Hi everyone,
I've just joined NAM and like it a lot. I just took delivery of an 04 MC CVT on Oct 30 from MINI of Sterling in VA. They appear to be a good dealer and I enjoyed my buying experience. When my wife and I picked up the MINI, it had a ribbon on it with flowers on the dash. That really gave us a good feeling about our future motoring. The car is totally awesome and I love the CVT. I wanted the MCS but have bad knees, so needed an automatic. I can shift a little but not regularly. The CVT is more enjoyable to use than other automatics as they make a lot of drama and noise when shifting, especially in small engined cars, but the CVT is really smoooooth. I have only 800 miles so far. I haven't driven over 3000 RPM yet but have been to 70 mph a few times.

The car appears to be quick enough, except when A/C is used. There's a slight hesitation off the line, but that could just be the engine/transmission needing to spool up some HP before taking off. If this is the stumble, it's not too bad - still very enjoyable to drive. Down the road I will look for performance upgrades to improve throttle response. It seems to have the YoYo ocassionally, but it's not much of a problem. The steering and handling are superb making this the best car I've ever driven. I had a 91 Honda CRX automatic 10 years ago tht handled very good, but not as good as the MINI, and it was deficient in power, with no luxury amenities. So, it was no where as good as the MINI, but it did put a smile on my face, but with the MINI my smile is bigger, though.

I got the MINI with the following goodies (the car is very well loaded right out of the box at a great price, but options help to personalize it): All 3 pkgs, except for sun roof and 16" runflats (I got 15" 8-spokes with all seasons - I'll upgrade later), SS+, Xenon, clear tail and side lights, H/K, boot box, MINI travel gear. The dealer installed a MINI Madness CAI and exhaust -- they really add a great sound and a few ponies, but are not too loud. The dealer will install XM satellite radio -- I just need to get over there to do it. The dealer likes XM over the MINI available Sirius system. The dealer just got the install kit for XM, and will install a tiny antenae in place of the one in the back, which will work for both the regular radio and satellite radio. I also use an outdoor car cover from Moss Motors, which works great and keeps the windows clear from fog in the mornings, the car cool on hot days, and clean too.

 

Congrats on the new car. Did you say what color it was? I have not driven the CVT. How does it feel. Does it rev up and down like a regular automatic? We drove the base MINI on one of our test drives, it certainly had plenty of power. Nothing wrong with 40 mpg either. We did get the MCS, I really wanted the extra power. My wife still bugs me about not getting the Silk Green when we had the chance. Once again, congratulations. Any pix yet?

 

I've got the same combo. IB/W with bonnet stripes and CVT. Absolutely a BLAST to drive. The CVT does take some getting used to.

 

jazmini,
Aloha and welcome to NAM,
Sounds like you are all set. AC drains power from any car and the MC doesn't have too much extra power to spare. In the winter you should do better (no AC needed). CVT is a great transmission but you need to learn how to drive it in manual mode to get the full benefit. See-
http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...hlight=bridger

When you get a chance, ask your dealer or local MINI or BMW car club about performance driving school. You can learn alot in a short time and about how to handle your MINI in case of emergency.
This one is more elaborate but many clubs do a smaller less costly version more than once a year-
http://www.canadiandriver.com/roadtest/bmwdt.htm

Have fun motoring and always use premium gasoline

 

Thanks all for the welcome,

You are all right as it is a real blast to drive.

Hey Mike: The color is Indigo Blue with white top, and silver wheels. I wish I had gotten white wheels now and may go to white aftermarket wheels when I upgrade later, after the tires wear out. As far as driving the CVT, I have been taking it real easy, so have not done any spirited driving yet. I love the feel of the CVT, as it feels stronger than the regular automatics I have had in the past. MINI claims just a slight performance deficit in the 0-60 mph times compared to the MC stick shift model. What I like best is not hearing the loud shifting common to normal automatics (from the engine revving, i.e., with downshifts primarily, but with upshifts too) and lurching with shifts. I had a 98 Honda Civic 3 years ago that sounded like it would blow up all the time -- very disturbing driving it. Also, the CVT has the capability of manual shifts, but I have not done that yet, but it should be fun and I am looking forward to it. The other thing I really like is the outstanding braking due to the CVT, when I take my foot off the gas. It slows down fairly quickly and is great when you are stuck in heavy traffic and going 5-15 mph as you rarely have to hit the brakes -- that is a lot of fun. So, even stuck in traffic it is a blast to drive. The mpg is excellent, too. I liked the silk green and may have gotten it, but it was discontinued. We took a few pics at the dealer when we got it, but my wife has the camera and she's in Phoenix for another week. I'll try to post them when she gets back, but I think it is hard to do. I haven't driven the MCS, but am sure it is awesome with the supercharger. I envy you and minihune (i.e., MCS owners).

