70 miles in 3rd Gear

[MiniSMan]

Well today coming out of a toll booth i was accelerating my 04 MCS into first and second and so on noty paying attention i thought i had put it into 5th before i realized the tach was at 4000 rpms and wondering why it was so high it was still in 3rd i hope i didnt ruin anything ? i checked to see the alowable speed in 3rd gear is 90 miles an hour so im guessing it was ok is it ??

[plugot]

4000 rpm (at least) is what you would probably doing on a track all day long. Even during break-in they recommend keeping it under 4500. You haven't done anything except listen to that nice little supercharger wail.

[stryder]

If your car is out of the breakin period (which I imagine it would be by now) and you haven't occasionally been holding gears until close to redline, you need to get some lessons on how to drive a manual transmission.

The point of having a manual is you can choose when to shift, and if you never go above 4,000 rpms, you're almost ignoring the extra HP you have with an S. Accelerating from a tollbooth is one of the prime opportunities to hold gears longer, and as long as you don't downshift and overrev the engine, you can't really hurt it by shifting at or near redline, because the point of redline is its the highest speed you can have the engine without hurting it.

Safely push your car to its limits, that's the point!

[Revolver]

No worries man, your car WANTS to drive above 4000 RPM. Indulge it!

Anyway I made the same shifting error but at a WAY higher speed I guess, maybe 120 km/h. I was passing on the highway. I can't remember if I shifted to third when I meant to shift to 5th, or 4th when I meant to shift to 6th. The engine revved all the way up to the top and I immediately knew I was in the wrong gear and pulled it out of gear right away. Could this have damaged the clutch? The day after it happened I thought the clutch fellt a little less precise, more slippy maybe. But at the same time the weather had just gotten a lot hotter, which may account for the less responsive feel. And now that it is cooler again my car feels pretty quick again. Questions:

1. Could this kind of mis-shift damage the clutch?

2. If it was damaged at all, is it possible for a clutch to sort of come back and get a little grabbier (better) as it gets used more? Probably a stupid question but that is what it feels like right now, like it has gotten a bit better.

3. If I ask the dealer to inspect the clutch (1st service coming up soon), will they charge me up the a*s for it? I realize I would pay for a new clutch but what about just looking at it?

Edit: I just realized 120 km/h is about 70 mph.

[MiniSMan]

i know how to drive a manual transmission was just asking a simple question Stryder i didnt need a y answer

[Johnny225]

4000 rpm is nothing to worry about. I redline my MINI about twice aday accelerating, and I don't think that's doing much damage either.

[RobHardyUK]

opps

[supercoopers]

Quote: Originally Posted by RobHardyUK

opps

That was real useful Rob...

Henry

[stryder]

Knowing how to drive, (as in move the gears smoothly, and manage the clutch) is not necessarily related to performance driving. Its like saying you and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both can drive. Well yes, its similar, but I'm sure I and almost everyone else here isn't going to be able to take a Stock car at 180mph, because its not the same thing.

There's similar logic (and why most racetracks offer driving classes aimed at safely maximimizing street performance) between shifting every time at 3500 rpms, or advanced techniques such as heel + toe shifting.

That's all I was reffering to, I wasn't trying to offend you, sorry if I did.

[Johnny225]

Missed shifts can be avoided most of the time by just having a good ear for the engine. If you're not shifting fast, and let of the clutch rel. slowly, you'll hear the rpm climb, and will know to push the clutch back in. Of course, when you are speed shifting, there's not much room for correction.

[YaST]

Now you need to try dropping the clutch at 4,000 RPM when leaving the tollbooth

[AMUSE COOPER S]

drop at 4000rpm? No way, if you want some quick as acceleration and g-forces that will make your face look like a stretch baboons ar$ehole, then dump it at 6500rpm. Also gives some nice smoke shows to warm up the treads

[Andy@Ross-Tech.com]

70 in 3rd? Bah! How about 70 in 2nd?

[piston]

, Drive it like you stole it!! 70 in 3rd... and... still have like 20 mph to go..

giver torque bro!

slam that shifter, pop that clutch, hit the E-brake, smoke them tire's.... then return your friends car when you are done!

HAHAHA.

[Barnabas]

this thread is like BMW warranty nightmare. Or your nightmare if they read this and refuse warranty hehe Do a few 4.5k rpm clutch drops to really take off. But your clutch won't last more than a few months if at that. Anyone here dump clutches alot?