Over the next five days, over 2,000 MINI owners with over 600 MINI Cooper vehicles from across the model range will explore a total of nine states and eight cities, raising money for Best Friends Animal Society, a leading animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the euthanizing of dogs and cats in American animal shelters by 2025. Making its return after four years, the biennial MTTS trek will cover more than 1,700 miles in total. MINI owners will be travelling down an inland route from Vermont to South Carolina on state and county roads, stopping in eight cities along the way, with more than 80 pets and their owners coming for the ride. The MMCA will be present at the morning Rise & Rally events in all eight cities where MTTS stops during the week-long road trip. MINI enthusiasts in attendance can learn more about the club and sign up for more information as the club prepares to launch its official membership. More information on the club can be found at minimotoringclub.org

MINI TAKES THE STATES 2022 – July 9th to 17th – Enjoy my MINI Adventure across the Pond to Re-Unite & Rally

Day 1 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – Sign Up & Drive from Burlington Vt to Vernon, Nt

Day 2 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – We travel from Vernon, NY to Pocono PA

Day 3 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – We drive from Pocono PA to Frederick ML

Day 4 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – We drive from Frederick, MD to Roanoke, and I get to drive GP3 Number 1 owned by Nick, aka The MINI Vlog

Day 5 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – We drive from Roanoke, VA to Bristol, VA. This time I ride with Nick, aka The MINI Vlog in his MINI GP3

Day 6 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – We drive from Bristol, VA to Ashville, RR I ride with Nick, aka The MINI Vlog again in his MINI GP3 and get behind the wheel myself 

Day 7 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – We drive from Asheville, NC to Spartanburg, SC in Mike’s F54 Clubman Cooper S ALL4

Day 8 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – We stay in drive Spartanburg, SC for some track action in MINIs at the BMW Performance Centre

Day 9 – MINI TAKES THE STATES – MTTS 2022 is now over, so it’s time for goodbye and taking pictures

That’s a wrap for another MINI TAKES THE STATES

Thank you, MINI USA, for everything & Memories

Briana, Mike & Nick for making it MTTS 2022 special

Looking forward to reading the comments on Youtube; all feedback is welcomed.

Please subscribe to the channel so we can help grow it together 

Here are my recommendations for MINI UK & Overseas specialist to visit:

Lohen – lohen.co.uk

1320 Mini – 1320.co.uk

Sussex Road & Race – sussexroadandrace.co.uk

Millys Auto – millsysautos.co.uk

TWG Automotive – twgautomotive.co.uk

MiniWorks – mini-works.co.uk

RSI C6 – rsic6.com

Outmotoring – outmotoring.com

ESC Tuning – ecstuning.com

Detroit Tuned – detroittuned.com

My list is made on my own opinions and me speaking to respective companies & other owners worldwide, and this is not sponsored post for full transparency.

If you got the modding bug, don’t forget to check out JCW Adventures Store or Official eBay Store for some stickers for all generations of MINIs or R56 JCW carbon fibre exhaust tips seen on my MINI R56 JCW to support the blog & YouTube channel.

All your support over the years, and please offer that same support by following my Youtube Channel as well : )

As Always, it’s a MINI Adventure. Try to keep up & Stay Safe!

Support the blog by Sharing, Subscribing or Buying from the stores

JCW Adventures Store

Official eBay Store

JCW Adventures Youtube Channel

Facebook

Instagram

The post The Big MINI Adventure 2: MINI TAKES THE STATES 2022 appeared first on JCW Adventures.

If you don’t know who is POP BANG COLOUR is, let me fill you in…

Ian Cook is a contemporary British artist renowned for creating artwork using radio-controlled cars, car tyres and toy car wheels #PaintwithCars. He also creates #ContinuousCar drawings with one continuous line, commissions, school workshops and team building events, paint events and pop bang car vinyl wraps.

Painting with cars is quite simple – paint is applied onto the canvas, and the cars and wheels are run through the paint. However, prior to any painting being created, there is a great deal of preparation in choosing the correct image/s, doing a few tweaks (flipped, removing backgrounds if requested etc.) or mocking up a completely new image; this is what the client requires.

He a little back story on him:

Graduated with a first-class degree in Fine Art Painting, Ian has a quirky edge and has always described his artwork as ‘a friendly explosion of colour’. His unique process of painting started for 3 main reasons;

1. Car and motorsports enthusiast

2. He has trained and always wanted to be an artist

3. For Christmas in 2006, he was bought a radio-controlled car and was told: “Don’t take it down the studio and don’t get paint on it!” and so he decided to do just that.

Since 2007, Ian has combined his passion for cars and art, creating various artworks and projects. Highlights include painting a portrait of Lewis Hamilton the size of a 3-storey building, breaking a Guinness World record and having artwork featured on Top Gear.

Ian and his fleet of paint-splattered cars can be found at popular motoring shows and events in the UK and internationally when not painting in the POPBANGCOLOUR studio.

Artworks are generally created to commission or appeal to the audience who are likely to be at the event, whether at BTCC, Goodwood, Silverstone, or elsewhere.

His big break started with the first artwork he created live in a shopping centre in Wolverhampton. This was covered by the local media and then picked up by the national media. This led to featuring at various motoring events when at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed, an employee from M&C Saatchi spotted Ian’s work…

He has worked with a lot of automotive brands, Car Events and appeared on BBC One.

His skill and work are distinctive, and you have definitely seen his work without even realising it!

If you want to check out more of his work, here are his details:

Website – Pop Bang Colour

Instagram – Pop Bang Colour

Facebook – Pop Bang Colour

Twitter – Pop Bang Colour

Here is my interview and live drawing with Ian Cook, aka Pop Bang Colour

Any comments and subscribes to my Youtube Channel would be much appreciated as I want to grow the channel to help other MINI owners out worldwide and bring the community together.

If you want your car drawn to drop him a message, he will get back to you on a time and date.

The cost was £75, which included the drawing being sent to you plus you’re supporting a British artist!

