CVTs and The Dragon

[Paul!]

As I mentioned in my grossly long post in the General Discussion forum, I recently took my CVT MC on the Dragon. I was absolutely amazed at how well it handled! As others on here have mentioned, the CVT does an absolutely wonderful job at simulating gears. I also let a friend drive on rt. 28 near the Dragon (she's also a manual driver), and she was impressed with the manual mode.

I was easily able to speed along and keep up with the bikes!! I loved my CVT before, and now I love it twice as much!

Anyone else have any experiences with a CVT and the Dragon or a decent set of twisties?

-Paul!

[Vanwall]

Having run up & down Palomar Mountain and the Julian area near San Diego many times, runs which have been compared to the Dragon, I wholeheartedly agree with you! The CVT is a great twisties car, with downshifting especially being very effective. The last run I made with some manual Coopers and a coupla "S's was quite interesting, as the leveling factor was how well the power was applied in the switchbacks - the CVT had no problems hanging with the "faster" cars. I have been cautioned on occaision over the 2-ways to "slow down!" when leading, and I wasn't even pushing hard. Well, maybe a li'l! I don't pretend to be the straight line MINI driver, anyway, as I prefer the twisties. The only thing I miss compared to the old Minis is the throttle controlling the oversteer so much - it was kinda fun - but as I get better at left-foot braking, I'm likin' that better!

OT - The other thing i'm wondering: when you're going 70 mph in the 5-speed Cooper, what revs are you at? I'm at about 3,000 rpm - effectively cruising speed with the CVT in 'D', which is really the over-drive ratio at that speed. At 60 mph, it is just loafing along in 'D', and it seems as if the engine is under much less stress than the 5-speed when driving the CVT on the freeway. Is this correct?

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

[punkeyfunky]

Living around here (MK, Bucks, England) there are a multitude of (very) narrow and twisty lanes to have fun on.

I've noticed when chasing our very own Mr Mullett that my MC/CVT does an excellent job of keeping up with Paul's MCS. Paul's got more power, but in the twisties, his power advantage is negated a little making the 'playing field' a little more level. Given that we're both in MINI's, be can both expect the same sort of handling, so it's easier to keep up with Paul.
Paul gets away for two reasons.... 1) when he can use his extra grunt, he will, and 2) Paul knows these lanes far far better than I do, and I eventually reach the point where my fear of an crunch overrides my desire to go faster!

Paul's power advantage was more clearly demonstrated on the roundabouts here in MK. We'd approach a roundabout together, and go around it together, but the Paul would boot it and pull ahead. I'd catch up by the next roundabout, and then he'd get away again

Roll on the auto-S...

-Lee

[Ashley3D]

As a life-long stand transmission owner, I have come to appreciate my CVT's sports mode. It does level the playing field on the tight twisties. 99% of the time I'm chosen to lead our clubs runs into the hill country. I keep asking the MCS owners, why they want this CVT to lead? The wise-@ss answer is, "So we don't run off and leave you." But every time I run up the twisty hills at high-speed, I usually end up waiting on them...hehehehe Then they say, "it my driving experience." I just laugh, and take my place at the lead of the pack.

[Grumbler]

yep, have to agree. the CVT in sport does an excellent job in the tight curves.............straight roads, well.....i do try.

[Paul!]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ashley3D

But every time I run up the twisty hills at high-speed, I usually end up waiting on them...hehehehe Then they say, "it my driving experience." I just laugh, and take my place at the lead of the pack.

Hehehe... I did notice that when in 2nd or 3rd, a little tap on the gas sent the MINI running up and around the curves with a quickness!

Can't wait for Dragon 2005!!

-Paul!

[Paul!]

Quote: Originally Posted by punkeyfunky

Paul's power advantage was more clearly demonstrated on the roundabouts here in MK. We'd approach a roundabout together, and go around it together, but the Paul would boot it and pull ahead. I'd catch up by the next roundabout, and then he'd get away again

Roll on the auto-S...

-Lee

As I mentioned in my other thread, I was actually kinda-sorta keeping up with an RX-8 for a couple of miles!! Around the curves, I had little problem matching his speed, but as soon as the road got a bit straight, he'd launch ahead. The poor, lil' CVT couldn't sprint on the straights.

Oh well, I'm sure that he wasn't expecting me to keep up for those couple of miles anyway!

-Paul!

[Willy]

I ran with a pack of S's, JCW's and a modified Cooper. Throughout the runs we did, I managed to hang with them. My Cooper CVT has the Sport Suspension Plus. That is quite a fun combination!

A novice driver in a CVT will probably whip up on a novice driver in a MCS, at least on the twisties!

I am counting down the days, until I had back to the Dragon!

[ChiliCooperMark]

At Dragon Run 2004 I also had no problem keeping up with the mix of modded MCS's and all of the bikers, and I'm a novice. I did about half my runs in steptronic "gear" 3 and the other have in SD mode and both ways worked great. SD ensured I never had to take a hand off the steering wheel, but 3 was better in terms of engine braking.

Too bad all roads can't be twisties!

[JEFF10049]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChiliCooperMark (original)

At Dragon Run 2004 I also had no problem keeping up with the mix of modded MCS's and all of the bikers, and I'm a novice. I did about half my runs in steptronic "gear" 3 and the other have in SD mode and both ways worked great. SD ensured I never had to take a hand off the steering wheel, but 3 was better in terms of engine braking.

Too bad all roads can't be twisties!

What and where is dragon run??? sounds fun I want to go.

Jeff

[jazmini]

Hey Jeff,

The Dragon is a twisty road with 318 curves (mostly banked) in 11 miles along US 129 and consists of a tail in North Carolina and a head in Tennessee. Deal's Gap is the main store there in North Carolina with terrific owners ( a couple) who are very active in it all. The Dragon is America's #1 motorcycle and sports car road. Some car clubs have annual runs there, such as Miata's and also MINI's, and I think Ferraris too. The MINI's go there in late April/early May. Next year it's 5 days in early May. The website for the Dragon is Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap and Cherohala Skyway, Graham Co, NC. To find out more, visit MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring