[HotHatchCharlie]

My first Mini (JCW) finally arrived!

Have had over 20 sports cars of almost every different stripe over my many years of driving, but finally have gotten around to buying my first Mini, a 2016 JCW with tons of goodies (listed in my signature). Have only had it a few days but am already under the "Mini spell"! It's funky and cool at several different levels, almost toylike in the way it looks, acts and drives, and truly oozes a very unique character.

Am already posting some early impressions on another thread, comparing it to the car I traded in, a 2012 BMW M135i, but will soon do a longer and fuller review once she's fully broken in and I've done some all out mountain blasts.

Looking forward to being a part of this forum and wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Here are a few (low rez iPhone) pictures of my new toy!...

 

[jeremybingham]

Beautiful. Think the green and red a class act .

 

[Saurabhdutt]

Super. Looks the business.. Enjoy.

 

[Johnboy]

Stunning ! Do those spoiler extensions come in red or did you get them sprayed ?

 

[Jonathan]

Nice to see another rebel green JCW! I think you've convinced me to look into getting the aero upgrade for mine

 

[brandonbardsley]

Looks amazing! I have a question though... How did the driver get out of that Mercedes?

 

[derekh929]

That looks fantastic HHC look forward to your initial thoughts on the your new JCW

 

[KYDan]

Great looking car! Of course I would say that though as it looks remarkably like ours! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have ours, we picked it up the end of October when it finally arrived, we ordered it early in July. We have 2,000 miles on it now and they have all been fun packed and impressive although we didn't push it too hard during our self-imposed break in period. It is the best performing stock mini we have ever driven. Now it is time to twist and squeal!

Bring on the twisties and have some fun!

 

[jaep1911]

Awesome ride! Congrats. Now hit the roads in Hakone!

 

[pjsjr13]

Congrats and Welcome. Looks very smart and proper.

 

[HotHatchCharlie]

Stunning ! Do those spoiler extensions come in red or did you get them sprayed ?

Amazingly, they not only came in the body color, but I got the whole JCW Pro aero kit for free! I was buying from existing stock rather than ordering exactly what I wanted and they forgot to include the aero kit in the price. Late in the negotiations (i.e. after I agreed to buy) they noticed the kit and gave me the choice of having it removed or keeping it for free - with a growing smile on my face as I realized what was happening, I told them they really didn't need to go through all the trouble of removing it...

 

[HotHatchCharlie]

Looks amazing! I have a question though... How did the driver get out of that Mercedes?

Thats actually my wife's car - our family hauler, with both cars parked in front of what Japanese call a "pencil box house" (a tall, narrow house built on an insanely small piece of property).

There is a small story here too. The reason I sold my beloved Megan RS Trophy 2 years ago to get the BMW M135, and the reason both the M135 and this gorgeous JCW are both automatics is because our new house's tiny L-shaped parking lot means that my car is always blocking my wife's car and since she can't drive a manual I need to be in an automatic so she can get out when I am not home...

 

[hansnl1]

Nice/great JCW

Beautiful color.


Enjoy

 

[HotHatchCharlie]

Just added the NM PowerModule and have to say that it is NOTICEABLY stronger in almost every gear. No error messages, no noticeable turbo lag anywhere in the range, just a lot more pull almost everywhere - big smiles every time I drive...

 

[Evlkarl]

Fantastic looking car. Pardon for asking is there any place in Japan you can floor it besides the track? Sorry never have been to Japan and what I see on Teli is always thousands of people in the cross walk.

 

[HotHatchCharlie]

Fantastic looking car. Pardon for asking is there any place in Japan you can floor it besides the track? Sorry never have been to Japan and what I see on Teli is always thousands of people in the cross walk.

Japan is actually a wonderful place to drive cars. Very few police using radar, empty roads early in the morning and late at night (when I am usually driving) and several of the top rated driving roads in the world (3 of which are fairly close to me). Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite drives - the pictures of my BMW 135i and Megan RS Trophy were taken several years apart at the entrance to the fantastic Hakone Skyline Highway I always drive on, the one where you can see a little of my Trophy was taken while driving on the Hakone Skyline Highway and a good example of the quality of the dozens of miles of winding mountain roads up there, the one in my Boxster S was on the Izu Skyline a few hours further away from my house, and the arial one is of the amazing 47-turn Irohakza road in Nikko, which is almost always on any list of the top 10 driving roads in the world)...

 

[KYDan]

Thats actually my wife's car - our family hauler, with both cars parked in front of what Japanese call a "pencil box house" (a tall, narrow house built on an insanely small piece of property).

There is a small story here too. The reason I sold my beloved Megan RS Trophy 2 years ago to get the BMW M135, and the reason both the M135 and this gorgeous JCW are both automatics is because our new house's tiny L-shaped parking lot means that my car is always blocking my wife's car and since she can't drive a manual I need to be in an automatic so she can get out when I am not home...

I waited until the standard was available in the US, but after taking 2 competition driving courses on the Indianapolis Speedway in minis with automatics, one S, and one JCW, our instructors, notably Pippa Mann, convinced me the automatic was faster and more efficient. It was an agonizingly tough decision, but I/we ordered it with the automatic and I am bonding with it satisfactorily now and appreciate it more every time that I drive it. The steering wheel paddles took some to to adjust to, but I am getting there. We had autos in 2 of our 3 SLKs and I really didn't like the paddles in them, but our CLK 55 sort of began the transition for me. My wife wanted an auto in the C7 and she like a loaded cyber gray one that we found late in 2013. I wanted the blue and a standard, but she won that discussion and I really don't care for the paddle shifters in it although I do enjoy the car, but it sits a lot and I drive the mini or my faithful old truck most of the time. I still miss shifting both up and down, but honestly the mini has a feel almost the same, crisp, and instantaneous. I love this car.

 

[Evlkarl]

HHC, thank you for the pictures them curves in one of the pictures look like fun must be a blast in a classic 911.

 

[jaep1911]

Japan is actually a wonderful place to drive cars. Very few police using radar, empty roads early in the morning and late at night (when I am usually driving) and several of the top rated driving roads in the world (3 of which are fairly close to me). Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite drives - the pictures of my BMW 135i and Megan RS Trophy were taken several years apart at the entrance to the fantastic Hakone Skyline Highway I always drive on, the one where you can see a little of my Trophy was taken while driving on the Hakone Skyline Highway and a good example of the quality of the dozens of miles of winding mountain roads up there, the one in my Boxster S was on the Izu Skyline a few hours further away from my house, and the arial one is of the amazing 47-turn Irohakza road in Nikko, which is almost always on any list of the top 10 driving roads in the world)...

>>> I have enjoyed Nikko as I used to live in Fukushima. There are some awesome winding back roads through woods in Fukushima, from Koriyama towards Aizu. Check them out!

PS: Nice cars!!

 

[HotHatchCharlie]

>>> I have enjoyed Nikko as I used to live in Fukushima. There are some awesome winding back roads through woods in Fukushima, from Koriyama towards Aizu. Check them out!

PS: Nice cars!!

Before the earthquake and nuclear disaster I used to go up to Fukushima on business at least once a year. Loved the mountains, hot springs (and skiing) up by Mt. Bandai.

I am up in Tokushima on business about 5-6x a year and always do pre-dawn blasts on that crazy Irohazaka road before the tourists and buses get there. Though the 5 mile Irohazaka course is more famous, I actually prefer the far longer, more varied and open roads of Hakone and Izu. These are just the ones close by - Japan is a country that is just loaded with interesting, challenging and beautiful mountain roads to explore!