MF Exclusive: “Stage II” JCW MINI Revealed

“I however never expect a factory build to be available as a dealer kit any more than a GP was.”

Really? The previous JCW was availible as a factory OR dealer option. Why not this one?

The GP was a different beast alltogether. A last-of-the R53 limitid production run. Every one of the GP performance options were availible to R53 owners. Cosmetics (wing, color, undertray, back seat delete) were limited, but not the actual performance items.

@RB – Not to over do the Torque question, and I’m no gearhead, but I believe the standard English unit for Torque is the multiplication of ft*lb (as opposed to dividing ft/lb or lb/ft).

Thus, ftlb or lbft yields the same value for torque. Accordingly “Foot pounds” versus “Pound feet” would just be a personal preference.

Msh 441. From your mouth to Minis ears. An upgrade for the stage one to make it stage two would be great but don’t hold your breath. I’d be happy with some kind of “in between” upgrade like the ’05 air box 10hp upgrade. That only cost $500!

OK, I got all the info I need as to the lb/ft – ft/lb issue. Thanks.

Hey Gabe, I thought you didn’t take stupid comments personally anymore? ………. ;-)

I thought ’06 JCW was a “factory” option. Again, all this story states is that this is coming. We knew that. Since they have given no specifics as to HP or price, the only “news” is that Mini will stiff us on the prior promise that JCW suspension and body kit would be included in the $6000(ish).

And that’s old news eh?

In terms of the whole bigger brake thing… more pistons means more even pressure on the pads for better bite, modulation, and pedal feel. It also looks a hell of a lot cooler because people always think more is better.

Fewer pistons means less cost and less unsprung mass. Having fewer pistons also usually means a smaller caliper, which means heat is more localized, which means the pads get up to temp faster and stay there longer. Those are big reasons why BMW does it that way (single-piston on the M3, two-piston on the M5).

Keep in mind that those statements are assuming all else is equal. For example, it is possible to have 4-pot calipers that are lighter than single-pot calipers. They’ll just be really expensive.

Overall heat handling is a function of the mass of the brake components, what they’re made of (iron vs. aluminum vs. ceramic), and how well everything is ventillated. Number of pistons isn’t really a factor in and of itself; sometimes calipers with lots of pistons handle heat better, but that’s really only because they tend to be bigger.

It’s all a design choice.

A note about the M3′s one-pot calipers: those single pistons are HUGE, and the brake pads are relatively square so the piston ends up covering most of the pad. That’s how they (mostly) get around the pad flex issue.

BMW also uses sliding calipers wherever possible. That way, the pistons are always on the inside, which gives a lot more freedom in terms of wheel fitment because you don’t have to worry as much about whether the wheels will clear the brakes.

I understand some people’s desire for a “factory ONLY” M-Car-like MINI JCW. Somthing exclusive. Somthing special. Not your run-of-the-mill JCW (if there is such a thing).

To many though… well to me at least… this somewhat violates what the MINI is all about. To me, the MINI is (and should remain) a classless car. I like the fact that one can at any time make their car as mild or wild as they want it to be. Leave it stock for a year or two… go JCW a bit later… full blown track caged car after that if you so desire. Or just leave it bone stock forever.

I understand the idea of an exclusive “end-of-run” car like the GP and I would expect somthing similar when the R56 sees it’s twilight. I just don’t like the idea of a concrete dividing line between production cars. MINI should not need to follow the lead of BMW. It’s part of MINI’s charecter that you can make your MINI whatever you want it to be pretty much whenever you want it.

Hope this doesn’t seem too much like rambling. It’s hard to verbalize a concept like this.

If you are out of warranty and add a JCW part from the dealer, then how long is the warranty on the new parts?

The naming of ‘Stage II’ implies it can be purchased as a package like the Stage I kit. Otherwise, it would have been named ‘r56 JCW car’.

@ msh441:

Agreed–which is why I said, ‘the more the merrier’.

Think there are a few more surprises of the factory car upcoming. Think we should hold off for now until the details of this car comes down before we pass judgment that its not worth its additional costs.

The factory JCW is coming with the new 4 piston brakes and from the previous details on Motoringfile have said it will be coming with LSD also. Think the upcoming months are going to be enthralling.

Does this have something to do with the new big brakes for the Mini…. http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/13/brembo-supplying-brakes-to-bmw/

Ft x Lb and Lb x Ft are the same thing. The root of this evil is two fold… Most people don’t use slugs (the REAL unit of mass, not Lbs) and there’s a style gide that some editor wrote about car stuff that maintains there’s a difference…

Back to your regularly scheduled Mini banter…

Matt

msh441,

You said:

Every one of the GP performance options were availible to R53 owners. Cosmetics (wing, color, undertray, back seat delete) were limited, but not the actual performance items.

Not true. There are 3 performance-related items that are NOT readily available to non-GP owners in the USA (courtesy of MINIUSA’s restrictions). Those being the GP intercooler, the aluminum trailing arms and the lightweight GP wheels.

True, you can get these items from international sources (or from USA vendors who already obtained them from an international source). Also, the trailing arms on the R56 are almost identical (although not EXACTLY), so buying those and adapting them to fit is another option…

But the point remains that through “official” channels, here in the USA, a number of the “unique” GP performance items are simply NOT available to R53 owners.