I’ve had my JCW for 2 years now and it still makes me smile when I put my foot down. So much grunt and it’s one of the best sounding hot hatches out there!
Great video and channel. I've just specced one of these at my dealer, £37,500 with all of the JCW pro parts installed. Torn between this car and a GP2. MINIs just get under your skin like no other cars, I've been lucky enough to have an e60 M5 and an M6 GC currently but still miss my r53 jcw massively. I think it is the exploitable power, balance and drivability that is just fantastic for our UK roads. These cars give you the feeling like you can't possibly go any faster down a stretch of road, which in itself I can attest is an untruth, but you simply cannot use my M6's power for more than a few seconds without fearing for the consequences!! Keep the great MINI content and reviews coming. Thanks, Patrick.
+Patrick Tomlinson Hi there. Glad you enjoyed the vid. Wow that was a good job ticking the options list !! They are such cracking cars. Totally get where you are coming about exploitable power 👍
love you Petrol Ped! crashed my 2013 cooper S a few weeks back and have been devastated! She's getting fixed and will be back soon> Love Minis, my little kite blue S is my second and can't picture myself in anything else...except maybe a JCW. accident wasn't my fault by the way, and my baby took the impact like a champ.
Thanks for the review. I've been going nuts waiting for my new JCW to be made and shipped from the UK to California, so I've been watching your video repeatedly. This will be my 3rd MINI. I can hardly wait!
PP - I really love this video mate considering that my local Mini dealer lent me a F56 JCW with the auto box a few days ago. And like you, I loved it too. The 8 speed auto box I had was simply gorgeous. Moving it into sport mode and into manual, was a dream. 6th gear. Want to drop down into 4th to overtake. Tap, tap on the paddles and away you go. I've the Cooper S R56 and everything you said about the JCW I agree on. Ride comfort being quite astounding from my car.
I had a thought last night. as you are well acquainted with car people. How about doing a video on a JCW Clubman All4. And to see what power upgrades you can get for them, not just from Mini, but from other suppliers that Mini would allow for guarantees on new cars or even 2nd hand from Mini garages? Just a thought from a Mini fan.
The driving excitement shows engine power in KW by default. You can change it to HP in the settings but it is a mission to find. Great comprehensive review
Nice review. I had one of these until my little one was born, was a sad day trading it in for a Countryman S... so much so I couldn't resist and pick up my secondhand R58 JCW this week as our second car. Thank you for the comparison!
Thumbs up, really loved this review of the JCW. Thinking to buy one and your review made me closer to setting myself up with the dealer to sign the buy. Thank you for great review and footage. Cheers from Sweden
Superb video Peter as usual, now here's the thing, buy a new or nearly new Mini Cooper S or JCW for at least £25,000(£35,000 plus for a specced one) or get my Roadster S Manic tuned to around 235-250BHP, upgrade the brakes and maybe exhaust as well for say £5-6,000 or less and get more performance than even a JCW(admittedly the power delivery will not be as smooth as a new 2016 Mini), and keep the ever getting rarer Roadster S and only two seats, it's a tough choice.
Hi Rob. I like your thinking ! It is a very impressive car in terms of ride quality and power delivery, but the Roadster has my heart. I am still considering upgrading mine but a big part of me thinks that it has enough power as it is and she still puts a huge smile on my face. I'd love to upgrade the exhaust thought :-)
I am a automotive technician and i know the advantage of straight cut gears over helical cut gears. The straight cut gears will increase the torque and road speed at the wheels tremendously especially in lower gear just like the classic. Maybe John Cooper son who took over his dad legacy should share the technology with BMW to build straight cut gears for racing performance. Most of the excort mk1 and mk2 rally or track uses straight cut gears with cosworth engine.
I had never watched this review when I bought my F56 which is a surprise. My one is the lighter grey but fairly similar otherwise with a couple of extra options. It is as you said a bit more grown up from my previous Fiesta ST and Peugeot GTI but I don't think I would part with it now.
Best JCW F56 review so far! maybe a bit late, but I just ordered my jcw mt 3 months ago and it will be arrive here in HK end of Sep ~ still 3 months to go >_< I'm currently driver R50 One MT,
Petrol Ped Just taken one for a test drive, Automatic gearbox and all the extras I'd like.....just gotta talk nicely to the wife.......i need this in my life!!!
