[nonsequitur]

Road&Track has a six page article on the Continuously Variable Transmission in the January 2004 issue. It starts on Page 122 through 129.

They simply missed this opportunity to describe the cheerful dynamics of driving a CVT-equipped MINI, although they do acknowldege on Page 122 that MINI is one brand offering the choice.

[NEMINI]

do not know if its the same as the one theyhave online on their site or not but here's the link either way http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....age_num ber=1

[Vanwall]

Yup, the same article online and in print. Too bad they didn't try the MINI. They spoke of "braking" effects on Prius, of all things - they missed the feel of a real downshift you get when you drive the MINI CVT. Was just on the run to Palm Springs last Sunday, and the twisties were great shifting manually or in SD. Kept at the right rev range, I was even able to steer with the throttle somewhat like my old Mini. Cool! The best part was a couple of 'S' drivers asking me not to lead - I was driving too fast last time! I wasn't even to the limit on that run!! HeHe.

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

[valnmike]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vanwall

snip... Was just on the run to Palm Springs last Sunday, and the twisties were great shifting manually or in SD. Kept at the right rev range, I was even able to steer with the throttle somewhat like my old Mini. Cool! The best part was a couple of 'S' drivers asking me not to lead - I was driving too fast last time! I wasn't even to the limit on that run!! HeHe.

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

Too funny! Do you feel fearless in a CVT MINI? I do sometimes. I wonder if the built-in protection offered by the CVT lets us focus more on the twisties and less on gears and rpm limits. I can just imagine an MCS driver and how busy they'd be with the clutch, the shifter, the steering, brakes, oh yes - and watching the road. Not that there aren't plenty of them that can do a superb job with it, but it's probably outside the comfort zone of many drivers.

[Vanwall]

Quote: Originally Posted by valnmike

Too funny! Do you feel fearless in a CVT MINI? I do sometimes. I wonder if the built-in protection offered by the CVT lets us focus more on the twisties and less on gears and rpm limits. I can just imagine an MCS driver and how busy they'd be with the clutch, the shifter, the steering, brakes, oh yes - and watching the road. Not that there aren't plenty of them that can do a superb job with it, but it's probably outside the comfort zone of many drivers.

I do admit to a feeling of ...I guess you could call it fearless confidence... that I can use the ability of the CVT to end up in the right ratio for whatever speed I'm at, that makes shifting almost unconscious. When I was first experimenting with the "1-D-SD" flick last year, trying to get it refined a bit, I realized I was on to something better than just a quicker feeling takeoff - I was so impressed with the ability of the CVT to adapt!! I hit upon the flick thing hoping the programming would be fast enough to add a little to the experience, but the CVT went beyond my expectations, frankly. I REALLY like the on-the-fly touch shift, without a clutch pedal. Years of conventional shifting makes me appreciate how well I can concentrate on steering and braking, without dancing all the time. ;-) The only thing I miss is the throttle blip when downshifting - altho with the CVT it is really superfluous. I still remember double-clutching up and down on a few old crates! I bet when synchros came out, people had the same feeling of .....liberation! HeHe!

BCNU,

Rob in Dago

[nonsequitur]

To sort of close this thread out, Dennis Simanaitis, Engineering Editor at Road&Track, wrote back on Monday saying "I agree, a CVT Mini would seem the ultimate urban funbox. So far, though, we haven't driven one here at the magazine. A call to BMW/Mini is highly in order to see whether they have such a car in their test fleet. Oddly they haven't proactively offered one."

The article used cars they had driven, which does explain why thiis car didn't get more attention. I said they missed a real opportunity to view this technology in a completely different realm than the others in there, except maybe the Audi.