Modified Mini F56 JCW - What the Mini GP3 should have been

[@KCnLex]

This is my favorite car you have featured on your channel. I love what folks do with their Minis. Wish there were more places like Lohen in the US. Surprised they didn't change out the differential.

[@DamoDrives]

I have driven some pretty epic minis on the channel but this has to be the best all round mini and in fact for back road driving I would be challenged to find a better car (there might be some out there just not driven them yet lol)

[@chain2001]

I was surprised too about the Differential.. Clutch also... Just started moding my F56, the Diff and Cutch along with KW Road Coilover are the first thing. Tuning box was added when I got the car from new 6yrs ago. Love this Car

[@ocrhiggins2395]

Best 30mins spent in that mini being a passenger and I haven’t had that much fun since brands hatch! It’s a BEAST!!! 🚙💨💥💥💥

[@DamoDrives]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your help as well. 👏

[@jadesaynor]

I went from a gorgeous Merc to a Mini F56 JCW and I have so much fun in it I couldn't see myself getting any other car now. So happy with it. Definitely a Hot Hatch! If you dont buy one after this theres something wrong LOL

[@DamoDrives]

It’s a fantastic car and when it comes to getting a new car at the top of my list

[@tomjenkins4698]

The colour scheme gives me old racing lotus vibes, love it

[@DamoDrives]

Funny I did not think of that but it certainly does. A really fun and well setup car

[@garysimpson8860]

This is my fifth jcw and I think there very underrated as a hot hatch 👍

[@DamoDrives]

They are very good , I think they are not as popular due to the price. A similar Fiesta is 5-6k less

[@darrencottrell5541]

Exceptionally late to the party. Great review of a great car Damian. Hope you are keeping safe and well, lots of content to work through. Merry Christmas.

[@DamoDrives]

Thanks Darren , yep there is a lot and hopefully by the time you get through it will have some new videos lol. It was 1 of the best mini’s I have driven to date . Have a great Christmas as well

[@markwhite190]

Omg you are so Lucky to drive eds car got a tyre warning light on lol...was that the pothole you hit love to have the money to do more on my r53 I brought off b Road hunting

[@DamoDrives]

Was a fantastic car and certainly 1 of the best mini’s I have ever driven on the channel (and there are a lot of them) , the tyre light was on from the start 😳. Pot hole what pot hole lol, it was not actual that big just the suspension is quite firm. Was great to share the experience of such a great car and hopefully get a few more people down to b-road

[@stephenagnew670]

Good video great car lohen tune kW coilovers exhaust yeah give me the mini shortshifter on a mini are unbeatable

[@DamoDrives]

Pretty much the perfect combination 😊

[@keithevans5667]

Wicked video. Looks fab too. 👌

[@DamoDrives]

Really pleased you enjoyed it, it’s a brilliant car , so much fun, quick, sounds amazing and I also love the look. It’s not OTT but enough to Stand out

[@DanDiMaggio]

I can't believe they've done all that work to this car and didn't shut off the ASD (active sound design). I've had a F series with the JCW Pro exhuast and you have to turn that fake sound off so you can hear the proper jcw pro in all its glory!

[@stephaneswiatlowski7698]

Hello, I recently bought a Mini JCW Cab with the JCW Pro exhaust. How could I shut off this stupid ASD? Thanks 🤗

[@darrenwarrick8865]

Does it go over 3k revs....??

[@DamoDrives]

It most defiantly does but on the public roads you can not actually get it that high, 1st and 2nd and possibly 3rd although you do not need to as the Lohen map gives a really nice torque curve and it’s great to drive with out having to push it

[@euklidacragas]

Are these the monoballs on the KW clunking like mad?

[@DamoDrives]

I don’t remember them making clunking. I did have this on my R53 and the top mounts needed replacing (which I have done) and it’s great. In mine also replace drop links and track rod assemblies

[@euklidacragas]

@@DamoDrives I later realised it was possibly the noise coming from outside because when you closed the window, I believe it went away. I just bought a 2016 JCW off copart, cat n, repaired it yesterday and now I'm thinking on quaiffe lsd and possibly to do the clutch as well at Lohen. I'm a suspension enthusiast and run 5 different sets on my F80 M3. Intrax 1k2, Tractive Touring, BC BR racing, KW Clubsport V2 and Stock. This Mini has the basic non-adaptive suspension which I find okayish but now wondering whether I should go for KW Street Comfort or for a more aggressive setup, maybe clubsports. Thanks for the great video review. It made me buy it and very happy with this purchase.

[@DamoDrives]

@euklidacragas I would go to 1320 Mini as they were amazing with my car and so many people go there. Have a look at some of my latest videos as well when I went there

[@euklidacragas]

@@DamoDrives Perfect thanks for the tip, and much closer as well. I'm in Cambs so St Neots sounds great.