Really great video! I think you deserve way more subscribers because you are right up there with Mr JWW and SeenThroughGlass in my honest opinion. Keep all the good work and you should get some more
Hi Pete, Really enjoying your vlogs and now that you've done the Q&A its clear your real job helps with the relaxed yet professional presenting style. Keep it up! Anyway - I'm caught between choosing a JCW or a Cooper S and have just spotted a Works 210 as an option. Have you ever looked at this and did you have any views? That Bluetooth exhaust upgrade sounds incredible. Cheers. Chris
Hi Chris. Thanks foe the positive feedback and I'm glad you are liking my videos. I didn't know about the Works 210 until now. Looks like a good value upgrade to the Cooper S. The Bluetooth Exhaust does sound ace. Just a shame in this video they didn't give me the remote !!!
Do you feel that the F56 Mini feels slower than your stage 2 Roadster s? Also, with a modded F56, do you feel it’s faster than the second gen? When I test drove the F56 I felt that it handled well, but it didn’t feel as thrilling or gokart like to drive. What do you think?
The F56 feels more grown up and less edgy than a second gen. I love my R59 because it's darty and pointy. That said, the F56 is the car I would want to do miles in. I've just driven one from the UK to Turin Italy and it was SO comfy !
@@PetrolPed Hi bud finally test drove the I 30N last week and must say I was shocked it felt pretty good. As you know I have now cancelled this and bought the same Clubman JCW you have. Is the JCW Clubman as quick as the I30N and how would you compare these two. Been watching all your black out videos some good content. 👍👍
Enjoy your vids, especially the BMW 435d Hartge. Have you driven the AC Schnitzer JCW MINI? Look better and more aggressive to me and it is how the JCW should have looked in the first place
ok so...... compared to the JCW clubman with 306 BHP, how does it compare? I guess even with less power it feels a bit sportier right? Any easy mods to bring up the 230 HP and is it really worth it? i ask as I think I will get a convertible one...for 19k you cant go wrong, 2 years old..approx, especially if you have the weather, which I do.. :)
A base JCW is such a riot to drive. They are so tuneable. Have a watch of this. The second car is an F56 with some nice mods. I recommend you have a chat with Lohen. They could make a convertible really special. You could even start with. Cooper S 👍 th-cam.com/video/L-oU48aUdQQ/w-d-xo.html
That car has the JCW Pro exhaust that is operated by a remote control that sits in the right hand cup holder. Unless Mini took it out for some strange reason it should have been there for you to have fun with. Shame you missed out on that
@@PetrolPed sorry i understand it was an older video but it was very good with the time you had taken with a detailed review. Many thanks mate its a great channel Andrew 😁
is this one come with cable? www.evolveautomotive.com/evolve-ecu-remap-performance-upgrade-mini-f56-jcw-manual.html do you ship to HKG? car software updated by the dealer few months ago, is this still work?
+DIRTYMIKE Thats right. It does. Sadly I wasn't told that exhaust was fitted and didn't have the button. I only found out about the feature when I returned the car 😥
Love Mini's, but I cant help though being put off by their bad reputation for unreliability and expensive repair costs. Maybe as as second car/weekend warrior? I don't think I would want to have to rely on one on a day-to-day basis. It's more of a toy rather than a car you can be sure it will get you where you need to go on a consistent basis. When the "new" Mini's came out as a retro to the original Sir Alec Issigonis Coopers I was excited, but when it came time to contemplate owning one and what that would entail then reality set in. Sort of like meeting your hero and being disappointed because in reality they are different from their persona.
Thanks for the review. I like the car, but... I am a bit concerned that it is not a "relaxed" car and by that I mean this is a car which likes to be driven fast and agressive or ....rather it makes you to do it and that is great, but at the end of the day you are not going to sprint from A to B everyday. And here I see the problem (for me) as my issue or maybe I am wrong...I guess this is not a nice handling car and at the same time relaxed, is it? I watched your review of the new civic couple days ago and have a feeling that civic is more like an "all-rounder"... On the price. Yes, it's very expensive. For the money you can have more powerfull and bigger hot hatch, but on that matter my feedback is that Mini is very unique - it is that distinctive car, which does give you a nice image, ar at least this is what I think. One more thing, in a family there is a MINI JCV bught brand new, but the previous one with 1.6 turbo. After 50k km there was a massive engine failuire. I have heard that these engines were faulty, I am aware that that new JCW has different 2.0, but still not convinced for its reliability etc.