If you want to modify your MINI like mine – Here is my Ultimate R56 MINI Modding Bible – Click here for my guide

Hopefully, this guide will give you a stepping stone to find the perfect MINI, and I look forward to the MINI Adventures.

Here are my recommendations for MINI UK & Overseas specialist to visit for repairs, upgrades or parts:

Lohen – lohen.co.uk

1320 Mini – 1320.co.uk

Sussex Road & Race – sussexroadandrace.co.uk

Millys Auto – millsysautos.co.uk

TWG Automotive – twgautomotive.co.uk

MiniWorks – mini-works.co.uk

RSI C6 – rsic6.com

Outmotoring – outmotoring.com

ESC Tuning – ecstuning.com

Detroit Tuned – detroittuned.com

My list is made by my own opinions and me speaking to respective companies & other owners worldwide, and this is not a sponsored post for full transparency.

If you got the modding bug, don’t forget to check out JCW Adventures Store or Official eBay Store for some stickers for all generations of MINIs or R56 JCW carbon fibre exhaust tips seen on my MINI R56 JCW to support the blog & YouTube channel.

All your support over the years, and please offer that same support by following my Youtube Channel as well : )

As Always, it’s a MINI Adventure try to keep up & Stay Safe!

Support the blog by Sharing, Subscribing or Buying from the stores

JCW Adventures Store

Official eBay Store

JCW Adventures Youtube Channel

Facebook

Instagram

The post Automotive Art: Pop Bang Colour Draws My MINI R56 JCW appeared first on JCW Adventures.

This list will include a mix of PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, Stadia & Mobile so you can play on your favourite gaming platform.

The Crew 2 – PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC & Stadia

The Crew 2 is an open-world game that has land, sea and air cover as you can switch between any time of vehicle anytime you want to give you the vehicle fix while you’re stuck indoors. The open-world is a mix of the US states in a large map which can be covered by a variety of vehicles including cars, motorcycles, boats, and aeroplanes.

The game features a nonlinear story that follows the unnamed player character as they go to become a racing icon in the United States by winning in all racing disciplines available in the game. There are four disciplines: Street Racing, Off-Road, Freestyle and Pro Racing. In Street Racing, the player is assisted by Latrell. In Off-Road, the player is assisted by Tucker “Tuck” Morgan. In Freestyle, the player is assisted by Sofia and her father. In Pro Racing, the player is assisted by Alexis.

MINIs in the game:

2010 – R56 MINI Cooper S

2013 – R60 Mini Cooper S Countryman All4

Both have a rallycross edition to them, and another plus to the Crew 2 is that you modify your car to your liking with visuals to fully race car with engine mods etc.

Need For Speed: Heat – PlayStation 4, Xbox One & PC

NFS: Heat returns to it’s rooted with the latest iteration with racers and police but this interesting take on it all. By day is a certified league of professional racing to climb up the ladder and then switch over to the darkness of the night it’s illegal street racing and avoid the police. The police are on the hunt for street racers, so they won’t let you go easy and they will hunt you down whether your cruising around or in a race and the gloves will be off.

Heat’s key feature is modifying your car to your dreams right down to the colour to the actual exhaust note of the car which can be done in the game or through the mobile NFS Heat Studio app. Your car can also be modified to different disciplines ranging from road racing to drifting so you can have the edge over the competition both online and offline.

The games start with you the player arriving in Palm City for the Speedhunter Showdown, a citywide exhibition which draws in racers to compete in legally sanctioned races throughout the day, and illegal street races throughout the night. Lt. Frank Mercer, leader of the police department’s High-Speed Task Force, announces his intent to ruthlessly pursue and arrest all street racers in the city. Lucas Rivera, a local mechanic and retired street racer, sells the player their first car, helps the player enter their first Showdown race, and becomes their mechanic and mentor for much of the game. Lucas’s younger sister, Ana Rivera (Ana Marte), is a street racer whose crew recently disbanded after a task force raid nearly killed one of her friends.

MINI in the game:

2017 – F60 Mini Cooper S Countryman All4

Gran Turismo Sport – Playstation 4

The lastest run in the longest-running Playstation exclusive real driving simulator from Polyphony Digital on the PS4. This is not your arcade racer but more of sim so your inputs will need to be like how they would be in real life; otherwise, you will crash or spin out. Gran Turismo has always tried to blend the line between real life and the digital world, so there are real tracks, cars and competitions which have FIA approved around the world. The tweaks to your car are all about the suspension, aero, gearing setup etc like you would have in real life in order to gain that extra second on lap time.

Gran Turismo Sport has VR for a feature which is cool to look around cars and there is photo mode to get your clicks to make the best images around the various locations and scenes. Gran Turismo will receive one-off concept cars made by manufactures exclusively to the game which will not be found elsewhere like the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo.

GT Sport doesn’t have a story mode or anything is just go out there and race on real or original tracks and go compete online to win to be the best and actually become a real racing driver.

MINIs in the game:

MINI Clubman Vision Gran Turismo Concept

1965 – Mini-Cooper ‘S’

2005 – R53 Mini Cooper S

GRID – PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC & Stadia

This is another return to beloved franchise but more of reboot to bringing back white knuckle bumper to bumper racing. GRID was created by the Codemasters who made the TOCA, Colin Mcrae, DIRT & F1 s they know how to make a great car game.

GRID covers the following disciplines Touring, Stock, Tuner & Invitational which ranges the cars from Hot Hatches to F1 to bring out your inner Stig. The game has an arcade feel to as it allows some liberalities as there is a rewind feature which lets you go back to where you ran out of talent then move forward from correcting your mistake. There is a mix of racing from the day, night and different weather effects so there plenty of locations on the drive on through your career.

There is only visual customisation with liveries on the vehicles and setup of suspension etc to make the most of laps times.

