2015 JCW at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Because most of you are enthusiasts, you probably know that the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed is ongoing this week. And it wouldn’t be a proper Festival of Speed without a MINI taking the hillclimb route. Luckily for us, Darren Moss of [Autocar](http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/motor-shows-goodwood-festival-speed/tackling-goodwoods-hillclimb-minis-228bhp-jcw) got to drive the new F56 John Cooper Works on this route. Here is what he has to say about his experience.
Before we actually dive into Moss’s comments, note that he uses the Golf R and the Civic Type R as a basis for assessing the MINI:
>236lb ft of torque, a 153mph top speed and a 6.1sec 0-62mph time aren’t going to worry the likes of the Honda Civic Type R or Volkswagen Golf R.
>In my opinion, it sounds by far the best of the three. JCW models come with a small keyfob that disengages the catalytic converter from the exhaust, making the engine’s noise louder and ensuring plenty of pop and fizz elsewhere.
>I also like the optional automatic transmission. Select manual mode while waiting at the start line and you can use the paddle shifts to pull away with plenty of gusto.
All in all it’s very positive and in line with what European car journalists have said about the car following the press event last month. We can’t wait to properly drive the JCW. In fact, we will be giving a full report by the end of July. Stay tuned!
<p>Am I missing something in my own JCW? The article mentions a key fob that disengages the cats to make the exhaust louder, I know they have the dealer installed exhaust kit for the cooper S that opens a valve, but not the JCW. Confused about that statement for sure, unless the Euro spec JCW has the exhaust and the US spec one doesn’t, at least yet.</p>
<p>They’ve equipped their JCW with the JCW pro exhaust.</p>
<p>I checked the parts on mini usa and they dont’ even list the kit for the 2015 JCW as of yet. Wonder if they will in the states to include the added software tune to bump power up to say 250hp which would be on par what you get with the Hp increase for the F56 cooper S. Oh I wish, and hope for it at least!</p>
<p>FYI the JCW Pro exhaust doesn’t add any extra power, on the Mini JCW.
That is why it is not as expensive as the one that fits the Cooper S… ;)</p>
<p>Looks like somebody tried to flatten the ugly nostril on the bumper with a shovel…..</p>
<p>Looks like they had a little off track experience????</p>
<p>The VW R is overpriced just like the MINI GP was. Even if price were not a factor I’d opt for the R over the current generation MIN.</p>
<p>Me 2.</p>
<p>But if I were looking at an equivalent to a GP, I would probably go for the new Miata 2.0L since neither would have a rear seat. :)</p>
<p>IMHO The Best MINI is the ’06 R53 GP. Looked beautiful and performed beautifully. It was blessed with many design attributes, including scale, that makes it superior to all the bloated successor iterations. It was and is a far more pure and simple design to be admired and driven.</p>
<p>The R53 GP gives great feelings but the performances are not any more terrible today</p>
<p>236lb ft of torque and still only 6.1sec 0-62mph. MINI seriously need to put their small cars on a diet. Not that I consider that ‘slow’ – certainly during normal driving the R56 JCW is plenty quick.</p>
<p>But even the significantly lower powered 2L in the new Miata is faster due to minimal weight.</p>
<p>Buy your Miata, this a totally different product</p>
<p>Of course but my point is some manufacturers are working on reducing weight to improve performance, not adding.</p>
<p>Bmw belongs to the manufacturers working on reducing weight</p>
<p>They are? Mustang said the same thing a couple of years ago when talk of the new Mustang. Guess what? 250 lbs heavier, with a much lighter chassis. Camaro did the same thing for their new 2016 Camaro. They didn’t gain weight, but the didn’t lose any either.</p>
<p>The car everybody here seems to be in love with: The VW GTI. So it lost 100 lbs or so, but with the new shared chassis, and its light weight, it should have lost closer to 300 lbs. Point is, with many of the manditory features that are coming down the line, yes the Euro Pedestrian laws, and what are required here in the USA, new designed cars just about have to gain weight. As for the Miat, well they made it smaller all over, to work with Fiat, I’m thinking. And as said by others, the Miata is whole different breed, plus it’s Japanese.</p>
<p>Each new generation of Mini is bigger BUT lighter</p>