Yes it stops... but no sadly it doesn't grip on either of the factory tyres very well, Dunlop and Pirelli. If you want to check out my F56 JCW thats almost identical to the one in the video visit @jcwjaycee on Instagram
The F56 looks sinfully ugly with those absurd lower air intakes on the front. Luckily the 2018 update is supposed alleviate that issue. The size is another issue, as it looks bloated next to an R55-59 Mini, and the headlights just aren't doing it for me either.
I’ve had my JCW for 2 years now and it still makes me smile when I put my foot down. So much grunt and it’s one of the best sounding hot hatches out there!
Mega things 👍
Great video and channel. I've just specced one of these at my dealer, £37,500 with all of the JCW pro parts installed. Torn between this car and a GP2. MINIs just get under your skin like no other cars, I've been lucky enough to have an e60 M5 and an M6 GC currently but still miss my r53 jcw massively. I think it is the exploitable power, balance and drivability that is just fantastic for our UK roads. These cars give you the feeling like you can't possibly go any faster down a stretch of road, which in itself I can attest is an untruth, but you simply cannot use my M6's power for more than a few seconds without fearing for the consequences!! Keep the great MINI content and reviews coming. Thanks, Patrick.
Just to add, these are a car that unless you understand what you are getting and you do have to want one, people just don't get it!!
+Patrick Tomlinson Hi there. Glad you enjoyed the vid. Wow that was a good job ticking the options list !! They are such cracking cars. Totally get where you are coming about exploitable power 👍
Just stumble across this reviewer and impressed. This is how I will expect a proper car review to be done!!! Well done and keep up the good work!!👍🏾
+Abdul Khayem Hi Abdul, glad you enjoyed it and I will certainly keep doing my thing 👍
love you Petrol Ped! crashed my 2013 cooper S a few weeks back and have been devastated! She's getting fixed and will be back soon> Love Minis, my little kite blue S is my second and can't picture myself in anything else...except maybe a JCW. accident wasn't my fault by the way, and my baby took the impact like a champ.
Get well soon Cooper S :-)
Finally a good looking guy reviewing Mini's. 😃
Why thank you Sir :-)
Remember watching this video 2 and a half years wow the nostalgia.
No way ! How time flies 😳
Thanks for the review. I've been going nuts waiting for my new JCW to be made and shipped from the UK to California, so I've been watching your video repeatedly. This will be my 3rd MINI. I can hardly wait!
You are going to love it...a super car !
PS - keep watching :-)
PP - I really love this video mate considering that my local Mini dealer lent me a F56 JCW with the auto box a few days ago. And like you, I loved it too. The 8 speed auto box I had was simply gorgeous. Moving it into sport mode and into manual, was a dream. 6th gear. Want to drop down into 4th to overtake. Tap, tap on the paddles and away you go.
I've the Cooper S R56 and everything you said about the JCW I agree on. Ride comfort being quite astounding from my car.
They are great cars. I had a bit of a dice with one last night...they are fast too !
I had a thought last night. as you are well acquainted with car people. How about doing a video on a JCW Clubman All4. And to see what power upgrades you can get for them, not just from Mini, but from other suppliers that Mini would allow for guarantees on new cars or even 2nd hand from Mini garages?
Just a thought from a Mini fan.
The driving excitement shows engine power in KW by default. You can change it to HP in the settings but it is a mission to find.
Great comprehensive review
I literally found this in mine at the weekend while waiting outside the supermarket for Mrs PP 😂
Nice review. I had one of these until my little one was born, was a sad day trading it in for a Countryman S... so much so I couldn't resist and pick up my secondhand R58 JCW this week as our second car. Thank you for the comparison!
That a great second car though ;-)
My first car was a suped up clubman in red, 30 years later I want another !!
Thumbs up, really loved this review of the JCW. Thinking to buy one and your review made me closer to setting myself up with the dealer to sign the buy. Thank you for great review and footage.
