JCW Suspension One Month Review

Sections: JCW | Reviews Sep 26th, 2007 35 Comments

Part 3: One Month Review

With a month behind the wheel of my 2007 MCS and the JCW Suspension, I wanted to go beyond initial impressions or track day feedback and touch on day to day livability. One of my early criticisms with the kit was the surprisingly harsh ride – even worse than what I remembered on the R53 kit. In fact it was the ride and cost that lowered the overall score of the first review to a 3.5 out of 5. Perhaps somewhat telling, the track review (which took comfort out of the equation) garnered a 4.5 out of 5.

However since that time,my experience with the car and specifically the suspension has made me rethink the that initial 3.5. For starters, a few days after the review I realized that my dealer had mistakenly set the tire pressures at 40 psi. This was hugely detrimental when it came to the ride of the car and the unsettled feeling over broken pavement. Lowering that figure to something more reasonable (36 psi in this case) immediately made the suspension much more livable day to day with no performance downsides. Even better, the car felt controlled and in command over the same broken pavement that was previously so unsettling.

In addition to dialing down the tire pressures to normal numbers, the suspension also settled in after the normal break-in period. This has given the car more ability to soak up road irregularities all while delivering an aggressive feel. In total, these changes have made the car much more livable day to day while losing none of the performance.

One thing to watch out for with the suspension kit is ride height. While 1 cm doesn’t sound like much of a drop, it’s enough make the car bottom out on a daily basis. This is specifically the case with those who have the JCW Aero-kit. While the kit lowers the ground clearance on both the front and side of the car, it’s the front air-deflectors that take the majority of the impacts. In fact I’ve taken enough of them that my driver-side deflector finally gave up somewhere on Sheridan Rd. just north of Chicago last week. Luckily replacements are all of $9.

Of course the downside of the kit continues to be the dealer installed cost of the kit. This is especially true considering what aftermarket set-ups you can get for the money. JCW suspension kit parts and install costs can range anywhere from under $2000 to well over $2500. However with suspension, you tend to get what you pay for. With the JCW kit, MINI has developed a suspension that is as usable on the road as it is on the track. The kit gives improved control, easier modulation at the limit, sharper turn-in, and less body roll. All while remaining tolerable on less than perfect roads.

Is it worth it? For me the answer is a resounding yes. As much as I love the JCW engine kit also on the car, it’s the JCW suspension kit that gets me up early for morning runs. It may be costly, but no other system is so tailored to your specific MINI and in turn so well-rounded.

MF Long Term Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Related Reviews:

[ MF Review: JCW Suspension (part 1) ] MotoringFile

[ MF Review: JCW Suspension At the Track (part 2) ] MotoringFile

Availability

The JCW Sport Suspension kit is available from the following MotoringFile sponsors:

Knauz MINI (where the kit in this review was installed)
MINI of Manhattan
Morristown MINI
Patrick MINI
Westchester MINI

For some context, here’s a peak at how the entire MF Rating system plays out:

5 – Perfect and a must have.
4 – Excellent with little downside.
3 – A Solid buy with some trade-offs.
2 – Okay, but there’s room for improvement.
1 – Why am I reviewing this?

Written By: Gabe

http://www.jayomatic.com Jay

Haha. Like how you put that photo of the corvette waving you by in the photos. Never noticed that before.
mike

Perfect time to post this! I’m picking up my MCS with JCW Stage 1 & Suspension in about 40 minutes!

Thanks Gabe!
TheOfficeMaven

Long term = 1 month??? Hmm…

I’ve had my JCW suspension for going on three years now, and while I absolutely love the way it handles, I doubt very seriously that I would ever do it again. The ride quality just plain stinks for day-to-day driving. Any simply trip on the highway amounts to a seriously uncomfortable bone jarring experience.
http://www,chicagominiclub.com Steve

It will be interesting to hear the longer term thoughts of the lowered suspension after living through a winter driving season..

I do like the looks of the red springs!
greg

You must be psyched Mike! I’ve got the same coming in a couple weeks and I can’t wait!
Zack

Not sure what types of bumps you hit Maven, but both R53′s I put the JCW suspension on ride better over the small to large stuff. It’s just the extra large bumps that feel worse to me–in which case, I slow down.
JZ

dealer set higher tire pressures may be a way of them protecting your rims from the inevitable rim denting pothole..?

great review as always.. thanks
Brad

How important are the air deflectors? Why not just take the passenger side off and call it good? Would the front end be bottoming out if not for the air deflectors?
TheOfficeMaven

@Zack,

Standard Southern California freeways (5, 405, etc.) are the roads I’m speaking of. EVERYONE that rides in my car can’t believe how harsh it rides (they also can’t believe how well it handles too). Around town (i.e. city streets) the car seems fine, it’s those bumps and dips on the highways that brings tears to my passenger’s eyes.

