"The one unique aspect of the JCW wheels (whether their on a real JCW or not) is that they bow outward in order for the four-pot front calipers to fit behind them. This in turn has dictated that the plastic wheel arches are subtly extended to fully cover the wider wheels."
Strange... my old 'unbowed' 17" Crown Spokes clear my 4 Pots (just), and not a 'subtly extended' wheel arch in sight. Are the F56 arches narrower than the R56's? By the way, why can't the MF journos differentiate between 'they're' and 'their'? Inexcusable :hand:
On the subject of FJCW Vs S with JCW upgrades, I'm sure the F56 FJCW will be a blast to drive, but initial impressions on reading the posts are that the lines between a 'specced-up' F56 S with JCW bits and the F56 FJCW are possibly being blurred to a confusing level. I always thought of my car with the JCW Stage 1 engine, brakes etc as a 'half-way' point between the R56 S and the R56 FJCW, but maybe it was a similar argument back then? Even further back in ELF history, my R53 was running basically the same mechanical spec as the GP1 (Brakes, Suspension, 210 engine etc), so it's nothing new to be able to spec-up 'lesser' S versions to FJCW levels - but the GP still had that look and a certain 'magic' or 'synergy' that you couldn't get from sticking JCW bits on your R53, no matter how fab the tuned R53 was! And it was...
So what's my point? While you can upgrade S models to an interesting 'JCW spec', I would argue that MINI should always make sure that the FJCW should have unique mechanical parts/spec (eg uprated engine internals and ancillaries etc) which can't be retro-fitted to the 'cooking' S. Otherwise it's just a souped-up S with an Aero kit at a premium price.
