[Spookyfish]

I'm taking a Cooper CVT for a testdrive on nov 4th. It's a Pepper model with 8-spoke 15" wheels and sport seats. Oh yeah... and steering wheel paddles.

I'm very curious about the slow off-line performance that some have mentioned. I wonder how it compares to my 2002 Clio 1.4-16v (98BHP, 0-62mph in 10.4 and 115mph top), also in terms of cornering (my Clio is on 185/55R15, this Cooper is on 175/65R15).

[Rainbow-Walker]

The 'stated' performance figures for the CVT are pretty close to that, from memory 10.5 to 60 ? Dont worry too much about trying the 'virtual' gears intially, just bung it in SD (Sport Drive), and dont bother using the kick down... (more noise, not much more speed). Personally I find the virtual gears a bit difficult to use smoothly.

The software has slowly been improved from BMW, and whilst 0-5mph can be a little stuttery, its not really noticeable.

As for the wheels, if you dont like em, change em for 16" wheels, its easy enough. I love the Pepper white colour, and that would be my choice now if I was buying another one.

I really love my wifes CVT, and cant think of anything else I would want for the money. The only other cars that interested us when looking were the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z4, and they work out at close to twice the price.

Have fun ! And dont forget to report back...

Cheers.

R.

[Spookyfish]

OK! We had our scheduled test drive today. Here's how it went:

I went first, through the city. Stop and go traffic is smooth. Much smoother than I manage in my current car (it's a manual). There is some yo-yo at 15km/h as others have noticed, but nothing too bad. The truth is that an automatic with a torque converter wouldn't have this effect.

Then my girlfriend took the drivers seat. She is 5'1" and hated the sport seats at first. The lumbar support was somewhere 'up her shoulders'. She hated the whole car now. Later on, when we switched places again, we gave it 'one last try'. We positioned the backrest in a much more upright position and the problem was eliminated. Bottom line: the lumbar support is a bit pronounced and requires a carefully selected seating position.

Acceleration is plenty in D. Somewhat noisy in SD when you floor it just before kickdown. Kickdown is a little weird. Kickdown does not drop a number of gears at once but smoothly revs towards 6000rpm and then demonstrates it's shifting behaviour.

Onramp acceleration is also plenty and highway speeds of 170km/h are easily achieved. Noise is minimal. The car has about 250km on the odometer so I didn't push it any further. I think the revs at 120km/h are about 3200rpm, which is excellent. When you accelerate from 120km/h the revs go up alot in D, more so than when driving 50km/h. This makes sense but gives a slightly uncomfortable drive (like I stole it). This can be avoided by driving the car in 6th gear, but I don't get an automatic for that. You can't apply full throttle and get full torque in D or SD.

Then the steptronic function. A bit weird and somewhat slow in response. May take some getting used to and I will probably only use it for downhill braking. I did try a 1-D-SD launch and either nobody was trying or they really couldn't keep up. Not sure if I need the EUR 70 steering wheel paddles.

The 175/65R15 P3000 tires held up pretty well (the temperature is about 9C) but screamed under hard cornering. It did an offramp at 85km/h (on the digital speedo) where my current car understeers at a little less on 185/55R15 P6000 shoes.

So much for now. I really like the car for it's looks, driving position, gearbox and such. But I do need to get a good deal on this car. I will talk to my sales manager later this week (he was out today).

[Spookyfish]

Hmm... no comments?

[shputz]

Quote: Originally Posted by spookyfish

OK! We had our scheduled test drive today. Here's how it went:

<snip>
Then my girlfriend took the drivers seat. She is 5'1" and hated the sport seats at first. The lumbar support was somewhere 'up her shoulders'. She hated the whole car now. Later on, when we switched places again, we gave it 'one last try'. We positioned the backrest in a much more upright position and the problem was eliminated. Bottom line: the lumbar support is a bit pronounced and requires a carefully selected seating position.

[Jim comment - My wife is 4'8" and she drives it just fine with the sport seats. They adjust pretty easily and it only takes her a few seconds to set it to her liking. She really likes the MINI, though she isn't anywhere near as obsessive as I am!! ]

Acceleration is plenty in D. Somewhat noisy in SD when you floor it just before kickdown. Kickdown is a little weird. Kickdown does not drop a number of gears at once but smoothly revs towards 6000rpm and then demonstrates it's shifting behaviour.

[Jim comment - My pattern is to accelerate in SD, then switch to D. I have rarely gotten above 5000 RPM, so far 4500 RPM has done quite well for us!]

Onramp acceleration is also plenty and highway speeds of 170km/h are easily achieved. Noise is minimal. The car has about 250km on the odometer so I didn't push it any further. I think the revs at 120km/h are about 3200rpm, which is excellent. When you accelerate from 120km/h the revs go up alot in D, more so than when driving 50km/h. This makes sense but gives a slightly uncomfortable drive (like I stole it). This can be avoided by driving the car in 6th gear, but I don't get an automatic for that. You can't apply full throttle and get full torque in D or SD.

Then the steptronic function. A bit weird and somewhat slow in response. May take some getting used to and I will probably only use it for downhill braking. I did try a 1-D-SD launch and either nobody was trying or they really couldn't keep up. Not sure if I need the EUR 70 steering wheel paddles.

