[mav]

For someone that is a complete newbie to manuals, is the Mini Cooper S easy to learn on and drive?

[Gr8Dain]

Not sure since I have been driving manuals for 20 years, but the reverse might give you trouble. It is a little difficult to get fully into gear for some. There seems to be a trick to it. Getting a Whalen Shift Machine helps

First gear is short and the car seems to be OK with starting it in second which is a bit more forgiving to the non-stick driver.

Go give one a test drive. Tear up one of their cars, then buy a different one. Of course you could get the MCS in auto, but that was not an option for us. I personally would not have done it either.


Dain

[everythingsablur]

Quote: Originally Posted by mav

For someone that is a complete newbie to manuals, is the Mini Cooper S easy to learn on and drive?

I'm new to manual trannies as well (not video games ) and have been driving an MCS around for a couple of weeks. It helps to understand the theory if you don't have anyone to teach you. Check out http://www.standardshift.com for a decent how-to on driving stick. My first drive was during my test drive, and I only stalled that twice to start.

I find the hardest part is just getting the car going in 1st or reverse. I'm either too fast off the clutch (chugging/lurching if not stalled), too light on the gas (stall), or too heavy on the gas (peel out). The past few days I've been doing much better; no stalls! It does take some getting used to in trying to find the friction point of the clutch. As a result I'm a little slower off the line than I'd like, but I think that's better than stalling with cars behind me.

I am still a bit nervous about the whole thing and am getting to work early/leaving late to avoid heavy rush hour traffic (and planning my route to avoid stops on the incline side of a hill). But practice makes perfect, and confidence comes with time. There is a lot of satisfaction in having more control over the car, and rowing the car through the gears at speed on the highway. The potentially better gas mileage is also a plus. Still, there are many times (i.e. in heavy traffic) that I wish I had a semi-automatic or sequential.

[Lawrothegreat]

Once you can drive a manual, you shouldn't have any problems driving any manual car.

Are you able to rent a cheap manual hire car for a day? get used to pulling away with too little revs, too many revs, stalling, and hill starts. Changing gear is easy, the hardest part to master is pulling away. In terms of wear and tear it could be cheaper than learning on your new mini.

[mav]

Sorry if I didn't clarify. This isn't for me. Its for my fiancee. Shes in love with the Mini Cooper S. I'm going to give her some lessons in my S2000 prior we buy her car but she's still going to be a newbie.

[everythingsablur]

Quote: Originally Posted by mav

Sorry if I didn't clarify. This isn't for me. Its for my fiancee. Shes in love with the Mini Cooper S. I'm going to give her some lessons in my S2000 prior we buy her car but she's still going to be a newbie.

You must really love her to let her learn on your S2000! I like the MCS; the clutch is pretty easy to engage (my coworker with a Mustang has to basically kick into the engine compartment to engage the clutch), shift action is smooth and easy (though I occassionally mistake 2nd for 4th, d'oh!), and has really good pedal placement.

And if she doesn't take well to the manual in your S2000, there is always the automatic MCS, which everyone says is really quite good as far as automatics go. (No "manual vs. automatic" diatribes here please, different strokes for different folks).

[MaTTy_P]

We've disscussed many a time how they should make you pass your driving test in a manual no matter what country you live in. The transition from Manual down to Automatic is far easier than the other way round.

[Gr1zzLy]

manual is not that hard to learn and I guess the mini is pretty forgiving. Having said that though.. why would u want to teach her in a nice car like an s2000?!??! better to rent a car and rip the crap out of that one instead. She'll do heaps of bunny hops, but all part of the learning process. I think the only thing she'll get freaked out abt is the hill starts.

The other car I've got at home is a Subaru Liberty/Legacy, and that has this thing called a hill holder which prevents the car from rolling when starting on an incline. I've noticed on my MCS that even tho it doesn't have this, the roll isn't as bad as I had anticipated it would be.

[mav]

She wants to learn in the S2000, which has a very sensitive clutch and isn't too forgiving to mistakes. Rent out a car? Why, whats the worse that can happen?

[fizzy]

Could you not get her a couple of manual driving lessons with an instructor in a dual control car? This seems like quite a sensible idea, that is bound to give your gf loads of confidence and smooth starts/changes! Its a bit like learning to drive again...when I learnt to ride a motorcycle I had been driving a car for years, but it took a few days of intensive training before I wasn't soiling my underwear trying to pull off, stop and stop/start on a hill

Both my gf and I have been driving manual cars for years (everybody in the uk does!), and I love the mini's positive gearbox - it has a lovely snickety change which is quite sporty. I have absolutely no problems with it at all, its instantly familiar like wearing a pair of comfy shoes However my other half is much less confident, as she finds the 6 rather than 5 gears more difficult to visualise than me. Consequently we've had few up and down changes that jump too many ratios (nothing critical yet though !), and trying to pull away in the wrong gear rolling into roundabouts etc.

