[afromanbob]

Does anyone have an '05 CVT? I'm curious to know if any of the launch problems will still occur and if it's any more improved from the '04 .38v. I hope so, as I'm still undecided between the CVT or regular manual.

[kgouin]

I just received my MINI with cvt today and drove it all day! I am not sure wht the launch problem is but when you first give it gas it kind of jerks but it really isn't jerking. I am not sure how to explain it but then it goes away after a second. I really like the cvt. It goes much better then I thought it would.

[reydo]

When i test drove an 04, i noticed the jerking too. is this still happening in the 05? if so, i may opt for a manual transmission - though i don't know how to drive one yet!

[cooper_s_dreamer]

Having spent a lot of time driving the '04 CVT Cooper, I've not noticed much difference between the '04 and '05 'box.

If you thought the '04 was jerky, then you'll probably think the '05 is too!

Bear in mind though, it gets less noticeable as the miles build up...

Regards

CSD

[jazmini]

I've got an 04 CVT, and I don't have version 38 yet, but the jerkiness is really only a problem (for me anyway) -- on takeoff when you first start it and go in reverse and then when you put it in a forward gear (i.e., drive) and go forward. After that it seems ok or not really a problem.

[BlueCS]

As far as I know, they haven't changed the CVT transmission. Unfortunately jerkiness may very well be in the nature of the mechanics of the transmission.

Because the CVT gears itself according to the input you give it (meaning when you press the gas pedal), starting up from a stop is the hardest on smoothness. In order to avoid jerkiness, you have to be fairly sure-footed and steady on the gas pedal. It tries to react as immediately as possible, so if you touch the pedal, then remove your foot, it's going to start to gear up immediately, then drop right off when your foot comes off. Usually this is when I've noticed the most jerking in the car. Often times, the gas pedal gets tapped twice, making it worse, but if you're steady with the gas pedal, and press it down a fair amount and hold it there, the actuation is fairly smooth.

I also noticed that if you use the steptronic mode on the transmission, which uses preset fixed ratios, you don't get the same jerky effect, so without coming out with a transmission capable of reacting to your thoughts (faster than your nerves to your foot), it'll be hard to completely remove that tendency.

[jazmini]

Good analysis and summation BlueCS -- yes that makes a lot of sense and does a good job of explaining it all with the details you provided.

[BlueCS]

Thanks!
Glad it helped (for those it did).

[2005LY]

Yeah, BlueCS nailed it. But that doesn't mean I care much for the jerkiness. If you happen to be going 10 MPH through a parking lot, your passengers think you don't know how to drive.

Haven't played with the other modes much yet since I just got my 05 MC. May end up switching to 'manual' for those slower situations.

[MiniRoo]

Just picked up my new Mini -YAY! - All Pepper White 2005 MC CVT (with black leather/red cloth and silver dash interior; very sharp!) - it looks like a little hard-boiled egg on wheels.
Anyways, I test drove a 2004 a few months back and noticed that it had a slow response to 'take-off'. (That sort of freaked me out when I attempted to pull into traffic and the car just seemed to move in slow motion before it finally got going.) I guess that's the 'launch' problem. I wasn't sure then that I wanted the car, but the power of the Minis pull on me was too much for me to overcome, so I broke down and placed an order for the new year. Well, my new 2005 CVT doesn't have the 'launch' problem - not even a hint(Phew!), but it does have that jerkiness at low parking-lot level speeds (~10mph). As long as its no major engine/transmission problem its something that I can live with - especially since I don't plan on doing a lot of 10mph driving, if you know what I mean.

[nonsequitur]

Congrats on getting your baby! Let us know your thoughts and experiences as the miles pass under those four contact patches.

[Cooper76]

Isn't the jerkiness to some degree part of the MINI itself? The sharp responsiveness to a fault? Might not make it any more tolerable, but it might not be a "fault" just a characteristic instead.

When I first test-drove the CVT, the MA told me to be really agressive with it. She told me not to fool around, but to hammer it and drive hard. This, I would assume, induce jerkiness, but I didn't notice any probably because I wasn't looking for any.

"Jerkiness" definitely has to make it into Oxford/Webster's...hahaha... Or at least a warning label on the side of the MINI, "Warning!: May Induce Jerkiness!"

OK...that's it, I need to get some sleep...

[Mr ONE]

I have now had my new CVT Cooper for one week and I can honestly say It's the worst thing I have ever driven.The car it' self is great it's just that crap box that totally spoils the car .The dealer has told me to give it 500 miles to smooth out, if this doesn't happen then they will reprogramme the gear box.I think this is totally unacceptable it should drive perfectly from day one !

[jazmini]

Sorry you're having those problems Mr ONE. Some CVT's do have a more serious problem than others, so I'd wait the 500 miles and ask your dealer to drive it and see what they think. Also, there are MINI clubs around you can join (or not join but go visit them -- they are a friendly bunch) and they can drive it too and see if it is a real problem or not.

[MiniZombie]

I just picked up my '05 Cooper CVT on Friday (Jet Black body and roof). Yes, the car still launches, especially when traveling at low speeds. It was explained to me by my salesperson as a "computer thing." The computer gets confused if your foot is "inconsistent" on the accelerator. When you start off, if you are too gradual with your foot, the transmission gets confused about how fast you really want to go, or something like that. I don't have a problem at traffic lights, because I'm usually pretty decisive with my foot at those, but in parking lots I still have a problem being steady with my foot. I guess you just have to drive it differently than other cars because of this.

