Will MINI Make a JCW Factory Clubman?

Sections: JCW | R55 (Clubman) Nov 19th, 2007 33 Comments

Recently we scooped a few of the details on the new R56 factory JCW kit. However we didn’t address one burning question that seemed to be on quite a few readers’ minds; will MINI make a factory JCW Clubman?

In a word… yes.

The factory JCW Clubman will sport the exact same performance figures (power output between 210hp and 220hp) with a host of drivetrain modifications just like the factory R56 JCW car. But the really good news? According sources last week at the LA Autoshow, we should expect the factory JCW Clubman to go on sale in June of 2008 along with it’s shorter R56 stable-mate.

With that kind of power plus loads of torque, and a longer wheelbase for a smoother more compliant ride, the JCW Clubman will surely be something to behold. We don’t have any definitive word on pricing in any market but expect the Factory JCW option to be roughly identical to the R56 version – which is to say at least as high as the outgoing factory kit and probably a bit more.

We’ll have more factory JCW details in the coming weeks. In the meantime, be sure to check out the MotoringFile JCW section for all other recent JCW related articles.

The photo above is simply a Cooper S Clubman with several JCW accessories installed. It is not the actual factory JCW Clubman.

Written By: Gabe

mike

Any chance the Clubman can be retrofit on my R56? :P
YuccaPatrol

I haven’t even been considering a Clubman JCW. Hmmmm. . . . .

I’ll probably still go with the coupe, but am still very curious as to the true performance of the Clubman vs. the Coupe in the twisties.
Vanwall

Rally. Car.
Mark Smith

Yucca don’t be woried. I can tell you from experience that the Cooper S Clubman is every bit as good as a regular Cooper S at high speed. I can tell you from first hand experience in the passenger seat next to legendary Rally Driver Rauno Aaltonen. No joke. I got to drive myself as well and put that car through it’s paces back to back with an R56 Cooper S. While you feel the length back there it actually improves tail happiness in the car. What a ride!
Jimskater

Mark Smith, I officially hate you.

(note to self: jealousy is never pretty)
Jon

Interesting, not to sure about this move. Seems a tad silly to release a factory JCW Clubman without offering a stage 1 kit Clubman. Think broadening the offering of the Factory kit will however rather dilute the impact fo the Factory build. I am very happy for an potential Clubman owners that are wanting to go this way. Guess in my heart Mini was going to treat this more like a GP than just another Mini.

Between leaving off obvious equipment like the suspension and the aero kit, starting to wonder what else they have left off. I completely agree with Gabe’s statement in the Sunday WRR show. They need to make a Factory car standout on the street.

Must admit that I will be watching the news closely in the coming months but starting to wonder if my needs might be better addressed with another toy. Quite honestly I was hoping for a slightly different take on this car.
O(=^=)OCapn

I agree with Rob, Is this thing long enough to enter a rallye?

Mark, fyi I am president of the Mark Smith Haters Club. ;-)
greg

Still seems weird to me, however, if Porsche makes a 520 hp SUV then why not MINI with a performance er, whatever you’d call it.
Vanwall

Ehh, I can’t hate Mark Smith – He is an annointed one, now. At least I got to sit in Timo Makinen’s seat in the ’65 Monte winner, if only oh so briefly. And yes, I eventually had to wash that part of my anatomy.
Jon E

If the factory JCW R56 and Clubman are expected to “go on sale in June of 2008″ does that mean that we will be able to place an order sometime in the March/April 2008 time frame? If that is the case, I might just hold out. Otherwise the factory JCW will probably need to be my next MINI in a couple of years as I am planning a cross country driving vacation in July 2008, and was anticipating using the new MINI.
Crusoe

No surprise they’ll offer it at the same time. All the parts are going to be exactly the same with the exception of a different exhaust piece.
scotteast

