Discussion
Decided to start a thread on my MINI F56 JCW, as I hope it’ll be a long-term car and it’ll be interesting (for me at least) to keep a record of the journey.
My Wife in particular has always loved Mini’s, and this one is our fourth overall, with an R50 One, R56 Cooper & F56 Cooper having already been owned by us. Both my daughters also have them.
With us being in the office more & more, and our Audi TT being 12 years old & a manual on its original clutch, it was decided to upgrade to something newer, and possibly automatic given the nature of the commute. I did agonise over this gearbox choice as I love manuals, but I still have access to my old Fiesta ST at weekends when I fancy a blast in one (my eldest son daily's it now). The Audi was sold to a lovely guy locally, and to be honest he got a great car, it was absolutely immaculate.
We originally looked at JCW models around 3 years old (wanted at least LCI1 with better tech), but cars with a good spec are quite sought after and therefore command a premium. A few I looked at were also slightly tatty, and in my view not near worth the asking price. A quick bit of man-maths brought me to the conclusion that we’d be as well going for a new one if a good deal could be done.
I spotted a Rebel Green car with the Premium Plus pack fitted for sale at Stratstone Mini in Hull. The car was a cancelled order & due within a fortnight. A very good discount meant that we basically got the Premium Plus for free, which adds things like a Pano Roof, HUD, nav, adaptive cruise, reversing camera, etc. I couldn’t find any deal that came near this, so decided to bite the bullet, place a deposit & book a train ticket to Hull.
A February Friday morning journey from Edinburgh went like clockwork, I was picked up at the station by the salesman, and the car was handed over with minimal fuss - couldn’t have asked for any more!
Obligatory pick up picture. Now for the drive home…
My Wife in particular has always loved Mini’s, and this one is our fourth overall, with an R50 One, R56 Cooper & F56 Cooper having already been owned by us. Both my daughters also have them.
With us being in the office more & more, and our Audi TT being 12 years old & a manual on its original clutch, it was decided to upgrade to something newer, and possibly automatic given the nature of the commute. I did agonise over this gearbox choice as I love manuals, but I still have access to my old Fiesta ST at weekends when I fancy a blast in one (my eldest son daily's it now). The Audi was sold to a lovely guy locally, and to be honest he got a great car, it was absolutely immaculate.
We originally looked at JCW models around 3 years old (wanted at least LCI1 with better tech), but cars with a good spec are quite sought after and therefore command a premium. A few I looked at were also slightly tatty, and in my view not near worth the asking price. A quick bit of man-maths brought me to the conclusion that we’d be as well going for a new one if a good deal could be done.
I spotted a Rebel Green car with the Premium Plus pack fitted for sale at Stratstone Mini in Hull. The car was a cancelled order & due within a fortnight. A very good discount meant that we basically got the Premium Plus for free, which adds things like a Pano Roof, HUD, nav, adaptive cruise, reversing camera, etc. I couldn’t find any deal that came near this, so decided to bite the bullet, place a deposit & book a train ticket to Hull.
A February Friday morning journey from Edinburgh went like clockwork, I was picked up at the station by the salesman, and the car was handed over with minimal fuss - couldn’t have asked for any more!
Obligatory pick up picture. Now for the drive home…
The first half of the drive home was excellent. I stopped to fill the tank with V-Power on the way out of Hull and pointed the car towards the North York Moors. The car needs run in for the first 1200 miles, so I was taking it easy, but I also didn’t want to sit at a constant speed on a Motorway, as I don’t think that’s great for running in either.
I headed through the lovely town of Pickering before going up over Blakey Ridge and down towards Middlesborough. A great road, obviously taking it very easily, but still enjoyable.
The second half of the journey was a mixture of some heavy(ish) afternoon traffic on Teeside & around Newcastle, and then up the A1 to Edinburgh, getting home in time for my dinner. Initial observations of the car were good – it seemed pretty comfortable (for a hot hatch), the tech was nice and it was relaxing to drive just riding the torque. The only downside is that it was absolutely filthy!
I headed through the lovely town of Pickering before going up over Blakey Ridge and down towards Middlesborough. A great road, obviously taking it very easily, but still enjoyable.
