New Car

[GCA3N]

Turbo Lag? NO WAY. Certainly not with the 'Sport' button on - it's got enough torque to pull the QE2! With the Sport off, the response is 'muted', but still not what you'd call properly 'laggy'. (anyone tried Turbo cars in the 80's?). I LOVED my old JCW 210, the noise and the whine when it was on full song were a wonder to behold, and the R53, as Stoney said, is more 'direct' and somehow just that wee bit more driver-focussed.

Remember that the Supercharger is driven directly from the engine whereas the Turbo is driven by exhaust gasses and will always have to 'spool up', so the supercharger maybe seems to give a more 'instant' hit, but it also saps a bit of power while its doing it. The turbo and timing technology on the R56 is so clever - it's light years ahead of the old engine - that it's VERY hard to notice any difference on the road - my R56 picks up instantly and goes every bit as hard as the old car. The JCW maybe had a bit more top-end, but it was running a playmini manifold and a few other bits which helped.

The R56 S has oodles of grunt straight out of the box, much more than the standard R53 ever had, and with the tuning kit, mine is subjectively just as quick as my JCW 210. The torque of the turbo gives you fantastic flexibility in all sorts of situations and while it sounds a bit boring, the fact that you can use all of that performance and still get mid-30's to the gallon (and easy 45+ when driving 'normally') is quite a big bonus, especially on a long run. When using all the performance on my old car, I would often see very low 20's or below if I was being especially naughty. For sheer driving enjoyment with the 'charger screaming away and the exhaust blaring, a modified R53 is very hard to beat, but with a few tweaks here and there on the R56, I reckon you can recapture the best points of the R53 and maintain all of the benefits of the later car.

I had my R53 JCW 210 for 5 years, and I've had the R56 for nearly a year and a half. Each car has its plus and minus points, the R53 probably takes the 'Driver's Car' crown, but for all-round ability I have to say I think the R56 JUST shades it.

Excellent write up Elfman.

[The Dogfather]

Having discussed this yesterday I went out and drove my car again this time actually looking for a delay, there was nada, zip, diddly, fa,

I can only imaging that they must have given you a duff car.

[Mon the fish]

Turbo Lag? NO WAY. Certainly not with the 'Sport' button on - it's got enough torque to pull the QE2! With the Sport off, the response is 'muted', but still not what you'd call properly 'laggy'. (anyone tried Turbo cars in the 80's?). I LOVED my old JCW 210, the noise and the whine when it was on full song were a wonder to behold, and the R53, as Stoney said, is more 'direct' and somehow just that wee bit more driver-focussed.

Remember that the Supercharger is driven directly from the engine whereas the Turbo is driven by exhaust gasses and will always have to 'spool up', so the supercharger maybe seems to give a more 'instant' hit, but it also saps a bit of power while its doing it. The turbo and timing technology on the R56 is so clever - it's light years ahead of the old engine - that it's VERY hard to notice any difference on the road - my R56 picks up instantly and goes every bit as hard as the old car. The JCW maybe had a bit more top-end, but it was running a playmini manifold and a few other bits which helped.

The R56 S has oodles of grunt straight out of the box, much more than the standard R53 ever had, and with the tuning kit, mine is subjectively just as quick as my JCW 210. The torque of the turbo gives you fantastic flexibility in all sorts of situations and while it sounds a bit boring, the fact that you can use all of that performance and still get mid-30's to the gallon (and easy 45+ when driving 'normally') is quite a big bonus, especially on a long run. When using all the performance on my old car, I would often see very low 20's or below if I was being especially naughty. For sheer driving enjoyment with the 'charger screaming away and the exhaust blaring, a modified R53 is very hard to beat, but with a few tweaks here and there on the R56, I reckon you can recapture the best points of the R53 and maintain all of the benefits of the later car.

I had my R53 JCW 210 for 5 years, and I've had the R56 for nearly a year and a half. Each car has its plus and minus points, the R53 probably takes the 'Driver's Car' crown, but for all-round ability I have to say I think the R56 JUST shades it.

I know the differences between supercharging and turbocharging, and why turbocharging will always have a slight bit of lag. My JCW is a weekend toy only, so being 'somehow just that wee bit more driver-focussed' as you said, is more important to me than refinement, running costs etc

[ELFMAN]

I know the differences between supercharging and turbocharging, and why turbocharging will always have a slight bit of lag. My JCW is a weekend toy only, so being 'somehow just that wee bit more driver-focussed' as you said, is more important to me than refinement, running costs etc

Didn't mean to 'lecture' anybody about turbos Vs superchargers, just making a technical point I thought was pertinent. I reckon a run side-by-side from about 30 - 90mph in third and fourth would show if the Turbo 'lagged' or not in any sense of the word.