Cheers from Sweden
Hi Magnus. No problem and I wish you all the best with your purchase. Get yourself a test drive and you won't look back !
My closest dealer dont have a JCW. Only a 5-door S-version. Tried it and loved it. Cant deceide on a hatch or a Clubman JCW.
The Clubman has All4 drive. Lots of scope for tuning AND being able to put the power down !
Thank you very much for your honest feeling about the technology. Wishing you all the best with your intelligence.
Superb video Peter as usual, now here's the thing, buy a new or nearly new Mini Cooper S or JCW for at least £25,000(£35,000 plus for a specced one) or get my Roadster S Manic tuned to around 235-250BHP, upgrade the brakes and maybe exhaust as well for say £5-6,000 or less and get more performance than even a JCW(admittedly the power delivery will not be as smooth as a new 2016 Mini), and keep the ever getting rarer Roadster S and only two seats, it's a tough choice.
Hi Rob. I like your thinking ! It is a very impressive car in terms of ride quality and power delivery, but the Roadster has my heart. I am still considering upgrading mine but a big part of me thinks that it has enough power as it is and she still puts a huge smile on my face. I'd love to upgrade the exhaust thought :-)
Excellent......loved every minute of the road test, & guess what I bought same model yesterday!!! Yay 😆
You are going to LOVE it !
I am a automotive technician and i know the advantage of straight cut gears over helical cut gears. The straight cut gears will increase the torque and road speed at the wheels tremendously especially in lower gear just like the classic. Maybe John Cooper son who took over his dad legacy should share the technology with BMW to build straight cut gears for racing performance. Most of the excort mk1 and mk2 rally or track uses straight cut gears with cosworth engine.
You are getting boring now with your straight cut gears 🙄
Great review! I was waiting for this one to see your thoughts compared to my own. 👍
It's taken me long enough to get one to review ! Glad you enjoyed the film.
I had never watched this review when I bought my F56 which is a surprise. My one is the lighter grey but fairly similar otherwise with a couple of extra options. It is as you said a bit more grown up from my previous Fiesta ST and Peugeot GTI but I don't think I would part with it now.
Ive just bought one if these, great review. Im sure i will love the car
You sure will 👍
Best JCW F56 review so far!
maybe a bit late, but I just ordered my jcw mt 3 months ago and it will be arrive here in HK end of Sep ~ still 3 months to go >_<
I'm currently driver R50 One MT,
You are going to love it. I'm so glad you liked my review and hello to Hong Kong...I love it there, such a cool city :-)
great video Peter. Haven't driven a mini for some time...but even the basic ones are good fun. Can't imagine how good these hot ones are!
They are such great fun to drive. Every Mini I have driven has a character of it's own.
Hopefully this will be my next Mini, currently driving a R56. Great video
Cheers Andrew. Go for a test drive...you'll love it !
Petrol Ped Just taken one for a test drive, Automatic gearbox and all the extras I'd like.....just gotta talk nicely to the wife.......i need this in my life!!!
Great review. It would be fantastic to see a review of the 2017 Mini Clubman JCW in the near future, if possible.
It's on my list Philip. I am intrigued to know what the All4 system adds to the driving experience.
I have a 2017 manual cooper s 5 door 7 edition.Before I got it I tried a jcw but when the wife saw the boot space it was a firm no 😥
Really great video! I think you deserve way more subscribers because you are right up there with Mr JWW and SeenThroughGlass in my honest opinion. Keep all the good work and you should get some more
Moff's Autos Thank you. I hope you are right. I'll keep doing my thing and with a bit of luck my channel will grow 👍
Petrol Ped Im sure it will!
The JCW pro exhaust really finish it off well.
Oh yes 👍
Have you reviewed the Countryman? If not, do you have plans to? Thanks!
No, and I really should. I'll try and sort that out. Thanks for the suggestion :-)
Hi Pete, Really enjoying your vlogs and now that you've done the Q&A its clear your real job helps with the relaxed yet professional presenting style. Keep it up! Anyway - I'm caught between choosing a JCW or a Cooper S and have just spotted a Works 210 as an option. Have you ever looked at this and did you have any views? That Bluetooth exhaust upgrade sounds incredible. Cheers. Chris
Hi Chris. Thanks foe the positive feedback and I'm glad you are liking my videos. I didn't know about the Works 210 until now. Looks like a good value upgrade to the Cooper S. The Bluetooth Exhaust does sound ace. Just a shame in this video they didn't give me the remote !!!