The second half of the journey was a mixture of some heavy(ish) afternoon traffic on Teeside & around Newcastle, and then up the A1 to Edinburgh, getting home in time for my dinner. Initial observations of the car were good – it seemed pretty comfortable (for a hot hatch), the tech was nice and it was relaxing to drive just riding the torque. The only downside is that it was absolutely filthy!
I knew when the car was ordered that it didn’t have factory bonnet stripes spec’d & as I liked the look of the JCW ones on the Rebel Green paint with the red roof, I had a local wrapping company make some up for me. Good value at £100 fitted.
I also fitted a PPF kit to the door shuts to prevent the well known rubbing issue, no point in pics though as they are invisible!
It didn’t take too long to complete the running in period, I had a few brief forays up towards 5000rpm & tried to keep the revs as varied as possible throughout, but was glad to get it out of the way!
I also fitted a PPF kit to the door shuts to prevent the well known rubbing issue, no point in pics though as they are invisible!
It didn’t take too long to complete the running in period, I had a few brief forays up towards 5000rpm & tried to keep the revs as varied as possible throughout, but was glad to get it out of the way!
Once the salt was off the road it was always my intention to give the car a good clean, polish & coat of wax. I’d been using a spray on, wash off sealant that I’d normally use as a ‘topper’ up to now just to keep the end of winter at bay (although we hardly had one TBH).
With the salt gone I jet washed the underside & applied some leftover Lanoguard to protect things.
I then gave the car a light polish with the DA, and removed a few minor defects that I’d noticed the first time I washed it. These were mostly in the soft gloss black trim pillars. A coat of Fusso Soft 99 was then applied & the plastic protected with Koch Chemie Nano Magic. The Rebel Geeen is a lovely colour, almost black in low light & lighter in direct sun. To me it looks more like British Racing Green than Mini’s actual BRG colour (a lovely colour too), but what do I know??
Came up lovely (Fiesta sulking in the background
)
With the salt gone I jet washed the underside & applied some leftover Lanoguard to protect things.
I then gave the car a light polish with the DA, and removed a few minor defects that I’d noticed the first time I washed it. These were mostly in the soft gloss black trim pillars. A coat of Fusso Soft 99 was then applied & the plastic protected with Koch Chemie Nano Magic. The Rebel Geeen is a lovely colour, almost black in low light & lighter in direct sun. To me it looks more like British Racing Green than Mini’s actual BRG colour (a lovely colour too), but what do I know??
Came up lovely (Fiesta sulking in the background
)Edited by Nelka on Saturday 27th May 10:36
To bring things up to date, just a couple of minor cosmetic mods. I changed the long aerial for the Mini short sport aerial & added aftermarket carbon exhaust pipes from Killallchrome. I opted for the forged carbon finish just to make it a bit different from the normal twill finish. These just slid on over the existing tailpipes & tightened up with a grub screw. Quality seems pretty good.
Before
During
After
The final thing was to change the chrome belt line on the car for a piano black one. I actually don’t mind chrome on Minis at all, but felt on mine that it kind of stood out a bit as the only bit of chrome on the car, with nothing else to tie it in. The Mini belt line kit is extortionate, however Rybrook Mini have good deals on it from time to time, and I snapped one up as soon as it was posted on the owners group pages.
It was pretty easily installed in an hour, and I like the overall look.
So that’s it for now. Future plans are perhaps to lower it a touch, but mainly just to drive it really, and hopefully we’ll get to go on some interesting trips together.
The car is a hoot to drive, plenty of punch & tidy handling without quite the go-kart feel of earlier models. It is far more comfortable on a day to day basis though (I specifically wanted 17” wheels with non-runflats for this reason). In sport mode & sport gearbox it’s pretty feisty! The exhaust note has been covered plenty, it is VERY muted compared to pre-OPF models, but hey-ho. I’m also really glad I got one with the pano roof, it really is excellent to open it up on a nice day.
Before
During
After
The final thing was to change the chrome belt line on the car for a piano black one. I actually don’t mind chrome on Minis at all, but felt on mine that it kind of stood out a bit as the only bit of chrome on the car, with nothing else to tie it in. The Mini belt line kit is extortionate, however Rybrook Mini have good deals on it from time to time, and I snapped one up as soon as it was posted on the owners group pages.
It was pretty easily installed in an hour, and I like the overall look.