MINIs in the game:

2012 – R56 Mini John Cooper Works

1965 – Mini-Cooper ‘S’

Driveclub – PS4

This one on the list is one of my personal favourite car games of all time. Driveclub gave you all the cars you could dream of and made you feel like you were driving them with the sounds and visuals. There is an arcade feel to the driving, but that was built in to give you some fun straight away so the words easy to learn and hard to master come to mind.

The car list is something to lust about as there is everything from Hot hatches to hypercars, but there are no mods just changing the colour or the liveries.

Driveclub makes up for the lack of changes with the weather effects in the game ranging from sunny days to snow. Along with the best locations in each corner of the world, so one race your racing through the Scotland highlands to Tokyo Turnpikes with a fantastic level of details with lighting, backdrops and the most realistic cars sounds ever with backfires, deeper noise echoing in turns with in-car views outlaying every single stitch in the Ferrari 458 speciale.

Another feature that was added later on was the DLC of having to drive on two wheels if that tickles your fancy with Drive Club Bikes along with the paid-for upgrade to play in VR for more sensory overload.

MINIs in the game:

2013 – R56 Mini GP2

Forza Motorsport 7 – Xbox One & PC

A Microsoft exclusive that runs with the leader of the pack Gran Turismo with giving you real racing to hoon your skills in the digital with fastest cars on the street to every series of racing on the track.

Forza Motorsport 7 features over 700 cars—including new Forza Edition cars, most of which have been brought over from Forza Horizon 3—and more than 200 different configurations to race on across 32 locations at launch, including all from Forza Motorsport 6; a fictional street circuit in Dubai is one of the new circuits and several tracks returning from Forza Motorsport 4 including Maple Valley Raceway, Mugello Circuit and Suzuka Circuit. Two features that are new to the Motorsport title include dynamic weather which changes over the course of the race and customisable drivers.

Don’t be brushed off by this sim racer as it can be tailored around skill level as you can a lot of driving aids on like it show the racing line as a minimum to auto braking for corners to help you learn cars and tracks the easy way.

Most of these games do have an online feature but Xbox wins hands down on the community given the number of laughs I have had in lobbies and racing on the track.

MINIs in the game:

1965 – Mini Cooper S

1965 – Mini Cooper S Forza Edition

2012 – R56 Mini John Cooper Works

2013 – R56 Mini John Cooper Works GP

2013 – R56 Mini John Cooper Works GP Forza Edition

2014 – R60 Mini Monster Energy All4 Racing X-Raid

Forza Horizon 4 – Xbox One & PC

Another open-world car game with an arcade feel, but this includes real cars with added FUN to the world as you go about racing for money, prizes and doing ridiculous with cars like racing a train or Vulcan bomber to a finish point. The aim here is to buy and drive your favourite car in open-world which changes through the seasons yes you hear me right seasons, so it changes throughout your time from summer to snow-filled winter. Every type of racing is here from circuit racing to drag racing on a frozen lake and that’s just the start with the DLC adding more depth and madness to the mix like LEGO world where you can drive lego versions of the Bugatti Chiron.

Whatever car you can imagine it’s in the game ranging from James Bond’s DB5 to V10 howl of the Lexus LFA. If any of those cars don’t tickle your fancy you can modify to your heart’s content by taking a Land Rover Defender and shove in big V8 race motor and change it to rear-wheel drive then modify the bodywork or paint to any colour want.

The game is continuously updated for free and with paid DLC of new cars or races so the fun will always continue until the next iteration comes out.

MINIs in the game:

1965 – MINI Cooper S Traveller

1965 – MINI Cooper S Traveller

1965 – LEGO Version MINI Cooper S

2009 – R56 MINI John Cooper Works

2012 – R56 MINI John Cooper Works GP

2014 – R60 MINI X-Raid All4 Racing Countryman

2018 – F57 MINI John Cooper Works Convertible

2018 – F60 MINI John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4

2018 – MINI X-raid John Cooper Works Buggy

Dirt Rally 2.0 – PS4, Xbox One & PC

Codemasters worked their magic as they always do with car games as they made the legendary Colin Mcrae rally games.

Dirt Rally 2.0 is focused on rallying and rallycross across timed stage events on tarmac and off-road terrain in varying weather conditions. The locations for races are in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and the United States, Finland, Germany, Greece, Monte Carlo, Sweden and Wales. There are remastered versions of the stages included in the original Dirt Rally.

The car roster covers 50 cars: World Rallycross Supercars, historic rally cars from the 1960s through the 1980s, Groups A, B and R rally cars, and modern rally cars from the 1990s to the late 2010s.

There is a new weather modelling system changes the level of grip, visibility and the surface of the stages degrades as more cars pass over a stage. The level of detail with damages not only be visual but also mechanical effect so have to fix a race without a wheel or broken gearbox.

MINIs in the game:

1965 – MINI Cooper S

2018 – XITE Racing F56 Mini Cooper SX1

Gear.Club Unlimited 2 – Nintendo Switch

The game is an arcade-style racer which uses the switch controllers to its advantage with the face buttons are used for braking and accelerating. The game has local split-screen with online multiplayer covering more than 250 different races across the four main environments and over 50 licensed cars.

The game includes a story mode as well as a Club feature they can be shared with friends and challenge rival clubs across the world. There is a garage feature so players can upgrade and customise any model of car from the paint and bodywork, or change the performance with engine tuning.

MINIs in the game:

2015 – F56 MINI John Cooper Works

CSR Racing 2 – Mobile (Andriod/iOS)

Custom street racing 2 is a free to play drag racing game on mobile devices. The game is split into five tiers, with each tier introducing progressively faster opposition and vehicles. To move on to a new tier, the player must race and beat the crew boss for the level. After beating the boss of each level, the player will be challenged to a high stakes rematch to which if you win again you win the boss’s car. However, if the player loses, they must give back the gold won from the previous boss race.

The car list ranges from hot hatches to hypercars for straight-line drag races as the racing is limited to 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile races. The game focuses on timing gear changes and use of the nitrous upgrade by tapping the screen, which allows a low barrier of entry to the game so anyone can play.