To each his own… I have nothing against the JCW suspension, but folks really should understand how bad the ride derogation will be before they consider purchasing any suspension component upgrades.

We just bought a new 07 MINI (without the sport suspension option) and I can assure you that its suspension will remain 100% stock. We don’t track/race our cars and so the stock suspension is a better choice/ride for us.
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

dealer set higher tire pressures may be a way of them protecting your rims from the inevitable rim denting pothole..?

Yeah I thought about that and that may very well be the case. But that said I’d gladly take slightly lower (ie: normal) pressures for a more comfortable ride.

How important are the air deflectors? Why not just take the passenger side off and call it good? Would the front end be bottoming out if not for the air deflectors?

Sure you could take them off but… keep in mind that they are there for a reason. The JCW Aero kit is essentially a carbon copy of JCW Challenge race car’s and the GP’s aerokit (in silhouette) for a reason. MINI did aero testing on the general shape and designed it with air-flow and down-force in mind. So taking anything off like the front deflectors compromise that design. And at $9 a piece I don’t replacing them every now at again.

Standard Southern California freeways (5, 405, etc.) are the roads IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m speaking of. EVERYONE that rides in my car canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t believe how harsh it rides (they also canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t believe how well it handles too). Around town (i.e. city streets) the car seems fine, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s those bumps and dips on the highways that brings tears to my passengerÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s eyes.

I’m also at a loss to why your car is so harsh. Even at 40 psi I wouldn’t describe my car as you did above. And I can guarantee you that we have worse roads in Chicago :)
Astro S

Hey OfficeMaven, I’ve driven the 405 and through Long Beach I couldn’t believe how rough that is. I was waiting for stuff to start shaking off ! That is by far the worst stretch of road I’ve driven.
Callahan

So Gabe, I am not able to make the investment for both JCW suspension AND JCW Stage 1. If you had a choice which would you choose. I don’t, nor do I anticipate, ever tracking mine. I am leaning towards the JCW Stage 1 and going with the stock Sport package with Limited Slip and the Sport upgrade. Opinions?
http://www.r3mpinc.com Garth

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m also at a loss to why your car is so harsh. Even at 40 psi I wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t describe my car as you did above. And I can guarantee you that we have worse roads in Chicago :)

The 5, 405, and most other freeways here in LA were built of concrete in the 50′s through the early seventies. These roads have now settled and with the trucks pounding the roads in an ever increasing unslaught, the roads here have developed a very unique short frequency pattern that is not unlike wind chop on a lake. Short, staccato like impacts that there is just no way to avoid and go on for miles. The only solution for Cal Trans is to litteraly “plane” the roads with a grinder. This happens on an infrequent rate at best and yes, MINI’s of all suspension flavors are prone to riding rough on these roads. But I have to say, when you hit a stretch of road that has been planed, it is really a grreat, smooth ride.

Heck, drivng some of these older, choppy freeways in my 650 are at best jarring.
TheOfficeMaven

@Gabe,

I’ve often wondered if they speced my JCW suspension kit with the wrong coil springs (giving it a harsher ride than it should actually have). However, the car is fully loaded and so I assume that it would have needed the stiffest coils anyway (I believe that there are three different coil spring rates and the ones you get with your kit depend upon how your car is optioned out).

Another factor is that the car is still running the stock runflats. I know that the ride would be MUCH better without them, but in their defense, they are the tires that the car was “designed” to have on it (i.e. they’re the OEM tires and so MINI should have designed the JCW suspension to work with them).

@Astro,

Yes indeed our freeways can be really bad in parts. I’ve been down that stretch of the 405 quite a bit. I feel like I’m a race car driver as I position my car all over the place in order to avoid all of the bumps. Ha ha!
Brian

Gabe,

Every time I get an alignment, my dealer inflates the tires to whatever the want. One day I came out of there and felt like I had no suspension at all. I checked the tires and they had 45 and 48psi! I just think that they dont really care about those details. Especially when on the door it says to put between 30 and 33psi in the run flats.

