[marcella]

Hey, I'm new to the forum and to Mini!

I have been looking for my next car and narrowed it down to two, the renaultsport clio trophy 220 (phase 2) or the F56 JCW Mini. I have test drove the clio and was very surprised how good it was after reading all the negative reviews. Felt solid and quick and the gearbox was pretty good apart from the paddles feeling spongy when pressed.

I haven't had the chance to try a JCW but I think it would be better for a number of reasons. Power, manual transmission, looks, interior and most of all character! The only major difference is price, when both spec'd out how I want, the JCW is about £4-5k more. This isn't an issue but the price is getting closer to cars like the Golf R, Audi S1 etc. The main thing I don't like about the JCW is the stock tyres on the 18's, the clio comes with Michelin PSS which are awesome tyres. So my concern is how well does the JCW put the power down in stock form? I had a mk3 Focus ST in the past and I got really annoyed at how bad it was for putting power down (bearing in mind I'm from Scotland) and I don't want to feel that way about the Mini. I know I could put better tyres and maybe even a proper diff later on but then that's even more money!

 

[James-B93]

I have the Dunlop Sport Maxx's on my JCW and I've not had any issues with putting the power down as of yet

A fair bit of wheelspin in the wet when you floor it fully from stand still but that is to be expected in a light FWD car with 230 horsepower, however it hasn't once broke traction fully in the dry unless you're being pretty yobi-ish!

As for what you said about it getting close to the price of the Audi S1 I would say it is a direct competitor for that car and reading reviews most places rate the JCW above the Audi anyway (I can't comment as I haven't driven the Audi), saying the Audi is lacking the character, fun and driving feel that the JCW has

It's a fantastic car and although it may not have an Audi or BMW badge, what it loses in snobbyness it gains in driving satisfaction

I would also recommend the auto box in this car, in my opinion the rev-match feature in sport mode on the manual takes away the need to rev match yourself, so you lose that enjoyment and satisfaction of heel-toeing down through the gears, so in my eyes an auto is more than suitable as you still have the 'manual' mode (which does downshift for you if you end up going to slow)

In auto with the standard tyres the JCW is still a brilliant little car that can hold it's own against some pretty big cars, having said all of what I have I will be removing the Dunlop's once they run out and replacing them with Michellin PSS's simply because I'm not keen on the runflats

 

[sootyvrs]

You can always opt for std 17" track spoke wheels which come with non rft tyres and will improve ride and offer slightly less unsprung weight (less pose, more go )

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[dgswick]

Yeah, its a 230bhp semi-lightweight fwd. in the wet it can be a handful and and a fair bit of torque steer on poor surfaces, but unless you provoke it, no traction issues in the dry. 17" track spokes on pirelli pzero rubber (no rf's on 17's from factory in uk at least).

Agree, s1 is probably nearest competition, audi s3/golf r next level up in terms of straight line pace with 300bhp and 4wd

 

[teeninvader]

All I can say is get a test drive of a MINI JCW ...

I don't have words to describe how I feel when I drive it

Mine is manual and rev matching is not a problem for me

As for wheel spin, I have not experienced much in the dry ...

And I doubt it will be a problem unless if u plan to drag race ... (Seriously drag race)


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