Hey minihune: I've been reading NAM for a few months now, and finally joined today. I've read a lot of your posts and agree with the others on NAM in appreciating your help and thorough knowledge. You're right as the MC hasn't any extra power. Hopefully, there will be some performance mods that will be available for the MC to increase power. You and others have said that there's not a lot more you can squeeze out of the MC without spending a lot. A turbo may/should be out sometime that will provide a good boost, but I am worried about turbo lag, so may instead (down the road) upgrade the internals, i.e., head, valves, cam, pistons. We'll see what extent I will go, but I want at least 150 hp, but am in no hurry. I want driveability with low speed torque so I need to see what works best for that (perhaps upgrading internals is not the best for that -- I don't know). With the CAI and exhaust, I probably have about 130 hp now, as it probably had 125 out of the box (as MINI is conservative) and these 2 don't add much by themselves, since the design is already very good. The other thing I want to do is to lower weight by maybe 200 lbs. M7 has mentioned some things to do that. We'll see.

Thanks minihune for the threads on the CVT and driving school. The CVT thread really does a good job of explaining the how-to's of driving the CVT. I can't wait to start shifting manually. I've heard you and others state the importance of first learning how to drive the car and that is the most important variable. That makes a lot of sense, as you can't truly exploit the car's ability at it's limits if you don't know how to drive the car at it's limits. So, I will check into the school thing. However, it may be better to attend a front wheel drive school instead of a rear wheel drive school, but there probably aren't any of those around. I don't know a lot about driving and I'm no expert on cars either. I do remember back when I was a teenager and I borrowed my parent's 68 Rambler (light car with 232 cubic inch 6 cylinder -- it ran good for what it was!) (I'm showing my age now) and my friend with me told me to practice getting donuts at a place set up for that (a dirt and gravel place). He showed me how to just floorboard the car and do it. That taught me a little about how to handle a car. Then when I had the nes Honda CRX, it was raining and I went too fast around a curve, and the back end came around and I was sliding sideways down the middle of the 2-way road with cars coming (but a little ways off), so I just let the car slide then turned the wheel the other direction and it slid sideways on the the other side of the car, then I turned the wheel the other direction again and it slid ........ I regained control and went straight just before the cars arrived coming towards me in the other lane. I was plenty scared, but it gave me a thrill. I was lucky and always slow down in the rain now. Anyways, you're right minihune about driving school. I also want to go to the track on some track days sometime. I have joined the local MINI club (DC Metro MINIs), and will check on local race tracks giving track days.

Minihune, you're lucky to be in Hawaii with the great weather and scenery, and being able to grow about any kind of plants there. I was born in Los Angeles but moved early out of state, but recently used to live in San Diego until 3 years ago when I transferred to Wash DC area. So, I can appreciate that environment, as So. Cal is similar, but not as good.

Thanks everybody!

 

Hey UKNUT,

I bet your car looks good with all the white on the car, i.e., with the white top, mirrors and bonnet stripes. Did you get the white wheels too?

 

Yup. I got the round hole rims. Kind of a pain to keep clean but worth it. We are HUGE University of Kentucky fans so the color scheme fits us perfectly. We haven't seen any other IB MINIs around here. Mostly yellow and red. Enjoy your car

 

Jazmini,

Good to hear more about you and your MC.

>> I envy you... (i.e., MCS owners).

Although there is more power in a MCS whether modded or not the essence of the car is the same and there are ways to make an MC do what you want. Good example is dandp's MC. Very slick. The key is to find a way to balance enough power with the fine handling built into every MINI- tweak the suspension as needed and add some lightweight wheels to trim rotational weight.

>>...Hopefully, there will be some performance mods that will be available for the MC to increase power. You and others have said that there's not a lot more you can squeeze out of the MC without spending a lot. A turbo may/should be out sometime that will provide a good boost, but I am worried about turbo lag, so may instead (down the road) upgrade the internals, i.e., head, valves, cam, pistons. We'll see what extent I will go, but I want at least 150 hp, but am in no hurry.

While 150+ HP would be no problem for a turbo upgrade for the MC you should stay tuned for reports from owners that have actually tried it out. Lag would be reasonable from what I have read. Then there is the cost of the upgrade $2000+ and installation.

The other route is to wait for the DINAN staged kits for the MC that will be coming out about March of 2004 or later. I don't think they will be taking you up to 150 HP but in my view about 135 to 140 HP might be plenty on the powerside- just got to look at other things like suspension and wheels, brakes and LSD to round out performance.
Polished cylinder heads/ports, shrick cam shaft/rebored throttlebody/piston upgrades are too costly for the performance gains for the MC at this time. Save up.