MINIs in the game:

2015 – F56 MINI Cooper S

That’s my list of car games to get you through the lockdown and I hope to meet some of you online and keep the MINI community going online. If there is any that you know, please chime in the comments or reach out to me on social media.

Gamer Tag Playstation: AM_AUTOS

Gamer Tag Xbox: AMAUTOS

If anyone needs me during this difficult time, please do not hesitate to reach over social media and over the time of the lockdown, I will be reaching out to the community to keep all of us moving forward.

Hope to see you at the next corner for the next MINI Adventure…

Ali

Founder of JCW Adventures

Support the blog by Sharing, Subscribing or buying from the stores

JCW Adventures Store

Official eBay Store

YouTube Channel – JCW Adventures

Facebook

Instagram

The post Digital Racers: Best Car Games With MINIs appeared first on JCW Adventures.

Here all the main details you need to know about the MINI GP3:

• Limited to 3,000 units worldwide (UK – 575 units & US – 400-500 units)
• 306 bhp & 450 nm of Torque from the revised 2-litre engine
• 0 to 62 mph in 5.2 seconds with a top speed of 164 mph
• 8-Speed Steptronic Automatic & Torsen Mechanical Differential
• Multistage traction control with GP Mode
• Lightweight wheels with Hankook track-focused tyres
• 20mm wider front track & 10mm reduced ride height from JCW with adaptive suspension
• Rear seats deleted with a rear brace
• Nappa Leather steering wheel with metal 12 o’clock position and GP metal paddle shifters
• Digital & Analogue Dials
• Improved Aerodynamics with Carbon Fibre Arches & Rear wing
• 90mm exhaust tips finished in matte brushed stainless steel
• Darkened LED headlights & rear lights and Black MINI badges
• Exclusive metallic Racing Grey paint with metallic melting silver roof
• Unique GP side stripe with individual numbers on Carbon Blades
• Preorder is now available at your retailers with RRP of £33,895 (US – $44,900)
• GT Touring Pack (£2,000 – Option)- Adds dual-zone air- conditioning, heated front seats and Navigation Plus – which includes Satellite Navigation and wireless charging
• First UK deliveries start in March 2020

Now with the key points outlined will this be ultimate F56 when it comes out?? I still loved R56 GP2 which I test drove for review a while a back which was still raw, and they just turned the R56 up to 12.

I am not gonna lie the F56 series MINI has been a bitter disappointment to me and the only model that I have driven from the range that has made me smile has been the F56 MINI Hatch Cooper and F56 JCW Convertible as they charm to them. The Cooper had all the power you wanted as it was fun extracting it from its peppy engine while the Convertible JCW brought back some of the visceral rawness of what a MINI should be.

I am yet to drive the F55 Clubman JCW with its ALL4 drive with the same engine as the MINI GP3, but in the real world, the clubman will be faster! It’s ALL4 will allow a quicker 0 to 60 dash at 4.9 compared to the GP3s 5.2 plus you can take your mates with you.

The proof will be in the driving when I get a hold of a set of keys from MINI or a JCW clubman owner willing to borrow it me for a while. Probably the car I am most excited to drive along with the MINI Cooper SE.

Now the car has officially unveiled it has grown on me, and I see more details on it which are cooler than first perceived. The Carbon blades don’t look that much out of place, but I can see it being a nightmare in the real world – people trying to clean them and a lot of people touching them when you are away from it. Plus I am annoyed there is no manual option as the torque figure was too high for them to justify so auto won that fight : (

They should have made the mirror caps Red to follow tradition and the lower grille should have been black as that lower grille is something you don’t want to highlight…

GP numbers on the roof again for tradition reasons but the mega disappointment has been the wheels as they are very much lacklustre. The whole 3rd Gen MINI range as it’s like they gave up in that design department. But the person who made the centre caps deserves needs promotion to head of wheel design.

The wing again should have followed tradition with being carbon fibre and my OCD is kicking off with the base being red next to a silver roof!! Just why why why why

The paddles look nice, but the top parts should have been longer as everyone drives differently and they should have looked to supercars for better inspiration.

Alright, enough of the negatives here are my positives – dark line headlights & rear lights, black door handles, black fuel cap and black badges are perfect but that new racing grey paint though really pops under the sun! The upper red bar grill intake is a pleasant update to get more in and go with the GP3 more power theme.

Interior is where they did their best work with the rear seat delete being something to behold than a rush job with the GP logo, flush carpet and new back strut brace design. New seats are a nice touch with the grey and GP logo, but you will be glad for the new digital with GP interface. It will make you feel that much special every time you got in with GP door stills and mats.

The better diffuser is welcomed as well but could have had a more menace to it. My favourite touch of them all is the matte brushed stainless steel trim exhaust tips. They are something very different much a new look, so it caught my eye straight away.

I thought they were titanium when I did walk around the Goodwood festival of speed back in the summer.

Now that we have done everything at face value, let’s dive deeper into the changes under the hood and beyond.

The engine was revamped to achieve the new power levels with the following upgrades:

The post Coming In Hot: All The Details On The F56 MINI GP3 appeared first on JCW Adventures.

We are all defined by moments and events in our life who change who and what we are. To car people, decades are defined by cars and MINI takes the 60s with all four wheels heading to your heart, the movie screen, racing tracks, fashion, music and your driveway.

To celebrate this Icon was the only way possible to bring owners all across together for events and hear their stories for a year-long celebration. MINI UK & their marketing agency approached me to share my story early in 2019 after knowing about my website. It was an honour to share why MINI has key place in my heart, life and how it changed my life all those years ago in 2011.

My MINI adventures started in 2008 when my dad brought me my first car my beloved R56 MINI One to which to this day I miss dearly. That little four-wheel wonder taught me how to drive as I had to squeeze everything out of 1.4-litre engine producing 89 BHP with keeping the momentum and speed through and out of corners. This chapter closed with a bittersweet moment as I had to let her go for the right reasons to move forward with my life. That closed chapter allowed me to move forward but 2011 brought a lot of bad to which I didn’t fully understand or wish upon on anyone else and the only thing that got me through that period is my beloved JCW.