[Jim comment - In the US we're still using MPH (though I think we've been officially metric since the 70's so I can't relate to the speeds. I find after 6 weeks and 1300 miles I'm still learning a lot about how it drives, which is a lot of fun for me! For highway high speed passing, I flip into SD, then back to D once I'm past. I'd love to try the steering wheel paddles! ]

The 175/65R15 P3000 tires held up pretty well (the temperature is about 9C) but screamed under hard cornering. It did an offramp at 85km/h (on the digital speedo) where my current car understeers at a little less on 185/55R15 P6000 shoes.

[Jim comment - I have the 195/55R16 run flats and they've never screamed for me. I've experimented with taking a 30 MPH off ramp at 70 (115km/h) and I was glued to the road. Euphoria in a 15 second timeframe!! There weren't any other cars or police around!! ]

So much for now. I really like the car for it's looks, driving position, gearbox and such. But I do need to get a good deal on this car. I will talk to my sales manager later this week (he was out today).

Make the decision that is right for you. Deals vary - I feel good about getting mine at MSRP. I couldn't be happier with it, and miss it if I haven't driven it for 2 days!

Jim

[Rainbow-Walker]

Spookyfish, nice review.... in the UK most dealers won't haggle in typical BMW fashion (wait for someone to prove me wrong), but look at it this way, it keeps the residuals good.

I agree the tyres are a limiting factor, in that I can activate the DSC round roundabouts at will.

I didnt like the pictures of the paddles, and you dont get the perforated steering wheel with them (or you didnt when I ordered).

This car isnt about speed, but as a package for an automatic car its the best thing out there for the 'enthusiast' at the price.

Let us know what you decide to do.

regards.

[Spookyfish]

After serious negotiations between the dealer, the lease company and myself, the deal is almost through. I will get a confirmation on monday. This is what I will be driving by the end of next feb:

Mini Cooper
- CVT with Steering wheel paddles
- Pepper pack (MFSW, etc)
- Black and Panther Black interior
- White roof and mirrors
- Alloys: 8-spoke, white
- White bonnet stripes
- ASC+T
- Heated mirrors
- Sport seats
- Visibility package (heated windscreen, autodip mirror and rain sensor)
- Xenon
- Climate control
- Harman/Kardon upgrade

I am still debating a black or red interior. I will visit the dealer tomorrow to have a look.

I didn't know that you don't get the perforated steering wheel with the paddles. I will check this out too. I do know that the wheel with paddles is leather and has extra padding where your thumbs are. Anyone with pictures?

The car will look something like this (this is not a photo but a computer generated model):

[Rainbow-Walker]

Great spec.... not dissimilar to mine, except why no DSC ? I would rather have DSC than the Xenons (ok they look cool, but they dont seem to be that much better). If you intend to drive hard, I would recommend the DSC.

[Spookyfish]

Thanks! I did choose ASC+T over DSC for a numer of reasons:
- It would take another EUR 8,- per month in the lease
- ASC+T will reduce understeer and our car understeers mostly
- I don't want to rely on DSC when driving hard or take extra risks
- I drive on winter tyres which is more pro active
- This car has a generous safety margin (unlike a SUV)

[Rainbow-Walker]

"ASC+T will reduce understeer and our car understeers mostly" Is this true ? I thought ASC/T would only kick in under acceleration, therefore if you are understeering and off the power, you wont get any benefit.

Anyways... hope the deal works out.

[Spookyfish]

I based this on the diagram in de MINI brochure and this:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...561#post576561

[rainbowdreamer]

I have the steptronic paddles on my CVT ONE also with a MFSW. You can't get the perforated leather s/wheel with this combination, I actually ordered the perforated wheel with paddles but this was downgraded to leather MFSW because of the inclusion of gearshift paddles. See the steering wheel in my gallery.

I would actually think long and hard regarding the steptronic paddles. For sure they look so cool when you show a passenger how they work, but in reality I have only used mine a few times. I have always thought the paddles should have some markings on them, because at times you just forget which way to pull/press them. I also find it hard to co-ordinate the proper gear change relating to traffic situation - using the CVT this way is so different from a manual and you really have to think what you're doing.

If I were ordering another MINI auto - I don't think I would get the paddles again.

[Spookyfish]

Hmm... I could swear that the CVT demo I drove (MY2004) had the padded wheel (where your thumbs are) and it was perforated too. Maybe I should go and have a look at my dealers demo again.

[valnmike]

FWIW, If I had it to do over again, I would not get the 16 inch wheels (with the all season run flats) that come with the sport package in the USA. I'd go for the 15 inch wheels and the upgraded suspension. After more than 9,000 miles in our MC - CVT, I am actually beginning to think the suspension is a little too soft. I would (now) prefer the tighter suspension and larger side-wall tyres to absorb the every-day bumps in the road. Then if I wanted even tighter turn-in I could go to 16 or larger wheels and I'd have the better suspension to do it with on those occasions when I wanted maximum handling. (assuming I had the money for an extra set of wheels and tyres ) But I would still get another CVT.