JCW Cooper Sound Kit Review

Sections: JCW | R50 (Coupe) | Reviews Sep 20th, 2005 20 Comments

This comes from reader Olly Male:

Last Friday I had the JCW Cooper Sound Kit fitted to my MINI Cooper.

The kit comprises of an upgraded air filter system (with an extra filter above the fuse box), New cat back exhaust, upgraded engine software, engine badges and a badge on the back of the car. According to JCG it improves BHP by about 5 BHP, not a great deal but this kit is all about sound improvements. I paid 715 for the kit fitted (it retails for $1100 in the US) and had it all fitted at John Cooper Garages themselves.

The new exhaust is the first thing you notice when you turn they key, it has a nice low tone to it, nothing over the top but definitely a nice improvement on the stock system. Around town it is slightly noisier than the stock system, on the motorway at cruising speed the extra noise is not noticeable until you put your foot down where the air filter makes a nice noise.

The new air filter kicks in the extra noise around the golden 4500 mark, and makes a superb noise to go with it (see sound clips) Again not noticeable when just cruising around

It’s difficult to say what the remap has done because of what the exhaust and air filter are doing to the way the car drives. However it has stopped the spluttering at tick over.

In summary, I think this is a great bit of kit. It gives the car a sportier note, gives you more low end grunt around town and makes a glorious noise at the good revs

I would really recommend this kit to any Cooper owner.

Sounds clips: Standing Outside / From a Standstill / 30mph 2nd Gear

Related:

[ JCW Cooper Sound Kit US Pricing ] MotoringFile

Written By: MF Reader

http://whitemaleconsumer.com Zeke Wright

Sounds like a nice bit of equipment if you’re game, and the price makes sense for you. Personally, I’d rather go aftermarket and save a few bucks, with bigger gains. But c’est la vie, eh?
fdavid

A little bit on the high price range I think. Not to much of a JCW fan here but if it was for sound I would consider Milltek for sound quality and actual power gain. (thats without getting into CAI units that really bring out all the qualities of these beautiful cars)
SF

Oily Male, could you comment on the relative loudness compared to a stock S? Thanks for the review.
PaulG

Fair comments, although in the UK you will want to hang on to warranty based on the 3 or 5 year TLC package.

As you can see from the pic’s thats a recent Cooper – so it’s likely it’s still within that TLC/Warranty period.
http://www.barbaloot.com geno

From what I have heard this kit can not be installed on a CVT. Is that correct?
johnsocal

The cool thing about this JCW kit is you will most likely get most of you money back when you goto sell you car while other aftermarket stuff will actually make yor car woth less.
O(=^=)O Capn

Still sounds good.
dickdavid

I love that sound! Great review!
http://www.nemini.org GMINI

Standing Outside it’s got a set of consonents up in there! It barks!
Mike

Impressive sounds! I didn’t expect it to sound so nice. Thanks for the first hand experience review.
http://www.WebbMotorsports.com Brian@Webbmototsports

Stick one of the HAI filters onto the end of the stock intake tube and you get the same sound for $40. I did this on my dads Cooper.
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

I’ve got to say… I’ve heard some fantastic Coopers over the last three years.. but this has got to be the best. I’ll always like the note of a massaged Cooper over a Cooper S.
SF

Gabe, a surprising comment! I’m sure you still have some reservations about the product, but have you warmed up to it a bit?
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Gabe, a surprising comment! I’m sure you still have some reservations about the product, but have you warmed up to it a bit?

Yeah, now that I’ve seen and heard it I guess I have. Although if it were my money I’d still probably opt for a Superspring exhaust and promini intake (or something along those lines).
Mike Delta

Does this comment “it has stopped the spluttering at tick over” mean that the burble and pops are gone? I am still wondering if you lose this with the full JCW kit on a Cooper S….
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Does this comment “it has stopped the spluttering at tick over” mean that the burble and pops are gone? I am still wondering if you lose this with the full JCW kit on a Cooper S….

There’s no popping sound on the Cooper – it’s only on the MCS. And with the JCW engine kit on the MCS (which is different than the ‘sound kit’ for the Cooper) you do not lose the popping sound.
Mike Delta

Thanks Gabe. I will keep saving my pennies for the kit…..
mel

I did’t understand a lot of things about this kit. first of all it seems that there are two different kit : one for the US and one for the EU. which one is that we see above? is it necessary to cut the rear pipe to install this exaust?
Vince Petrino

Does it mask the power stearing noise when your driving at low speeds?
http://www.eastcoastminiclub.co.uk Javelin Sam

Having looked at the kit and heard the sounds and..and..and baulked at the price compaired to the gains i’m glad i went my own way.

K&N 57i Induction kit, Quicksilver Stainless exhaust system from cat back totalling Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£380 and i recently got 129.4bhp on the rollers..

Glad i saved the cash

Plus mine sounds even better than that!!!

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