From those ashes, JCW Adventures was born and Surrey New MINI became my 2nd family with my first of many MINI Adventures across the globe. My JCW has taken beyond my dreams and reality with all the doors it opened as both an individual and making me who I am.

The concept of MINI’s 60th-anniversary celebrations was to showcase 60 years of continuous of the brand and stories that go with it from 1959 to 2019.

Me & Rob got the ball rolling with his stories and how his life changed in 2017 and how his MINI & I saved his outlook on life and kept him going from the unfortunate life-changing accident.

This video only shows part of the bond Rob and me as the road isn’t always smooth, but we will always have each other back as JCW blood brothers.

From there was both of us submitting our stories for the Instagram posts to be shared to other fans and owners across the world and on the MINI official website.

The next part of the celebrations is the movie that spread the word of the Mini worldwide with a special screening of The Italian Job in MINI plant Oxford which has seen 105 years of continued car manufacturing.

The final part of the celebrations wouldn’t just be our moments but the whole MINI community spanning 60 years. MINI selected 60 cars to mark each year of MINI production spanning from 1959 to 2019 models.

My JCW would represent 2011 and Rob’s JCW would mark 2013 with only two years apart of one another they both the mark the factory introduction of the Factory John Cooper Works built to owners specifications from Plant Oxford.

Fun fact – R56 MINI FJCW were always made in batches as the engines were different from the Cooper S significantly which warrantied a longer manufacturing time. This schedule didn’t align with the just in time production line method resulting in the batch making and it wasn’t every day an FJCW was ordered either.

This was another event at the home of MINI at Plant Oxford with all 60 owners and Minis converging on the grounds to which they were all born. Rob & I convoyed down together as we usually do to the MINI factory with them both being detailed on the same day to mark this landmark occasion. The only difference is mine loves to drink oil while rob’s loves to drink fuel.

Arriving at Plant Oxford we were greeted by the MINI PR team as we signed in and were waved past into the factory plant past the barriers. Queueing up with other minis of different ages we waited our turn before we called to line up our cars in formation. They were all being lined up for a photo shoot to honour this little city car that is no beloved all around the world and puts a smile on people faces and brought people together from every walk of life.

We were all lined up with pinpoint accuracy and left my car on the grass infield on the grounds of the MINI factory. Leaving our cars behind we took my luggage to the coach which take us to back the visitor centre & MINI Factory Store for our assigned exclusive factory tour.

Back off the coach, we headed into the visitors’ centre to sign in and leave our bags till later. This gave us time to see and meet the others who had been chosen and some of which were familiar faces like Abbie & Ian from my club Surrey New MINI, Harry who I met a Black Panthaa car meet following the release of Forza Horizon 4 for the Xbox.

Sadly as with any car factory tours, no cameras are allowed and there was no sneak peek of the electric MINI Cooper SE or MINI GP 3. However, the only plus that we did see the new 306bhp clubman in full production and fun fact pepper white is most popular MINIs are now painted with which is a contrast from 2nd Gen MINIs days when Chilli Red was to go to paint.

Tour completed we got back on the coach and retire back to our hotel courtesy of MINI UK with the luggage and given a goody bag full of some MINI swag.

The 60th Anniversary Goody Bag included some stickers, 60th edition water bottle, limited-edition classic mini t-shirt and free tickets to IMM 2019.

From there it was a change of plan as it was going to rain so the photoshoot would happen tonight instead of tomorrow due to the rain overnight. So it was back on the bus for the Big photoshoot which us feel like school kids as we waited for the bus to fill up gaining and heads were counted.

Back to our beloved MINIs, we briefed on the shots on how the Queen of the lens Amy Shore wanted us positioned for the photos. Here are the shots:

The British Racing Green IV Cooper S is a 60th Edition MINI Cooper S which is the 10th Millionth MINI every made sitting with first-ever Mini every made upfront in the picture.

History made I took a moment to think while looking at my JCW and where this open road has taken me after 8 years of ownership. This little car has changed my life as I know with the places I have been and people I have met along the way. I glad I made a decision back on 12th March I walked into my local MINI dealership and ordered my JCW to my spec. I say with great pride she was made for me and we both share the same star sign as it Chassis was given its stamp on May 2011 making her a Tauras as well.

The dream was turned into a reality within a few months and I took delivery on the 1st June 2011 to what is the last of the N14 engined JCW but an R56 facelift (LCI) model. The N14 gets a lot of flack but mine is still going strong after 125,000 miles plus and it boils down to maintenance and preventative measures. I will dive into a later blog on how to look maintain a 2nd Gen MINI and what to look out for when you want to buy one.

The photoshoot was done we headed back to the coaches to retire for dinner at the hotel which was courtesy of MINI UK hospitality. It was nice to sit down and have dinner with my club again as it had been a while and talk about our tenth-anniversary celebrations which include a trip to the Nurburgring and autobahn.

I did get a chance to sit down with the now infamous owner of Ruby Roadster aka Petrol Ped. There may be something at a later date will do together as a collaboration as I decided to give Youtube side of the blog to grow then retired for the night.

Breakfast the next day was courtesy of MINI UK we headed back to the visitor centre on the coaches again. This time it was to grab lunch and for the MINI UK team to talk to us about how far the brand has come from its history and BMW being under the helm. Rob and I were asked to be filmed post his video shoot so it was nice catching up with the team we met a few months back now.

With everything wrapped up, we head back to our sweet chariots to load up and head out to the International MINI Meet (IMM 2019) in Bristol but first, there were a few more pictures then some video shooting as we all left.

From there me and Rob convoyed down to IMM but it wasn’t the best of weather as it was down on and off heavy downpours all along the way. The main reason why I was heading down was to meet friends who had come down from the US who I met on my previous adventures for MINI TAKES THE STATES back in 2014. However, another plus was the free t-shirt one-off made by MINI events team and swag I got in the goody bags did make it worthwhile.