So that’s it for now. Future plans are perhaps to lower it a touch, but mainly just to drive it really, and hopefully we’ll get to go on some interesting trips together.
The car is a hoot to drive, plenty of punch & tidy handling without quite the go-kart feel of earlier models. It is far more comfortable on a day to day basis though (I specifically wanted 17” wheels with non-runflats for this reason). In sport mode & sport gearbox it’s pretty feisty! The exhaust note has been covered plenty, it is VERY muted compared to pre-OPF models, but hey-ho. I’m also really glad I got one with the pano roof, it really is excellent to open it up on a nice day.
Edited by Nelka on Saturday 27th May 12:01
Lovely lovely lovely.
I agree with the poster above, it looks almost black in the pics apart from when the sun is on it, but that's part of the attraction.
The subtle mods enhance the looks, especially dispensing with the chrome.
great choice OP, cracking little rocketship there and a spanking deal as well.
I agree with the poster above, it looks almost black in the pics apart from when the sun is on it, but that's part of the attraction.
The subtle mods enhance the looks, especially dispensing with the chrome.
great choice OP, cracking little rocketship there and a spanking deal as well.
Looks lovely, I also have a JCW - a 2019 one, thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I changed the beltline on my car too, as well as putting on the piano black fuel filler cap cover and door handle covers too.
I changed the beltline on my car too, as well as putting on the piano black fuel filler cap cover and door handle covers too.
Lovely car, love the colour scheme.
14 months ago I needed a new daily. I bought a 66 plate Cooper S, on bit of a whim. I’ve been delighted with it, and my local Mini dealer have been fantastic to deal with for servicing etc. I’d love a JCW in the future though, but no hurry, I’m happy with what I have.
14 months ago I needed a new daily. I bought a 66 plate Cooper S, on bit of a whim. I’ve been delighted with it, and my local Mini dealer have been fantastic to deal with for servicing etc. I’d love a JCW in the future though, but no hurry, I’m happy with what I have.
Canon_Fodder said:
OP I suggest getting insect-remover spray on standing order as my Mini gets plastered with them on every motorway journey.
It's the upright angle of the screen I guess.
Yours looks like - great choice and spec. Mine's a Mini One Classic (ie poverty spec) but still fun and also refined
Was literally out at the bin ten minutes ago & noticed it was plastered with flies! It's the upright angle of the screen I guess.
Yours looks like - great choice and spec. Mine's a Mini One Classic (ie poverty spec) but still fun and also refined
CoolHands said:
Can you take some interior shots? What seats has it got?
No problem at all.
Probably not the greatest as it’s blazing sunshine outside just now. The seats are quite a strange combination of cloth, leather & alcantara. They are very comfortable, and the heated element is ballistic!
Nelka said:
It is far more comfortable on a day to day basis though (I specifically wanted 17” wheels with non-runflats for this reason).
Hi Nelka, Interesting to see you have 17" and what appears to be the big brake kit!I've got a Clubman JCW, previous model from your shape but it has 19" wheels. Initially these were run flats and would absolutely smash your teeth out at any given chance, we've gone to non-runflats now but I thought 18" was the smallest wheel you can go. With each tyre change being the better part of 175 a corner, the ability to drop down to 17" would be preferred!
scott_evo said:
Hi Nelka, Interesting to see you have 17" and what appears to be the big brake kit!
I've got a Clubman JCW, previous model from your shape but it has 19" wheels. Initially these were run flats and would absolutely smash your teeth out at any given chance, we've gone to non-runflats now but I thought 18" was the smallest wheel you can go. With each tyre change being the better part of 175 a corner, the ability to drop down to 17" would be preferred!
I think you just need to make sure the offset is correct. The clearance is minute, there is literally no room to get my smallest EZ wheel cleaning brush between the wheel barrel & caliper. I've got a Clubman JCW, previous model from your shape but it has 19" wheels. Initially these were run flats and would absolutely smash your teeth out at any given chance, we've gone to non-runflats now but I thought 18" was the smallest wheel you can go. With each tyre change being the better part of 175 a corner, the ability to drop down to 17" would be preferred!
My daughter has a Cooper with what look like the same wheels, but on closer inspection the proper JCW wheels flare out a lot more to clear the caliper.
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