When I test drove a JCW on release I thought torque steer ruined the handling especially compared to my 2003 Cooper S. So when I heard that Mini were going to cure the torque steer on 2010 cars with software I was sceptical as it seemed too fundemental to be addressed by a bit of tweaking. Now having my new R56 Cooper S for a week I suddenly realised I have not noticed any torque steer and neither am I aware of the car/software fighting it. The handling of the R56 is now so close to the R53 someone simple like me would need to do back to back testing to tell the differences. The improvement in the ride is obvious.

I agree, torque steer is much better with the latest cars, I test drove an S a few years back and was amazed at how much torque steer it had, it really turned me off MINI, but I test drove the 2010 and 2011 models, and found it almost completely absent.

Now if only a limited slip diff was standard, handling would be perfect.

Now if only a limited slip diff was standard, handling would be perfect.

Try Kevin Bird for a Quaife ATB, brilliant things and need no maintenance.