If I am honest IMM wasn’t a good experience at all and disorganised which left a bad taste in my mouth personally. It’s gonna be one of those events I can say I did but I won’t be doing it anytime soon in hurry…

I guess this celebration sums up MINI ownership in a dime as it’s a mix of highs, lows and oh I love this thing as it puts a smile on my face & taken places I would never have thought of.

I appreciate the invite, opportunity and hospitality MINI UK has given me and making mine and rob’s JCW forever written in the history books.

Thank you dear icon for changing the world as I know it and for the millions out there with a MINI story and their own parked on their driveways. So here’s to the next milestone of 70 years in 2029 and always it’s a MINI Adventure try to keep up!!!

p.s. MINI if your reading this bring back MINI UNITED…

Support the blog by Sharing, Subscribing or buying from the stores

JCW Adventures Store

Official eBay Store

JCW Adventures Youtube Channel

Facebook

Instagram

The post 60 Years Young: Celebrating The Iconic MINI appeared first on JCW Adventures.

The Italian Job movie was a box office hit and catapulted the British icon even further into the stars with arguably one of the best cliff hanger endings of all time. The movie drove more sales for the mini in the dealership, whilst the swinging 60s was in full effect! It cemented this car as a legend on and off the silver screen. This momentum carried when it the rally and touring car racing series as it won the Monte Carlo rally and touring car races against mustangs.

This four-wheel legend created a cult following with the silver screen debut with the now infamous driving scenes and stunts such as driving through the sewer tunnels with the gold bars in the boot. The movie set the standard for stunt car scenes given manoeuvrability of the Mini’s short wheelbase as it darted through a shopping mall, over rooftops and down staircases.

Later in 2003, there was a Hollywood remake which was more of cheap knock off and fell into the category somethings should be left alone. If you have only watched the 2003 version, you need to back the old school version as it still holds up today 50 years on.

2019 marks 50 years of the movie and 60 years of the MINI! When MINI UK emails you saying you have been invited to a special screening you assemble the crew for Mr Bridger and head to MINI Plant Oxford.

Rob and I headed to the MINI factory for the event which is a homecoming for your MINIs. Queue the obligatory pictures for the occasion…

We headed inside the MINI factory for the screening of the movie. We were greeted by a MINI Cooper S with Polizia livery of the Italy police cars in the film which was an Alfa Romeo Giulia TI.

Greeted by the MINI Events team we heading into Italian movie mood set with all original cars from the movies all line up in their trios.

The 3 MINIs in the movie all arranged next to the stage.

On the other side were the fast support cars used in the film – Aston Martin DB4 Convertible, Lamborghini Miura & Jaguar E-Type

All of those vehicles have been hard to find as many exchange hands over the years and many of lost or hidden away. It was first for a lot them being all together since the movie in 1969. The Miura had only just been certified by Lamborghini in being the actual one in the film as it disappeared shortly after the movie wrapped up…

There was an exciting mix of people there from motoring journalist, well know Mini/MINI owners, cast members of the family and various MINI UK faces. Two people caught my eye and the first was Amy Shore, who is a fantastic photographer, so lens and apertures talk was had. Along with this, we spoke about her Mini aka Mayo and the BIG Mini adventure from Athens, Greece to Bristol, UK for the International MINI Meet 2019.

The second person being some who you might know well from EVO Magazine & Carfection Youtube channel and he is Henry Catchpole. I have liked the way he writes and talks about the essence of driving pleasure in the driving roads imaginable while giving us all the technical and fun stuff you want to know. Thank for keeping the fire in me and wanting to push myself future with the blog & YouTube channel.

We took our popcorn and ice cream for the movie and settled down for the movie as the MINI team introduced did a small introduction about the movie, the car and what it means to the brand after all these years.

We had a special message from Sir Michael Caine before the movie started as unfortunately he wasn’t able to make it.

As we know, the rest is history as I sit back and enjoyed the movie all over again like it was the first time…

When the movie ended the light came back and we welcomed by some of the original cast of the movie on stage for Q&A along with Matthew Field who wrote a book on the movie with all the information you would want to know including interviews with the directors, staff, cast and family members.

There were so many funny stories and memories when the movie created, and when it wrapped up, which was blessing and insight that not many will ever know.

For example, Sir Michael Cane didn’t know how to drive a car, and he learnt on the set of the movie in a Mini, so it has a special place in his heart.

Another was after the movie wrapped up one of the stunt drives drove the Mini all the way home to the UK from Italy which landed him in jail. One thing he totally forgot to remember a few things – it wasn’t insured, no tax, gold bars in the boot, never registered and was on fake plates not to forget he was only pulled over because he was speeding…

I will let the videos do the talking and enjoy some snippets from the night courtesy of MINI UK bringing everyone together for this special 50th Anniversary of the Italian Job.

Special Thank You to MINI UK for the invite and hosting the event and Rob with the epic picture of the 3 Minis all together : )

Support the blog by Sharing, Subscribing or buying from the stores

JCW Adventures Store

Official eBay Store

JCW Adventures Youtube Channel

Facebook

Instagram

The post The Original Heist: 50 Years Of The Italian Job appeared first on JCW Adventures.

With MINI’s 60th Anniversary happening this year it was a perfect time for the brand to reinvent itself to the electric future. The MINI Cooper SE retains the concept looks, but we all know with a MINI it’s what it makes you feel and what is under the hood that makes it that infamous MINI Go Kart.

MINI’s timeless design has been wrapped into the plugin & digital world with the first full production EV from MINI with deliveries in March 2020. It will be another first part of the electrification of the range as 25 new electric models are coming by 2023.

Let’s talk facts, figures & Features:

The on the road price is £24,400 with the £3,500 government grant included with cash.

If you’re going down the lease option, it will be monthly rentals from £299 plus £4,000 initial rental for a 48-month Personal Contract Hire agreement.