For the record, I'm more interested in driver-enjoyment than I am in running costs and refinement - that's why I ran a tuned JCW 210 for 5 years and why I'm slowly but surely modifying my R56. I was about to spend £6K further modifying my '03 JCW 210, but as it was my only car, I couldn't really justify it for everyday use, although I really wanted to! I decided to go for the R56, as there was a great deal on it at the time (March '09), so I traded in the JCW and sold my aftermarket bits to help pay for the new car. If I'd been able to keep it as a second car, I'd have done the mods and used it just for fun. Circumstances now mean that I actually have a wee car (98 Pug 106 1.1) to drive to work etc, so I don't use the R56 every day.... how ironic, but you never know how things are going to work out.

Tam's initial question was 'What's Best?' He didn't say whether it was for everyday use, or as a 'weekend toy'. If it's specifically as a plaything, then I agree a modded R53 would be spot on, if it's for more general use - both fun and practical - then the R56 is probably a better bet. Having driven both cars in unmodified form, I have to say that the standard R56 would show a similar R53 a clean pair of heels - so take your pick.

[Mon the fish]

Didn't mean to 'lecture' anybody about turbos Vs superchargers, just making a technical point I thought was pertinent. I reckon a run side-by-side from about 30 - 90mph in third and fourth would show if the Turbo 'lagged' or not in any sense of the word.

For the record, I'm more interested in driver-enjoyment than I am in running costs and refinement - that's why I ran a tuned JCW 210 for 5 years and why I'm slowly but surely modifying my R56. I was about to spend £6K further modifying my '03 JCW 210, but as it was my only car, I couldn't really justify it for everyday use, although I really wanted to! I decided to go for the R56, as there was a great deal on it at the time (March '09), so I traded in the JCW and sold my aftermarket bits to help pay for the new car. If I'd been able to keep it as a second car, I'd have done the mods and used it just for fun. Circumstances now mean that I actually have a wee car (98 Pug 106 1.1) to drive to work etc, so I don't use the R56 every day.... how ironic, but you never know how things are going to work out.

Tam's initial question was 'What's Best?' He didn't say whether it was for everyday use, or as a 'weekend toy'. If it's specifically as a plaything, then I agree a modded R53 would be spot on, if it's for more general use - both fun and practical - then the R56 is probably a better bet. Having driven both cars in unmodified form, I have to say that the standard R56 would show a similar R53 a clean pair of heels - so take your pick.

Would agree with that. Overall the R56 is bigger, more refined, cheaper to run etc. The R53 is rawer, and more therefore more rewarding IMO. Depends what you're after I suppose. I live above my work, so don't even need a car, but there's no way the JCW is going as I need my fortnightly supercharged fix!

[ELFMAN]

Good on you Mr. Fish! The world needs Blown MINIS like Kylie needs tiny shorts!!!!!!

If I had the space and the dosh, for my 'Fun' MINI I'd have an R53 with around 250bhp, stripped out, Recaros, Big Brakes, sorted Coil-Overs, Lightweight Wheels in Black and decent non-runflat Rubber (also in Black), Nasty Exhaust manifold & System (I'd get a Playmini again) etc etc, in something like Bright Orange (like Ford Focus shade), black roof and mirrors, no chrome, and some nice black side graphics - like a MINI in Porsche GT3 stylee. Nice. Of course, I'd either lose my licence or my life within 6 months...

[Mon the fish]

Well, I'm on my way to 250bhp. Should have it by xmas if my plans come together. Going to do all the suspension bushes first

[ELFMAN]

I reckon mine ended up with around 230bhp, but that was as far as I got! Never got around to rolling road it with all the bits on - went very well though, and sounded FAB. Who knows how it would've ended up if I'd kept it. One of the main things I miss is the noise, but then again, I can go quickly now without drawing attention - good if you're in 'Stealth' mode, but not so good if you fancy some 'Days of Thunder'.

[GP BILLY]

Good on you Mr. Fish! The world needs Blown MINIS like Kylie needs tiny shorts!!!!!!

If I had the space and the dosh, for my 'Fun' MINI I'd have an R53 with around 250bhp, stripped out, Recaros, Big Brakes, sorted Coil-Overs, Lightweight Wheels in Black and decent non-runflat Rubber (also in Black), Nasty Exhaust manifold & System (I'd get a Playmini again) etc etc, in something like Bright Orange (like Ford Focus shade), black roof and mirrors, no chrome, and some nice black side graphics - like a MINI in Porsche GT3 stylee. Nice. Of course, I'd either lose my licence or my life within 6 months...

Close but no ciiiiiiiiigar

[Mon the fish]

All that needs is 'RAC' on the side, and some flashing lights on the roof...