[Cooper76]

Quote: Originally Posted by MiniZombie

I just picked up my '05 Cooper CVT on Friday (Jet Black body and roof). Yes, the car still launches, especially when traveling at low speeds. It was explained to me by my salesperson as a "computer thing." The computer gets confused if your foot is "inconsistent" on the accelerator. When you start off, if you are too gradual with your foot, the transmission gets confused about how fast you really want to go, or something like that. I don't have a problem at traffic lights, because I'm usually pretty decisive with my foot at those, but in parking lots I still have a problem being steady with my foot. I guess you just have to drive it differently than other cars because of this.

Exactly! (see my post a few posts up). That's what the MA said. Don't fool around, be aggressive with it, and have a will to where your going. Of course, she never told me why to drive that way, but now I know!

[friedrb]

The "Jerkyness" will occur at low speeds on my '05... However I believe it has to do with the fact that it is a CVT, and that the gears are always engaged, at least tighter than a traditional automatic. (i'm not a mechanic but, that's what it feels like..)

Here's what I do to drive at low speeds on a "traditional automatic"

1. From a stop, give a reasonably large amount of gas to get the car rolling.
2. Immediatly let off the gas, and let the car roll along with idle or a tiny bit of gas.
3. If the car slows to much, give a burst or two of gas as needed.

If you do this on a Mini CVT, you'll be lurching all over the place... So instead I:

1. From a stop give a little less gas than i would a "traditional automatic"
2. Keep the pedal at the current position as long as the car is rolling. (a little bit like a golf cart!)

It definitly takes getting used to.

For reverse, i tend not to touch the gas at all and let the idle completely take care of moving the car. I also try to limit the use of the brakes until you intend to go forward again. I'l admit that i haven't gotten this one down perfectly yet...

Bill.

[plantain]

I've only had less than a week with my '05 CVT, and I noticed the same thing. In my prior automatic, I'd "pulse" the gas pedal, giving it little "bursts" of juice in order to maintain a somewhat constant speed. With the CVT, I've had to adjust my style. I think of it more as "pedal indicates desired speed" as opposed to "pedal indicates desired acceleration". That's probably not entirely accurate, but that's what it fees like.

The thing I'm still having bit of trouble with is medium-fast stops. When I roll up to a light, if I brake very slowly, the CVT downshifts perfectly and I don't feel a thing. If I brake really hard (much too fast for even aggressive comfort) the CVT doesn't have time to react to my slowdown and it shifts down while I'm sitting there. The problem is the middle ground: either partial stopping, or waiting in line behind a few cars while approaching a 4-way stop. In those cases, the CVT wants to down shift ahead of me, and I feel this "lurch" when it does it. I read a post from someone else who solves this problem by shoving the shifter into "Neutral" and then back to "Drive" once he's fully stopped. I could do this, but isn't shifiting into "N" and back at every stop bad on the transmission?

[nonsequitur]

Quote: Originally Posted by plantain

With the CVT, I've had to adjust my style. I think of it more as "pedal indicates desired speed" as opposed to "pedal indicates desired acceleration".

I like this description. You are giving "direction to the computer" with the e-throttle in D or SD; it wants to pick an appropriate set of data points from the "map" to reach the terminal speed.

You can change throttle pedal position however. ZF Getriebe even recommended flooring the throttle to launch, then back off slowly to the resistance point for maximum acceleration. I find this very hard to do (my skill level?) without getting unusual behaviors from the car, so it's pretty much set it and forget it for me now.

Quote: Originally Posted by plantain

The thing I'm still having bit of trouble with is medium-fast stops. When I roll up to a light, if I brake very slowly, the CVT downshifts perfectly and I don't feel a thing. If I brake really hard (much too fast for even aggressive comfort) the CVT doesn't have time to react to my slowdown and it shifts down while I'm sitting there.

Is this in Steptronic, automatically downshifting through the fixed ratios at 2000rpm (6>5), 1800rpm (5>4), 1600rpm (4>3), and 1400rpm (3>2) to Stop? If it is in Drive or SportDrive, I may not understand what you are experiencing. Please explain.

[plantain]

Quote: Originally Posted by nonsequitur

Is this in Steptronic, automatically downshifting through the fixed ratios at 2000rpm (6>5), 1800rpm (5>4), 1600rpm (4>3), and 1400rpm (3>2) to Stop? If it is in Drive or SportDrive, I may understand what you are experiencing. Please explain.

This is in both Drive and, as far as I can tell SportDrive. I've been sticking to Drive mode almost exclusively since I'm still in my breakin period.

On my commute this morning, I think I've figured out how to ease off the accelerator to get to a stop without any lurches. The one area where this is still very challenging, and hard to replicate the behavior I used to have on my old standard tranny, is waiting in line during at a 4-way stop. When there are a few cars in front of me, each waiting to get to the 4-way stop, they all tend to creep along; I find that if I just let the car creep forward (no foot on the accelerator) I can keep up with my position in line without leaving a major gap with the car in front of me. The tricky part is when there is exactly 1 car in front of me. He shoots up to the stop line, pauses, then shoots across the intersection. I'm behind him, so I shoot first to the space right behind him, pause, move up to the line, then shoot across the intersection. <b>This</b> is exactly the hardest time to avoid the lurch; because I'm trying to get the car to basically "hop forward" about 15-30 feet then stop again, my old behavior was, medium tap on the accelerator then hit the brakes. Medium tapping the accelerator then hitting the brakes will almost always fool the CVT computer into thinking "spool up, he's acclerating! Oh wait, no, he's braking! LURCH!"

The problem is, my commute has quite a few of these 4-way stops. That's the only rough spot I haven't been able to figure out. The only alternative is to try to ease my way up to the intresection without the aggressive "hop" to the stop line. Unfortunately, the natural "rhythm" of the 4-way stop behavior for all the rest of the drivers is to do exactly what I described; if I "ease" my way up to the stop line, people mistake me for not actually stopping, or hesitating, and then going ahead of my turn. Any suggestions for how to smooth this out?