Many of you that follow my posts know that I have been trying to get my 2009 JCW to look like the MINI Challenge race car.



MINI does not make the Challenge parts available to the regular Joe. M7 stepped in a few years ago with their C-wing, and splitter. The C-wing looks similar to the wing on the above challenge car. I have lusted after that wing for a while now even though I never saw it in person. During Christmas of 2009 M7 had a nice sale and I was going to buy that wing but I didn't. So I waited for Christmas of 2010 and sure enough M7 had a sale but they also listed it on eBay with cheaper shipping so I bought it a few days after Christmas. I waited about 5 weeks for them to ship it.

It is packed very well in an over sized box with a TON of peanuts. All the pieces are individually wrapped in bubble wrap. Kudos to their shipping dept.

I took all the parts out to examine them especially the CF parts. I have the M7 Vortex II scoop in CF as well. M7 did a pretty good job with the CF not great but good. And not as good as the OEM MINI CF parts. Both parts of the wing are very well done. The only annoyance is that the lower part of the wing does not match the upper part of the wing pattern wise. The lower goes from left to right and the upper from right to left. Not noticeable unless you are crazy OCD like I am.

I removed my old wing and installed the M7 wing in my garage the other night. The fit is good not great. M7 uses all 5 mounting points like OEM wing but they do not use the other alignment pins. They also do not reuse the OEM nuts with built in washer instead they give you these little nuts with little washers. The install was easy just lay the lower part of the wing on the car, line it up and hand tighten the nuts.

Then you attach the side plates and finally the upper part of the wing. I noticed that both sides of the lower wing were not level so the following day I loosened up the nuts and adjusted it. Now its a pretty good fit. The finish is very good. No complaints there.

Now that I have it after waiting all this time, how do I like it?? Well, I honestly do not know. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand it looks cool and aggressive. On the other hand it looks goofy, ricer and even a bit ghetto. My wife wants to know why my car has a handle on it.

I took the car for a ride a few times. There is no additional wind noise or turbulence and it may keep the car a bit more planted when going above 70, It felt that way to me.

In summary. I like it and I don't like it. Maybe I have to get used to it. The fit is good. The finish is very, very good. One other annoyance is that M7 should provide the bolts that hold the side plates to the wing in a black powder coat as well. It looks horrible with silver colored bolts on that black end plate.

Lyle from Vinyl Styles will be out in the NYC area to finish the black out of my car in April of 2011 and then I am DONE with mods. I am going to drive it and enjoy it.

Please reply and tell me what YOU think of the M7 C-wing on my car. I am looking for honest feedback from the NAM community.

Now for some pics. I know my car is dirty but its the winter and all the snow is melting so my car is a mess.









In this picture, you can see that the CF pattern does not match.

 

Steve

Looks great!!! Add some checkers to the side plates and it will tie in nicely with your doors. I agree the bolts should be black as well. Can you spray paint them?

For a MINI like mine it would be a bit much, but since you're after the Challenge look I think it completes the image nicely. Without it, it wouldn't be nearly as close to a Challenge car

I laughed when I heard you say once Lyle is finished "your DONE". Ya right

 

I like it !!!!

The CF series is an awesome look.

 

Hey Steve,

The weather was amazing today... really shocked me, and its supposed to be 50s on thursday and friday as well. To be honest, I think the wing is a bit much. I really like the subtle spoiler that comes with the car because its not immediately noticeable but from certain angles it stands out and gives a bit of extra flare. To me, I like everything to be symmetrical, like a plastic surgeon... symmetry is key. I could talk about the golden ratio and blah blah, but if you love it then thats that! I love the carbon fiber but I feel that if the sides (fins), were shaved down a bit and to the level of the where the CF piece goes across that would look much better. However, I know it is modeled after the official Challenge spoiler and it was designed like that on purpose.

I am just giving my opinion, everyone's cars are a big reflection of their personal taste. Sorry if you disagree, I know you love your car as much as I do mine and if you like it, ride with it. No one can disagree that your car has been "youified" as much as a MINI possibly could. And it looks amazing!

Cheers

 

I like it

however I think the side plates are way too big and would look alot better if they were smaller.
I think Coastal racing in the UK had a template for smaller side plates that could be used.....

Also think the bolts should be black to match

 

Hi Naveen,

I appreciate the feedback. That is what I am after. Just want to see what others think.

The weather today and this week is definitely out of the ordinary. All I want is for all this darn snow to melt.

-S

 

Check out this post:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m7-c-wing.html

This guy modified the end plates top more closely match the OEM MINI ones on the Challenge car. He did a nice job but I do not know what he did to the aerodynamics on his car.

This mod is mostly for looks. I am not after performance on the track.

 

Way too big for my taste but if you like it go with it. After all it is your car...

 

Hey onefish,

Looks sweet but can you take some pictures from further away?? I'm reallllllly considering ordering this thing, but still haven't seen many good pics of it.

Thanks!

 

I will Try to take more pics but in the mean time your best bet is to check out Google images:

http://www.google.com/images?q=m7+c-...w=1280&bih=754

 

Actually you can now buy genuine MINI Challenge parts:

http://www.minigenuineparts.co.uk/mi...nge_Parts.html

Unfortunately though they still don't offer the wing yet. I'm seriously lusting after those diffusers though...
It will be my next project when I've saved some more money after all my most recent mods.

With or without the wing, you have one great looking car onefish2.

 

You can get theChallenge style spoilers from Battle performance in the UK for both the R53 and R56
They also do a version with sexy evo style vortex generators
http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f748...98/#post292415

They do some very nice stuff and are also the only DuelL distributer outside of Japan

 

Minority opinion alert: I prefer the non-black hardware.
Trying to recall whether or not I have ever seen color-matched at any IMSA, Grand AM or SCCA event I have ever worked and I don’t believe I have.
Maybe that is what is skewing my opinion

I saw Per Olof Ezelius’ MINI Challenge car at an SCCA event last fall at Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah, GA. (Pics added to my Gallery.)
The car was stunning and Per and crew were gracious to answer any and all questions as well as to allow plenty of pictures.
That rear wing uses non-color matched hardware as well.

 

Sorry, but that's a lot of $ to make a shopping trolley... Very Fast and Furious....

 

I actually had a customer make a copy of the challenge wing. I think he has a couple for sale, I'll see.

 

sweet wing

 

Anybody know there I can buy a challenge for a R53