The Electric Motor is from the BMW i3s, so it has 135 kW/ (181 hp) and 270 Nm (199 lb-ft)

0 to 37 in 3.9 seconds, 0 to 60 in 7.3 seconds and a top speed of 93.2 mph

The battery is T-shaped which sits in the floor pan and is rated at 32.6 kWh

Range: 124 – 144 miles (WLTP) – 235 – 270 km (NEDC)

Weight: 1365kg (3009 lbs)

Charging: 50KW rapid charge allows 80% charge in 35 minutes or full charge on a type 2 home charger is 3 and a half hours via traditional fuel cap location

MINI Cooper SE sits 15mm higher than normal models for battery clearance

Only available in Automatic

3 Trims levels:

Standard Equipment (£24,400)- Connected Navigation, LED headlamps, electric parking brake, dual-zone automatic air conditioning, heating with heat pump technology, auxiliary heating & 3 years of free apple CarPlay

Mid (Extra £2,000 – £26,400) – Keyless Entry/Start, heated seats, the driving assistant pack, part leatherette trim, a rear-view camera and parking sensors and an armrest.

Top (Extra £6,000 – £30,400) – 8.8in ‘XL’ infotainment screen, full leather, a panoramic glass roof, adaptive matrix LED lights, a head-up display and a Harman Kardon sound system.

Warranty: Similiar to BMW i3 with 8 years cover and 100,000 miles coverage

Four Driving Modes: Sport, MID, Green & Green+

All New DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) has been made due to instant torque

First MINI to have a fully digital Sat Nav dashboard & 5.5 Inch Digital Speedo

New LED Fog lights with Halo design like the 2nd Generation R56

Boot space remains the same as petrol & diesel & interior space

MINI created a distinctive sound for the Cooper SE via a speaker system for low speeds

If you don’t like the ‘Energetic Yellow’ detailing you can tone it down with ‘Vigorous Grey’ finish. Same with the new wheel design you can change to any other wheel designs from the MINI model range.

The Start/Stop glows green with unique sound instead of Red in the combustion MINI

Revised plastic wheel arch trims on all four corners

Revised front and rear bumpers with the front bumper being 19mm longer

Revised new wing mirrors

Available in Left & Right-hand drive

MINI Cooper S E is £635 cheaper than MINI Cooper S Classic Auto of equivalent spec but is 145kg heavier but has 30 mm lower centre of gravity

The MINI Cooper SE will be built in the Oxford, UK, unlike the MINI Countryman & MINI Convertible which is made VDL Nedcar in Born, Netherlands.

Orders are being taken from today, with first deliveries in March 2020. Customers wishing to book a production slot can place a £500 deposit either with a MINI retailer or online at www.mini.co.uk

Support the blog by Sharing, Subscribing or buying from the store

JCW Adventures Store

Official eBay Store

JCW Adventures Youtube Channel

Facebook

Instagram

The post Sparked Up: Electric MINI Cooper SE appeared first on JCW Adventures.

• AEM was one of the first companies to engineer and design performance aftermarket induction systems with specific tube lengths and diameters to take advantage of pressure waves in the inlet tract. The tuning of the inlet tract dimension creates more control over the RPM range being affected.
• AEM began to explore the advantages of cooler air on combustion efficiency way back in the mid nineties and coined the phrase Cold Air Intake.
• AEM worked with K&N in 1999 to design conical air filters with built-in air horns at the filter base to greatly enhance air flow into the inlet duct.
• AEM developed the first dual chamber intake kits designed to generate more power over a broad RPM range.
• AEM designed a unique air bypass valve in order to avoid hydro-lock situations for systems where the filter is low enough to encounter water at certain times.
• AEM created one of the first hybrid induction systems for cars with engine swaps.
• AEM has developed an electronically tuned air intake solution to MAF sensor scaling problems when using non stock inlet system dimensions for additional power.

AEM took it upon themselves to develop an R56 MINI Cold Air Intake given the MINI community in the USA plus I have funny feeling one of the staff has an R56 MINI.

AEM cleverly worked out to utilises the non functional scoop on the R56 MINI Cooper S & JCW which was carried over from the R53 Cooper S because of aesthetics. The position of the intercooler and air intake in the turbocharged R56 doesn’t require cold air to pass over the engine like in R53 as the intercooler was position above the engine.
The principle of a Cold Air Intake is to increase the cold air volume coming into the engine as colder air is more dense as it carries more oxygen per volume unit than warmer air thus creating more power. Aftermarket intakes often replace the ‘restrictive’ factory airbox and air filter to give you better performance and better engine sound. They normally relocate the air filter outside the engine compartment so cooler air can be fed into your engine. Cooler air carries more oxygen, which translates into a more intense explosion in the combustion chamber for more horsepower and torque.

This modification does harm the engine as your just giving the engine more of what it wants OXYGEN as the ECU will readjust as fuel to air ratio to account for more air flow. However some cars will gain more power if they are naturally aspirated or either turbocharged/supercharged but the gains have to be 10% and above to be felt. On older cars there is noticeable difference as the air flow management didn’t play a significant part in the car’s production therefore often is pre 1990 era cars will see significant gains in power across the rev range as well as MPG gains.
The interwebs tell us cold air intakes and pod filters actually work but more cases than none all they do is actually make the car sound better rather than producing more power. But like always on the internet your butt dyno or armchair mechanic status doesn’t count and we want videos and dyno sheet read outs.