I’m a future Clubman owner and this is good news, but not exactly a big surprise. As best as I can tell the only difference between a JCW MCS and a JCW MCS Clubman would be the length and shape of the exhaust. With such limited development costs, they don’t have to sell too many Clubman kits to be profitable.
michael

I think it’s a good thing; more power for those who need more room.
jbfromoz

So… any news of a 4WD JCW CLUBMAN?

after a dizzy Be&*(TCH drove into the front left side of my MY05 JCW Cooper S I have been concerned about what my vehicle will return to me like.. considering the old trade out of it once its back in one piece in order to limit my exposure to a not so straight machine still off the road til Mid December, so any news is good news at this point!
YuccaPatrol

4WD JCW CLUBMAN. . . I’m holding out for the amphibious flying version myself. . . and if there is a package to make it into a walking robot, then I’ll have that too.
Fussner

Gabe,

If you get any accessories put on at Knuaz MINI are you able to get a “motoringfile” discount??
MiniMark

ARGH, after Friday’s teaser I waited all weekend and all day at work today in the hope/expectation of getting more news of what we can actually expect to get in JCW factory car but alas it’s more Clubman news. Yes I’m frustrated. Anyway the more/less I hear about this the less appealing it’s becoming and like John I’m seriously considering a different toy, especially since you can pick up a spanking new Z4 M Roadster for $45Kish round October time. How the car looks will almost certainly be the deciding factor for me, no exclusive bodykit = no sale. And I don’t think we’ve got a definitive answer either way on whether there will or will not be have we Gabe? As it stands now you can pick up the JCW Stage 1 Tuning Kit, JCW Suspension Kit and JCW Aero Kit from Morristown Mini for under $4K, which leaves enough change out of $6K to get most if not all of the carbon fibre goodies if you so wish. Like Gabe, this is the route I will probably be going if Mini don’t offer me something unique.

Another rant over.
MarkD

Does anyone have info or a guess on the JCW tuning kit for the R56 automatic Cooper S? It would seem a performace upgrade for the auto Cooper S would be a priority at this point. I bought my Auto after coming from a 2005 steeda mustang thinking the auto mini would be faster on the track and that seems to be the case. However, if the stage 1 JCW kit never comes out I will regret my decision. I do not want a JCW Clubman having more JCW options than my car.
jbfromoz

im sure the JCW clubman auto wont have more options, you can sleep safe
YuccaPatrol

I think people have forgotten the meaning of the word “unique”.

A JCW car built to my exact (and not very typical) specifications is unique.

A car like the GP that is exactly like several thousand other cars is not unique.

I’m happy that MINI is going to give us an awesome factory JCW kit that can be customized to my “unique” taste.
eager2own

On a side note: Here’s to hoping that the JCW (Factory) R57 is released at the same time as the R57.
http://www.allminiworkshop.es NACHO

So… Anyone knows if it there is going to exist a Stage I for Clubman S? I’ve tried to read and read and I dont have anything clear about this!! :((

Thanks!
MiniMark

I think people have forgotten the meaning of the word “unique”. A JCW car built to my exact (and not very typical) specifications is unique. A car like the GP that is exactly like several thousand other cars is not unique. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m happy that MINI is going to give us an awesome factory JCW kit that can be customized to my “unique” taste.

Thanks but I’m perfectly aware of the meaning of the word ‘unique’. If you read my post again you’ll see I earlier used the word exclusive which also gets at precisely what my point was. Working on the assumption that you’re not a moron I’m going to assume that you knew exactly what I was getting at and decided to be pedantic anyway but if not, let me spell it out to you. A JCW factory car should be something special and something easily distinguishable on the road from other Mini’s by other drivers, e.g. BMW 318, 335 and M3. All essentially 3 series cars but each extremely easily differentiated from one another by anyone with a decent knowledge of the BMW 3 series.