Great review! Did they borrow the remote control to open the valve on that pro jcw exhaust? Cheers
Camasecri Account Pretty much. Only found out about it when I gave the car back. My fault for not doing my research 😂
+Petrol Ped Maybe next time 😂😜
They should make the manual gearbox gears straight cut like the classic mini . I think you would get a lot more road speed in the lower gears.
Too much noise 😢
really really exciting and cool video I really like it
Do you feel that the F56 Mini feels slower than your stage 2 Roadster s? Also, with a modded F56, do you feel it’s faster than the second gen? When I test drove the F56 I felt that it handled well, but it didn’t feel as thrilling or gokart like to drive. What do you think?
The F56 feels more grown up and less edgy than a second gen. I love my R59 because it's darty and pointy. That said, the F56 is the car I would want to do miles in. I've just driven one from the UK to Turin Italy and it was SO comfy !
It sounds different because it's got the optional exhaust system on it.
Sadly I couldn't turn it on as the dealer wouldn't give me the remote !
Peter... would you swap it with RubyRoadster? Still think yours looks pretty cool! Love the centre console/dash and lighting ...colour way smart too.
Probably not Quentin. I like that I can drop the roof on a sunny day. It is tempting though !
Looks like that model had the 'JCW pro kit' but you didn't have the remote control to open up the exhaust flap.
Did it have the adaptive dampers too ?
They didn't give me the remote !
Are these good? How would you say it compares to the I30N or your Clubman JCW?
Good but not as fast as either. Handles better than the i30N 👍
@@PetrolPed Hi bud finally test drove the I 30N last week and must say I was shocked it felt pretty good. As you know I have now cancelled this and bought the same Clubman JCW you have. Is the JCW Clubman as quick as the I30N and how would you compare these two. Been watching all your black out videos some good content. 👍👍
its very quiet.
Plus an LSD would be expected at that price
Enjoy your vids, especially the BMW 435d Hartge. Have you driven the AC Schnitzer JCW MINI? Look better and more aggressive to me and it is how the JCW should have looked in the first place
Hi There. No I haven't as I didn't even know AC Schnitzer had done a Mini ! I need to get my hands on one of those now :-)
Looking forward to a test drive if you do! Also try and do a 335d/435d against a m140i if poss. Interested to know which would win in a drag race.
ok so......
compared to the JCW clubman with 306 BHP, how does it compare? I guess even with less power it feels a bit sportier right?
Any easy mods to bring up the 230 HP and is it really worth it?
i ask as I think I will get a convertible one...for 19k you cant go wrong, 2 years old..approx, especially if you have the weather, which I do.. :)
A base JCW is such a riot to drive. They are so tuneable. Have a watch of this. The second car is an F56 with some nice mods. I recommend you have a chat with Lohen. They could make a convertible really special. You could even start with. Cooper S 👍
th-cam.com/video/L-oU48aUdQQ/w-d-xo.html
A nice remap knocks it upto 305bhp...no problem!
love the interior
Hey Ped, do you know why the Mini hatch does not have the 306BHP like the Clubman?
It does. It’s called the JCW GP 😜
Petrol Ped oh right yeah of course. They should of just put it in the JCW. The GP is too over the top in looks for me.
That car has the JCW Pro exhaust that is operated by a remote control that sits in the right hand cup holder. Unless Mini took it out for some strange reason it should have been there for you to have fun with. Shame you missed out on that
Sadly they took it out of the car and only told me about it AFTER the test drive !
Would you rather have a jcw or the mk8 fiesta st?
That's easy...the JCW :-)
@@PetrolPed I have an R56 Hatch Cooper S and the clutch is heavy and sometimes a bit too sharp. Is it any lighter in this F56 JCW?
Focus ST interior will fee incredibly dull after this. Its certainly one place the mini Excells
15:35 Dead bird on road totally ignored 😀
The Cooper S is also 2L turbo :)
Awswome machine.