Driving an automatic is a bit like driving a go-cart i.e. just go and stop. Driving a manual car is much more satisfying, gives you more control and the car more poise, but it is definately trickier and gives more things to think about if you haven't done it before. Therefore training is definately good to learn the science correctly and build confidence.

Just my two pence worth In summary a manual is a manual, so it doesn't really matter what you learn on if you know the basics of driving a car on the road...clutch travel and bite points tend to vary from car to car but you get used to this. The S is quite torquey and forgiving, the only thing making it a little trickier is having the extra gear ratio over an average 'box!

[everythingsablur]

Quote: Originally Posted by mav

She wants to learn in the S2000, which has a very sensitive clutch and isn't too forgiving to mistakes. Rent out a car? Why, whats the worse that can happen?

The worst that could happen is she gets frustrated in the learning process and gives up. I'm always wary of teaching anything difficult to the significant other; for some reason the fuse tends to be a lot shorter in both directions.

[beken]

She should learn on a manual Corvette or anything with a big V8 in it.
There's so much torque in a Vette, it's hard to imagine stalling it. I learned to drive manual in a 1978 vette. Low on power but extremely high on torque.

When I first got my MCS (and I do drive manual), I stalled it the first few times going uphill from a start. It took a bit to get used to waiting for the torque to build. On a flat or downhill, she should not have any problems.

I wouldn't recommend learning on an S2000 as there is very little torque at low revs to get the car moving.

[JBA]

Re the advice on getting a few lessons: thats a very good idea, because the worst that cam happen could be substantial e.g. stalling when you've started to commit to a joining manoeuver, or pulling out at a junction. Other scenario, sorry if this is bit gloomy, is the roll-back on a hill start. Not so risky, but its still a damage possibility. When the pressure is on in busy traffic is when the co-ordination can go, unless its second nature. A couple of hours with a good instructor could be well worthwhile.

[mav]

All the driving schools here only give lessons in automatic, so looks like my fiancee is stuck with me as her driving professor.

Also hills? Whats that? I'm in Miami, its as flat as a wall here, we don't have no damn hills! Although I will teach her how to drive stick on an incline though. Going to the malls' parking garage you have to go up an incline. I remember the first time I had to do it, I freaked out and didn't know what to do. My dad laughed and finally taught me the parking brake trick.

[miniyup]

Quote: Originally Posted by mav

All the driving schools here only give lessons in automatic, so looks like my fiancee is stuck with me as her driving professor.

I'm surprised if you call around and really search that you cannot find a driving school that can teach on stick on their own cars. We have at least one in the Chicago area, and there are certainly more people driving real nice snazzy stick shift "sports cars" in sunny Miami that would need this kind of instruction vs. the mostly dull cars we see here in snowy, cold Chicago. A couple hours beating up the school's car will make the initial lessons in your car or the MCS go a lot smoother I would think.

The MCS clutch is the best I have ever driven -- very easy to modulate and has a great feel for the friction point. One major suggestion I have (especially in Miami where it is hot) is TURN OFF THE A/C while teaching her to drive the MCS. The A/C can at times really bog down the engine if you are not really careful about feeding in significant throttle as you let out the clutch. On my car it takes quite a bit more throttle to keep from stalling while simultaneously avoid over-revving on launch in 1st gear.

[EBMCS03]

Yes the MCS is a very good car to learn... I LOVE it... its basically perfect! Its shifting and clutch weight and feel is the best I've driven... Better than any normal BMW and I might even be bold enough to say I prefer it over the M5/M3 shift and clutch feel. But it cant beat the M3/M5 in driving experience.

You'll be fine. I say go for it. get it and learn it and enjoy it!!!

[infinitequestion]

Quote: Originally Posted by miniyup

I'm surprised if you call around and really search that you cannot find a driving school that can teach on stick on their own cars. We have at least one in the Chicago area.

I was searching google for places that teach people how to drive a stick-shift and came accross this post. I tried finding one on the net but most have no info on what they offer. I was gonna send you an e-mail or pm but couldn't; I would appreciate if you could tell me the name and/or location of a school in Chicago area that offers to teach stick-shift. Thanks for your time.