[@euklidacragas]

@@DamoDrives Called 1320 3 times sinxe that comment, guy said only the boss can quote and asked me to email, sent them 2 emails, still no reply mate. I'm still looking for a garage to do the slip diff, clutch and downpipe. Lohen is now booking for July. Evolve is a bit expensive and apparently Quaiffe does not sell them the lsd.

[@brianluong6319]

Closing the door by the window?

[@m0skit0]

Yeah that made me shudder lol

[@briandee7336]

You said it was 500 NM of torque, that is about 369 ft.lbs. My understanding is that the transmission itself limits torque to ~400NM (300ft/lbs), How did you overcome this limitation? Did you cover this and I just missed it?

[@DamoDrives]

I don’t know about that level technical detail I’m afraid other than what I was told by the owner and the tuning company.

[@briandee7336]

@@DamoDrives The only thing I can think of is that when they put the short shifter in, they must have upgraded the internals of the transmission.

[@fabini14]

@@briandee7336trans will handle 700nm on stock internals… just need new clutch

[@cooperSpartan117]

Old comment.... But it's only the automatic cars that have the 400nm torque limit. The only limit on the manual equipped minis is the clutch

[@madpadi]

TangoS needs that set up Damian!

[@DamoDrives]

It’s a very very nice setup. I would have suspension followed by the Lohen tune and then noise

[@madpadi]

@@DamoDrives Totally TangoS is running 234 bhp and she's pretty quick but that's just awesome I know lohen do a great job so best get saving

[@doriangray2347]

Does this have a LSD installed?

[@DamoDrives]

Sorry I cannot remember but I think it did. Was dry on the day but had no problem getting any of the power down and felt great on the bends

[@Allofthenameshavegone]

How much for all the modifications listed in the description?

[@DamoDrives]

I don’t know I’m afraid as it was not my car and the owner did not say the total spend

[@teggsy2165]

I need that short shifter on my 2015 Cooper S i have the sport suspension on my car already i had to research what it actually was as an option,what i found out is it is 30% stiffer than stock and stiffer than standard JCW's but the car is compliant over pot holes more so than a 2015 Fiesta ST,not sure what the variable suspension option is like,apart from this i have just a Pipercross liftime sponge air filter,a used Tune Box off fleebay and Resonator delete which is loud enough and i must say the gear change is not my favourate thing about my car i wanted a Manual one but the Auto also gets that loverly blurp on up shifts too which adds to the music the car makes,if there's a way to have both sounds on my manual i would love to know?

[@DamoDrives]

The short shifter is amazing and really added for he car

[@teggsy2165]

@@DamoDrives costs an arm and a leg though!

[@DamoDrives]

$799 on there website

[@teggsy2165]

@@DamoDrives Hm maybe just one leg then:)

[@Ashleycb97]

Needs an LSD to finish it off :)

[@DamoDrives]

I somehow did not mention that lol but it does have 1 😳

[@Ashleycb97]

@@DamoDrives ah awesome the complete package !!! Can't wait to get mine , planning on going hybrid turbo and forged engine route . Always loved the driving experience of a mini :)

[@DamoDrives]

The suspension setup on this car really impressed me as well and not just the performance. What car and spec are you getting

[@Ashleycb97]

@@DamoDrives suspension is so important and is overlooked so many times, the minis need a good suspension setup paired with an LSD and rear anti roll bar to combat its biggest weakness which for me is it's understeer. I'm going for a JCW 2017 bud with hopefully the pro exhaust , if not will grab myself a Remus exhaust with 200 cell cat. I'm not fussed massively by options since I'm going to be changing everything myself 😂 big money pit .

[@AlbaderBohamad]

1:56 Come on, you really going to close a car door by pushing the window? Especially on a frameless door! 3:30 And you're closing a hood by slamming it down instead of just letting is close under it's own sufficient weight. Even worse, you're pushing down in the middle of the hood. While the latches are on either side of the hood, not in the middle.

[@DamoDrives]

Thanks for the observations

[@TG-pd3ft]

Chavtastic! Noise Noise Noise!!

[@DamoDrives]

Happy to be chavyastic, great car and put a big smile on my face

[@wattybrownes]

Lohen are good for hardware, software not so much. Dervtech know actually how to tune the car. That eventuri intake does nothing. No better looking than a Arma intake. The amount of money spent on this car it should have been spent on rods, valves and pistons that can cope with a larger intercooler. This car will be no quicker than a 300 quid upgrade from stock

[@DamoDrives]

I have driven a few tunned mini's over the past few years and this was 1 of the best, i disagree with a £300 tune being just as quick, the handling on this car was outstanding

[@wattybrownes]

@@DamoDrives Stage one tune on a f56 cooper s With the jcw brake upgrade will keep up with any mini with an intercooler and airbox. Waste of money for the cooling until you start going north of 300 bhp

[@oldben1800]

@@wattybrownes which tune is best to continue to have decent to good mpg?? looking to possibly do this