This is where the guys from Might Car Mods have tried and test multiple intakes and filters to see what actually benefit they make using a variation in cars etc. I have been a mighty car mods long time fan since I saw their Turbo & Temples feature film which I stumbled across when I was looking at R34 GTR videos (remember I am from the ‘Playstation Generation’).
Here is the video in question

I was abit wary of the AEM Intake given I had watched these informative videos a long while back as modern exhaust and intake modifications bring no gains and only bring more noise than stock as the ECUs are not calibrated with all components attached around the engine performance. I personally know this is true after I installed a 200 cell catalytic converter on my JCW and saw no real gain in performance and just a smoother power band and with no flat-out at the top. However the JCW does sound biblical on the overrun and pops & bangs are now artillery fire which is why I back off going past any Prius : p
It was another trip down to MINI specialist Lohen for this fettling as there are only two places who I trust my JCW with and Lohen is one of them. Lohen supplied and fitted this kit to my JCW which will house perfectly in near OEM fitment after my factory JCW airbox is removed. The AEM Intake system was designed is a DIY kit – instructions, pdf file and video installation are available on their website.

This install took about around 2 hours as injunction with having the AEM strut brace because JCW strut no longer fits around the AEM airbox. I was impressed by OEM likeness of the kit as it fitted within the engine bay like it belongs and the heat shield fits perfectly over the turbo along with the air scoop fitting snug under the bonnet. I loved how the colour of the strut brace and intake tube matches the colour of my JCW  #ColourCoordinated.
Sadly at the time I couldn’t get my JCW on Lohen’s dyno as it was out of action but first impressions sounded good as the JCW exhaust burble at idle was little different with a blip of the throttle giving a sharp induction noise with more audible dump value noise. On the way home I noticed the better throttle response along with more power & free revving engine at speed with a noticeable difference at the top end. My JCW definitely felt like a different car after the install as the journey home from Lohen on the motorway is 30 minutes. The pick up is just ballistic as this newly added power makes the temptation to go even faster on public roads ever so easy.

On the strut brace front there wasn’t any more stability compared from the AEM strut brace to the JCW one but its competitive priced to the OEM option so the no comprises have been made.
Sadly at the time I couldn’t use their dyno as it was out of action for maintenance. But that said they have all my previous dyno runs on file so it will interesting to see what she is making as my JCW is due a long-awaited trip again for some more mods…
All the data proved by AEM along with other certified sellers confirmed the performance gains
AEM – 2010 Cooper S – 14.14 Bhp gain

Lohen – 2012 JCW – 21.4 Bhp gain

Looking past all the gains what does it sound like? How has it been to live with? Any pros and cons?
The induction noise is a welcomed one as I am sucker for loud noise which adds to the aural sensations of speed. I had the intakes installed in December 2013 and driven 15,000 plus miles in that time which no real issues to the intakes besides losing two bolts from the metal housing frame of the airbox which was down to engine moving. This issue was solved with washers and locktite and AEM kindly providing me with some spares for free after an email.
During this time I haven’t seen the air filter get visual dirty or anything get stuck in the air box. My JCW is my daily driver so whether it has been a bitter winter or blazing hot I haven’t felt any drop in performance from the intake. Another question I have been asked a lot has the intake sucked in water? Simple answer is no as I have driven my JCW to London which is about 2 hours away in torrential downpour at cruise control guided speed of 60 mph only to find the filter and airbox bone dry which still amazes me to this day.

Another benefit of this filter that is used in the intake a dry flow air filter meaning it’s not oil based meaning no maintenance of reoiling etc. Most modern cars including MINIs have a Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor it is best to use a dry air filter as the oil based filters cause damage to this sensor resulting in malfunction with increased emissions and damage to the catalytic converter. Oil based filters are only better at maximum flow passing through to dry but don’t give a better filtration than a dry filters. The filter used in this kit is actually a K&N filter so there are no worries on the quality of the filter.

On a maintenance side I haven’t need to do anything to any of the intake parts or filter minus the missing screws on the airbox which minor grumble in the grand scheme of things. You might wonder when do I change the air filter? There is a filter minder indicator which has 3 colour zones of green, yellow and red indicating the life of left in the filter. As this is a K&N filter all that is needed to clean the filter is K&N filter cleaning spray and warm or cold water at around 50,000 miles. There is an optional filter wrap available for dusty or muddy regions to prevent any dirty etc clogging up the filter with little affect on the restriction.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/shYSbwdFMno] A very strange but welcome benefit of the intake has been in the increased MPG with long runs easily taking my JCW into the 50 mpg range again at cruise control guided 60 mph (I tend to cruise and let my JCW do its thing whilst I relax to music playing on my HK system all racecar like in my Recaros).
The only negative I have ever seen of this intake is in hotter climates where the heat from the engine and turbo has been reflected which resulted in the value cover melting but this has been insulated cases with wrong installation with the stock heat shield being completed remove. Another one was with a tuned S doing track days in high heat which is another case for debate as tuned S will always give off more heat that stock. If you are that worried you can always take off the AEM heat shield and protect the air duct by adding on engine heat reflector wrap on the duct to stop the plastic from melting (that’s just my two cents).

I have tracked mine with the intake installed and experienced any of the above problems but the UK climate is a lot milder and my JCW is running its stock with just a sports cat. On a side note I have installed the GP2 front undertray which actually cools the engine bay temps but at some point I will upgrade to a bigger intercooler for added cooling.
In summary I can not fault AEM’s Cold Air Intake given the quality of item and increased performance gain from such a simple means with a need for drastic modifications or fiddling with the ECU. The AEM does exactly what it claims with no down side besides the cost as the time of my install the whole kit along with strut brace cost me £430 but since then prices have increased. The kit could be at £200 for the N14 engine and strut brace at £200 but prices are £340 which is a big jump of 70% in the space of 1 year which makes it hard to justify given you can get your ECU tune for that price. However in my opinion a guy with a laptop doesn’t know better than a full team of engineers who have tested the car and its capabilities in every conceivable type of driving, weather conditions and climates to give you the customer the best driveable car that starts every time.
Review Score: 9/10
The AEM Cold Air Intake delivers on claims of increased performance in OEM like quality & fitment in a DIY Kit form
Comment, Like, Subscribe, follow or donate
Facebook Page
Youtube
Instagram
Twitter
JCW ADVENTURES Store
Like what you read and want to support the site? Please donate below:


 

The post AEM Cold Air Intake Review appeared first on JCW Adventures.