cant deny vw have had significant sucess with the lease deals, and one **** of a car for the money. Clubsport S, just looks like a max powered R to me, but im sure would be brutal around a track and yep, fair play to them (and Mini) for producing specials like these. Going back to my JCW decision day, if I needed 5 doors and a bit more boot space, i may well have taken the R or normal GTI Clubsport as it was just about available to order back in april.

 

[jeremybingham]

Ok less biassed opinion (don't drink in the morning) not decrying the golf per se: simply that its just a plain hothatch and i want something different. However reports I've read eg evo seem to imply It is just a ring special to take the crown back from seat, honda and renault. Silly bit of one upman ship quite a few manufacturers seem to be getting in to atm.A halo model that lifts the desirability and resale value of the whole range. ?Who knows but the type golf r is probably the better and cheaper road car on daily basis. I loved my r32 but it had the joyous v6 engin e. Nothing has ever sounded quite like it and that alas has gone.

 

[Jonotaff]

Hi first time poster and self confessed MINI nut!!

Well im from the UK and i am a lucky boy as my JCW Challenge will be delivered end of October

I also own a black and red 2015 JCW and just sold my R56 MINI Challenge Race series track car (Mrs Price said I could not have 3 haha)

Will post pictures when she arrives and I have FB blog about it "Jono's JCW Challenge"

 

[sootyvrs]

Look forward to seeing some pics and what you think when it lands.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

 

[Jonotaff]

Sure will do.

I have been given number 40 apparently. Feel like a kid at Christmas TBH.

Had to have one as soon as I saw this. Why you may ask? Because it has the mods I would have done to my JCW over time and it's a bit special. The GP3 (if they do one) was an alternative but I wanted 4 seats and a run of a maximum 100 makes it even more exclusive.

Been chatting to Sussex Road and Race about maps. You guys have a view?

 

[Evlkarl]

Jonotaff welcome to the forum also looking forward to the pics.