Yep 👍
The driving excitement gauge is in kw not in hp
Although you can set it up in hp
At last a proper BMW engine, good riddance to the N14 Prince engine with its multitude of issues.
Nice car and vid not too sure about the red accents tho, personal taste I suppose.
this the jcw going to buy in the next few mouths i hope
Good choice Michael. Great fun to drive !
Hi excellent review buddy😊🌈
Thanks 🙏🏻
@@PetrolPed sorry i understand it was an older video but it was very good with the time you had taken with a detailed review.
Many thanks mate its a great channel Andrew 😁
is this one come with cable?
www.evolveautomotive.com/evolve-ecu-remap-performance-upgrade-mini-f56-jcw-manual.html
do you ship to HKG? car software updated by the dealer few months ago, is this still work?
Nice video by the way😂
Thanks Viktor. Such brilliant cars 👍
Yes indeed
i think that car has the jcw pro exhaust which has a handheld switch for the exhaust valve. the exhaust should be a lot louder!
+DIRTYMIKE Thats right. It does. Sadly I wasn't told that exhaust was fitted and didn't have the button. I only found out about the feature when I returned the car 😥
Petrol Ped oh man that sucks! it sounds awesome with that exhaust.
Love Mini's, but I cant help though being put off by their bad reputation for unreliability and expensive repair costs. Maybe as as second car/weekend warrior? I don't think I would want to have to rely on one on a day-to-day basis. It's more of a toy rather than a car you can be sure it will get you where you need to go on a consistent basis. When the "new" Mini's came out as a retro to the original Sir Alec Issigonis Coopers I was excited, but when it came time to contemplate owning one and what that would entail then reality set in. Sort of like meeting your hero and being disappointed because in reality they are different from their persona.
I can only speak about owing mine for the last 3 years. No issues yet and running costs are fine !
It had the pro exhaust with closed valves 😂😂 that’s why it’s so silent
Yep...they wouldn't give me the remote 😪
@@PetrolPed oh man why hahah, I have the same exhaust and it feels a lot slower when its closed
maybe is more bmw like than mini..
Thanks for the review. I like the car, but... I am a bit concerned that it is not a "relaxed" car and by that I mean this is a car which likes to be driven fast and agressive or ....rather it makes you to do it and that is great, but at the end of the day you are not going to sprint from A to B everyday. And here I see the problem (for me) as my issue or maybe I am wrong...I guess this is not a nice handling car and at the same time relaxed, is it?
I watched your review of the new civic couple days ago and have a feeling that civic is more like an "all-rounder"...
On the price. Yes, it's very expensive. For the money you can have more powerfull and bigger hot hatch, but on that matter my feedback is that Mini is very unique - it is that distinctive car, which does give you a nice image, ar at least this is what I think.
One more thing, in a family there is a MINI JCV bught brand new, but the previous one with 1.6 turbo. After 50k km there was a massive engine failuire. I have heard that these engines were faulty, I am aware that that new JCW has different 2.0, but still not convinced for its reliability etc.
Yes it stops... but no sadly it doesn't grip on either of the factory tyres very well, Dunlop and Pirelli. If you want to check out my F56 JCW thats almost identical to the one in the video visit @jcwjaycee on Instagram
Is very out of the real mini,its more like a saloon car compare the past version mini.
Well i rather have the noise of the straight cut gears and have a better performance maybe fly pass your car.
You are obsessed with straight cut gears 🙄
They made the bonnet way too long. Just doesn't look like a mini anymore....
O
M
Sorry but it’s R53 for me. They’re just getting too big & ugly now. And as for all those JCW badges, well, it just looks too much.
Still love my R59 ;-)
The F56 looks sinfully ugly with those absurd lower air intakes on the front. Luckily the 2018 update is supposed alleviate that issue.
The size is another issue, as it looks bloated next to an R55-59 Mini, and the headlights just aren't doing it for me either.
Each gen of Mini seems to get bigger !
Petrol Ped Unfortunately true. I think the R56 was the sweet spot (although having an R56 makes me biased :D ).
Dreadful cars , overpriced , cramped and unless you drive on a completely smooth surface extremely uncomfortable ,avoid
Clearly never owned one 😂😂😂
aren't you supposed to be in a nursing home