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!
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!