Anyway now for some real news, I hope I’m not letting any cats out of any bags here Gabe but I spoke to an old friend at the plant in Oxford today and when I pressed him on the subject of a unique/exclusive bodykit for the factory JCW his answer was, “you will not be disappointed”. And with that, frustration turns once again to excitement.
Jon

Interesting news MiniMark, though I have the feeling that Gabe has already said they were working on a aero kit for it. What I am unhappy about though is if its just another option it could be put onto any car, thus once again leaving the Factory car being something looking like other Mini’s. I do hope if they release something like a new aero kit it will be exclusive to the factory car, though I have a feeling it will at a base minimum be available for at least a stage 1 kit.
MiniMark

Jon the impression I was given that it will only be available from the factory and only be available on the JCW factory car :-). Fingers crossed eh?
nuvolari

If I can spec one out for under $30k, I’m in.
nuvolari

Oh, and body-color rear pillars…
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

Anyway now for some real news, I hope I’m not letting any cats out of any bags here Gabe but I spoke to an old friend at the plant in Oxford today and when I pressed him on the subject of a unique/exclusive bodykit for the factory JCW his answer was, “you will not be disappointed”. And with that, frustration turns once again to excitement.

I believe the factory JCW car will have some unique touches. But I’ve been told straight up by two sources that it will not have a unique aero-kit. That said I was told by someone in Oxford last year it would. However the recent info seems to trump the previous one for various reasons I won’t go into here.

That said… I hope I’m wrong and you’re right :)

ARGH, after FridayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s teaser I waited all weekend and all day at work today in the hope/expectation of getting more news of what we can actually expect to get in JCW factory car but alas itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s more Clubman news.

I’d love nothing more than to spill days worth of JCW on the site… alas…

Yes IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m frustrated. Anyway the more/less I hear about this the less appealing itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s becoming and like John IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m seriously considering a different toy, especially since you can pick up a spanking new Z4 M Roadster for $45Kish round October time.

You may be able to find one lower in some parts of the country. It’s almost sad as I think it’s the best M-car offering the US maybe since the E30 M3.

As it stands now you can pick up the JCW Stage 1 Tuning Kit, JCW Suspension Kit and JCW Aero Kit from Morristown Mini for under $4K, which leaves enough change out of $6K to get most if not all of the carbon fibre goodies if you so wish. Like Gabe, this is the route I will probably be going if Mini donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t offer me something unique.

Couldn’t agree more. It also leaves you some extra cash for all the options that you might not have gotten. At least it did for me.
Jon

One thing that would be sad is that if Mini doesn’t realize a majority of the people looking at this are hoping to have something that stands out. The fact is the factory car has done a lot to keep my stress over a SUV under control. I will wait to see all the info as it comes out but do have to say that I am nervous with the info that has already been provided. I was hoping for an improvement over the already excellent JCW suspension only to find out that not only is the current not a part of the base car but no improvements to it as an option.

Can’t speak for the other people interested in this car, but I was hopping Mini was taking a different track with this car. I will withhold my final opinion until the full info comes out, but between the rather questionable initial information and community be damned SUV I am starting to feel that BMW has been moving this brand further and further from what I have loved about Mini.
nuvolari

Jon– The fact is the factory car has done a lot to keep my stress over a SUV under control.

Whatchu talkin’ bout, Willis?
Jon

Heh, just was saying that the Mini SUV has me a little more than angry at Mini. I can feel it tearing the community apart. The info about the factory JCW has up to date been able to distract me that the same people that came up with a Mini SUV are designing the new factory JCW and making decisions such as leaving off the aero kit and suspension.
nuvolari

Jon, yall gots ta chill. If you are going to get stressed out by every bad decision made by a car executive, you will die very young.
Jon

No worry there Nuvolari, just happen to be a huge fan of the BMW/Mini brand and very nervous about the apparent direction BMW is taking on a very beloved brand.

This definetly isn’t the first nor the last bad decision by Mini, but up to this point the Mini community has been a huge part of the reason why Mini has had such success. I just am hoping that we will see a return to common sense at Mini.

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