Hello everyone:
Thought I make a quick entry here with my thoughts on our long drive experience with the new JCW 09.
Ok so we have been planning to take the car for a long trip for a while. Our first ideas were to drive up to Montreal, perhaps Toronto but we set with a much longer (and nicer ) trip to sunny Miami since we had some work to do down there anyways.

So these are the overall specs on our JCW09.
Interior has leather punch carbon seats with cold weather package, anthracite headliner, JCW steering wheel (leather), simple and very minimal looking so no added colors or accents. Sirius radio, sunroof, tinted windows (very light).

Exterior:
JCW Aero Kit, foglights, xenon lights, I think that's it as far as add-ons.
Performance:
Nothing has been added or removed really, and no sport suspension. Please don't kill me but I've had enough of tight suspension and lowered minis. Our R53 had a full aftermarket suspension and I still get nightmares of how hard that thing felt. Ouch!! *Keep in mind, we live in NYC not Miami Beach which by the way has amazingly flat soft roads, loved it!


The trip:
We decided to start the trip on a Saturday morning with a somewhat limited amount of bags (3). From our experience, you can't really fit more than one carry on type bag in the rear without folding the seats down, even after using the extension latch (not sure of the proper name).
Since we are neat freaks, (when you are an architect or designer its embedded on your DNA) what we did is just place two of the bags in the rear seats with the belts on to avoid unnecessary movement. This approach also works in order to keep the droning noise from the exhaust to a minimum during long trips since it works like an added noise reduction element inside the cabin.


*Yes wife has a huge dot on her face. Not sure if shes cool with me posting pictures on line so this should do it.


We started the trip with the mini only having 400 miles on it and decided to divide the trip into a 3 day stretch in order to only drive during daylight and with no need to fall asleep on the wheel.


Got to refuel! By the way, the food is horrible when driving down I-95. There's so much C & Barrel we can take, in fact its incredible how bad people eat out there!!


Unlike many people out there who find the rear Aero Kit bumper quite hideous, I think this is my favorite angle of this car! There is something about it that makes it look quite oblique. After this trip, I realized that the Astro Black is really a deep metallic blue so don't be fooled.


During such a long trip, Sirius radio really makes things easier.
Favorite channels: Bloomberg, NPR, CBC, 70's, 80's, 90's music channels...and who I am kidding Howard Stern, but there's so much I can handle of that stuff. After a while it feels like your braincells are been burned at a staggering pace!


After consulting around here on NAM, I learned that this was the magic number! Let's just say the trip picked up right after this day.


Break in done, time for a nice americano and an Oatmeal from Starbucks. It hits the spot in order to get the last stage up and running.


On a side note in Savannah, Ga. It seems that Debi has moved on .




Once in Miami and with the working boots on, we stopped by our friend and colleagues work in progress during Miami Art Basel. Wk Interatc's work is amazing and has been showcased worldwide. Last year he had a show at our gallery space and it was fantastic. Here's some more pics with the mini in context:






Yours truly as a happy camper. Love the ride but this might be my last combustion engine ride. I am serious, I believe there might be some really nice rides in the near future that won't need to rely on this antiquated technology.

************** And now the issues ****************

As a true mini, it can't go without quirks popping here and there so here is a small list of them.

1. Some rattling from the dash board even in a ride without the sport suspension.

2. Sunroof doesn't close 100% flat. It's sealed but not fully flat in the back rear seat glass piece.

3. The engine does make noise. You can hear the lifters a bit. it's annoying but not really unbearable like the videos I have seen on youtube.

4. Bonet's release latch is really hard/tricky to operate.

5. Scoop distorted from heat. Pic below::


Distorted hood scoop.


Not sure how this happened! if you guys have any suggestion in regards to where I should buy this OEM part other than my dealership it would be greatly appreciated!

Additional info:
Total miles on this trip 3005 miles.
Made the trip with two overnight stops along the way. NYC-Richmond, Va, Richmond-Savannah, Ga, Savannah-Miami, and the same thing only reverse of course on the way back to NYC.
Gas cost: $260 dollars round trip. 93 octane Mobil.

JCW09 sans sport suspension:
Yes it does feel loose and I would strongly recommend installing at least the JCW suspension. If I didn't live in NYC there's no question you have to add the suspension. But in my case, it is perfect. I don't Autocross or do any type of track time. The JCW09 ride experience feels quite refined but I do miss the crazy, and erratic acceleration patterns the R53 offered as it was more "dramatic".
I looove the sport button, you really feel the car letting you take control and it actually feels like it lets go much smoother but very responsive.

If you are somewhat of a health nut, try to pack lots of snacks because you wont find any decent food on I-95. Had a couple of nice meals in Savannah, Ga and of course once in Miami, it all worked out just fine.
Same on the way back, once we were back in NYC we got back on track.

I can suggest places to stay along the way that are clean and not expensive (that's all relative of course).
Ok, hope you guys like the pics and info. Of course, I am not a journalist or blogger and to make matters worse, English is my third language so please cut me some slack.
Happy Motoring everyone!!
David

 

David,

That was an enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing!

 

You welcome!!

 

I second that - Thanks David.

 

You should have made that giant dot a smiley face or something.

 

I enjoyed the read as well. Thanks for sharing.

 

nabeshin: Haha yes I thought of that as well, but its quite weird like that already I think!
Once again, thanks guys for the accolades.

 

very well done (the drive and the write up), thanks!

 

Great post Dave. I plan on taking a drive to visit my folks in FLA early next year. Still deciding if we're taking the Grand Cherokee or the Mini. There will be 4 of us. If we do take the MINI, it will truly be an exercise in packing light. I love challenges so I'm pushing for the MINI.

Were you tracking MPG? If so, what was your best?

Thanks for sharing.

 

SmokeM:
I forgot to write that on the entry; I guess it has to do with the fact that I was paying $1.90 -+ on premium every time I would stop for a fill up. The average for the whole trip was 29.5 mpg, but the best readout was 37 mpg and that occurred before reaching the magic odometer number of 1200 miles.

 

Thanks!

I forgot to reply, make sure you grease the bonnet latch and latch points. I've read the hood release cable will snap/break easily. Maybe the grease will help to keep the cable from snapping.

 

Thanks, I enjoyed the read and now know what to expect on mine.

 

thanks for the writeup

 

very nice writeup on yr journey..

 

sweet ride. sucks about the hood scoop.
and nice write up.

 

Yes the hood scoop issue seems like a big design flaw. Already replaced the tail light and the ride is indoors for the next couple of months at least.
Thanks everyone for all the messages with pointers on how to go about fixing the tail light btw!

 

nice writeup David ... would like to take a long ride like this soon myself.

speakign of Art Basel, one of my clients/friends was exhibiting also. you might have seen or heard about his display (it involved 3 life size horses)