WC 50 in Detail

that.guy May 24th, 2009 Link

So disappointing…

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Gabe May 24th, 2009 Link

Breathtaking. What a great way to celebrate the year. I can’t imagine a better colour, spec, anything.

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lilcoopr May 24th, 2009 Link

For once I can actually see something that you post on MotoringFile in person… I love it :)

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that.guy May 24th, 2009 Link

@Gabe Go easy on the koolaid, mister.

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JonPD May 24th, 2009 Link

Still liking the looks of the car, one of the better looking R56’s to my eye. Not a huge fan of black wheels but could live with them. The interior is a step down on the exterior but still not to bad. Still for this to be sold without the proper suspension (JCW) I still think the car lacks a clear message. I however think the biggest thing that still makes me wonder though is the reported nearly 50k it would cost.

I would honestly pay 50k for a class dominating Mini no holds bared performance car, I however know Mini will never make one.

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lilcoopr May 24th, 2009 Link

Meant to say it’s because I’m at MINI United with you guys!!

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Gabe May 24th, 2009 Link

Still for this to be sold without the proper suspension (JCW) I still think the car lacks a clear message.

Yeah that’s the huge issue I have with the car. Unfortunately they don’t have the JCW Suspension worked into the production work-flow at Oxford so it’s not possible without considerable expense. Still I would have demanded it if I was the one calling the shots – which I am not :)

But I suppose people complaining about the price don’t need to worry. It’ll be sold out in months and likely won’t ever be available in the US.

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JonPD May 24th, 2009 Link

Note to Mini, time to hire Gabe. Think he understands what many in the Mini community are looking for than anyone currently employed at Mini. heh

I just think that the JCW brand just lacks the clear message one gets with /M or any other manufactures performance divisions. JCW is just a kit car in a great many ways versus Mini taking the time and funds needed to handle what is arguably one of its largest user groups wishes (performance). A great deal of the Mini owners I know have spent more on tuning the performance on their cars than just about everything else combined. I do wonder if JCW will ever have more of a feeling of being just a accessory vendor of demi-performance components.

For 50k I could take a base R56S paint it a unique color, tune it to run circles around the JCW Mini in every regard (minus the factory warranty).

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Haemish Edgerton May 25th, 2009 Link

Breathtaking. What a great way to celebrate the year. I can’t imagine a better colour, spec, anything.

Yeah that’s the huge issue I have with the car. Unfortunately they don’t have the JCW Suspension worked into the production work-flow at Oxford so it’s not possible without considerable expense.

Will the real Gabe please stand up? :-P

In all seriousness… it’s a very pretty car… that is glaringly shortsighted on the performance side of things with the base suspension.

I don’t care if they can’t do the JCW suspension on the production line yet… this is a very limited production of 250 cars… the least they could do is install the JCW suspension manually on each and every one before selling it.

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JonPD May 25th, 2009 Link

Agreed on that, especially if somebody is spending 50k on the car. If its a euro spec car only I would have liked to have them through the JCW Recaro’s in the car too.

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Gabe May 25th, 2009 Link

@Haemish Edgerton: I should have said factory spec :)

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DB May 25th, 2009 Link

Interesting info about the paint on this MINI, not sure if it will be the same on the others.

This car started life as metallic black, then had BRG (the exact same color as the F1 racecar on display) hand-sprayed over the black. The color was the same, but had a little bit more depth to it, and still looked non-metallic.

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JonPD May 26th, 2009 Link

Interesting news DB, wonder if the green is just an exterior spray versus a full body paint job. Not sure how enthralled I would be to see bits of metallic black poking out of the nooks and crannies where the green wasn’t sprayed into. I am pretty sure though that Mini made sure to address this to keep it all looking good.

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