>>I want driveability with low speed torque so I need to see what works best for that (perhaps upgrading internals is not the best for that -- I don't know).

The cost of big power gains is pretty high and there is not as much promise as it may seem. At some point there should be a decent ECU upgrade for the MC and that might be worth the wait. Driveablility is linked to smoothness of the engine/throttle response/ and transmission so ECU and ignition upgrades would be worth a look. It's hard to increase low speed torque much (that's where the 15% reduction pulley in the MCS really shines) in the MC. Less wheel weight would be the easiest route to better performance at lower speeds.

>>With the CAI and exhaust, I probably have about 130 hp now, as it probably had 125 out of the box (as MINI is conservative) ...
From Dyno info done on various stock MC I can say that the 115 HP estimate by MINI is on the high rather than low side. If you want to be conservative the CAI and cat-back exhaust adds about 10 HP or so.

>>The other thing I want to do is to lower weight by maybe 200 lbs.
It's always good to loose excess weight so be careful what you do for interior mods (like audio upgrades). Loosing that much weight is not going to be easy without removing something large like the complete rear seat but that would look rather bare unless you put down a carpeted plyboard for the rear area.
>>
>>Thanks minihune for the threads on the CVT and driving school.
Actually there are many driving school approaches. Sometimes you can take your own MC and drive with an instructor which I like the best because you get to see what your car can do. Then you have to practice to build up your skill level at staying under control under various road circumstances. On the track, every lap the conditions change in your tires/MINI and on the road itself so you must adjust along the way. Sometimes you will want to push the performance envelope to see how far you can go just to know where not to be.

For the CVT you just have to learn how to shift well and practice. Perfect practice makes perfect driving. Don't use your brakes too much, adjust your throttle to speed up and slow down and find the right times to shift so you are in the right gear just when you want to be. Steer with your eyes ahead where you want to be and pick a good clean line through curves that will set you up for the next turn or straightaway. Remember not to waste any power due to loss of traction if you can. A great driver in an MC with CVT can do really well.

>>Minihune, you're lucky to be in Hawaii with the great weather and scenery, and being able to grow about any kind of plants there.
Hawaii is good but not that good. Any plants that are juicy will be eaten alive by the numerous bugs. If it grows well with lots of rain and sunshine it will outgrow the gardener's efforts at trimming and become a maintenance problem in no time flat. And being in a tropical climate is mostly good for tropical plants and not perfect for annual or seasonal plants. Mostly 70 to 85 degrees year round here.

Well I'm glad you are doing so well and let us know what it is like to drive a 150HP MC when you get to that point.

_________________
[IMG]http://images.animfactory.com/animations/alphabets/leaves/s_md_blk.gif[ MG]Aloha

 

Thanks minihune. You've got a lot of good things for me to think about. Good tips! I'm in no hurry to upgrade for now. I may do the ECU first. Probably the GIAC ECU, but as you said, good ones may not come out for the MC for quite a few months yet. When the tires wear out, then I will upgrade them with the wheels too, i.e., a year or so. I've heard you and others talk about the importance of light wheel and tire packages, so I'll check into that. I doubt if I will do any suspension mods yet with the tire/wheel package, but when I do them, I may start thinking about weight reduction as M7 has mentioned some suspension parts that are light weight. I'll need to save up for that, though. I don't want the car to ride any harder than it does now (with SS+). The ignition upgrades sound helpful too, and I may do something there without waiting long. These are the things I am thinking about for the near term. For down the road, I am thinking hard about weight reduction, but I don't want to be too radical, as I won't remove seats, A/C, stereo, carpet, etc. I like my luxuries! M7 has listed many things that can be lightened. What sounds good to me is to lighten suspension parts, carbon fiber hood, hatchback, doors (but I wonder how they will work and look). acrylic windows (I hope there is no glare for people behind you), front and rear bumpers. These sound interesting to replace, but may cost a lot, but if available and work good, I will get the money. Again, this is a few years down the road, as I am in no hurry, as I plan on keeping the MINI as my primary sports car (forever, hopefully), but for now it is my only car, so it serves dual purpose as daily commuter and sports, too. I retire in about 10 years, and by then I want it to be my primary sports car, and I can buy another car for daily driving, etc. I'm in no hurry to break into the engine, and that may be best after the engine has a "few" miles on it, if I go that route. I've heard engine reliability with a turbo is reduced, and if so, I may not want that -- at least I wouldn't want to do that as a mod in the near term. Now, we're talking farther out in time. Thinking about more shorter term: ECU, tires/wheels. Anything else is beyond a year out, i.e., light weight stuff.

Thanks for tips minihune.