The worst thing is that most people dont realize to check the tire pressure at all. They assume that if it comes put of the shop it should be okay, and they slowly go destroying suspension parts.
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

The 5, 405, and most other freeways here in LA were built of concrete in the 50Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s through the early seventies. These roads have now settled and with the trucks pounding the roads in an ever increasing unslaught, the roads here have developed a very unique short frequency pattern that is not unlike wind chop on a lake. Short, staccato like impacts that there is just no way to avoid and go on for miles. The only solution for Cal Trans is to litteraly “plane” the roads with a grinder.

Ah yes – I know that “chop” quite well. Planing roads isn’t nearly as common as it should be in Chicago. I can think of quite a few near me that desperately need it.

As I’ve said in the past, my front deflectors bottom out simply driving down city streets all the time. There’s one near where I live that essentially acts as a speed bump at this point. In fact the road in front of my place has this issue and dates from (based on local accounts) the 1950′s or 60′s. Luckily traffic is so bad you can’t go too fast :)

So Gabe, I am not able to make the investment for both JCW suspension AND JCW Stage 1. If you had a choice which would you choose. I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t, nor do I anticipate, ever tracking mine. I am leaning towards the JCW Stage 1 and going with the stock Sport package with Limited Slip and the Sport upgrade. Opinions?

If you don’t ever take your car to the track and don’t do some seriously corner carving with it, the engine kit is probably the better choice.
Wolfgang

Gabe,

I remember you saying that you have 35 series tires and will be switching to 40s. Are you still on the 35s? Are they 215-35s? Will you be going to a 215-40?
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

I remember you saying that you have 35 series tires and will be switching to 40s. Are you still on the 35s? Are they 215-35s? Will you be going to a 215-40?

Yes I’m currently on 35s and will be switching to 40s (215/40/18) this coming spring.
mike

You must be psyched Mike! IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve got the same coming in a couple weeks and I canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t wait!

Greg,

My wait was 9 weeks and 2 days because of delays at port with the aero kit install and delays at the dealership with the suspension (apparently the service dept didn’t know what to order) but I ust got back from the dealership and I just love it. While the wait was frustrating, it was totally worth it. Yours will be too.
jas cooper

Thanks for the update.

I’d think that 17″ wheels would also contribute to a smoother ride.

How much increase in circumference is the 40 series over the 35s?

I’d like to have a little more drop than 1cm, but it seems with the R56 suspension options, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Wolfgang

My calculations:

205/40/18: 24.46″ 215/35/18: 23.93″ 215/40/18: 24.77″
robble

I was able to take a ride in an r56 today with the JCW suspension, engine kit, and JCW 18″ tires. I didn’t find the ride to be much rougher than my sports suspension on 16′s.
Brad

For those interested I’ve started a thread on bottoming out with the JCW Suspension over at N.A.M. http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1772536#post1772536
Ellis

Great review Gabe…..speaking of Chicago roads, I always ask myself “when would the city would fix it”.
Neil Meyer

I have the JCW suspension and after a couple of weeks, think it’s very highly tuned, comfortable and a great improvement. Before, my MCS felt like riding on a marshmellow Chevy Impala. Now it’s like a true European sports car without being harsh. This in Washington DC where after years of Republican neglect, the roads are like the rest of the country – pretty much in the ditch.
nuvolari

I dig my R53 JCW suspension plenty. Super tight.
http://www.pdlight.com phlip

Gabe- Took your advice and replaced my run-flats on my ’04 R53 with Kumho Ecstas. My mechanic was tied up so I had another “tire dealer” install them. When I picked the car up I thought the profiles looked awfully large, and driving the car was white-knuckled bizarre. Under hard acceleraton the front end would drift side to side! What have I bought? I checked the tire pressure and found that each tire had 50lbs. in it!
greg

Republican neglect? oh please…
Matteo A.

Hi,do you have runflat tyres or standard ones?
r56mini

How long does it take at the dealership to install the JCW suspension?
mike

4 – 7 hours
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Eugene

Gabe,

I noticed that Knauz on their website says that the kit includes only shocks and stabilizer bars for $1,295

So what kind of springs should be ordered? Is it ok to leave the stock ones?

Also, Morrison Mini has the kit for $1,000 and that already includes the springs.

Just wondering what you would recommend. I’m in Chicago and always use Knauz for service
Ryan

Have had the JCW suspension for around 2 years on 17 inch wheels, never felt like it was too harsh, unless I hit an unsuspecting pothole…crappy NC roadsâ€¦

It handles amazingly, but I think a lot of the harshness can be attributed to the tires. After i went from some bf Goodrich summer tires to continentals, the ride was noticeably better. Some tires are built for more load than what the mini actually weighs, so some of them are harsher than others.

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