[smc]

I am about to place order for a cooper but cant decide whether om manual or auto transmission. Price of a manual or auto is the same in our country, in fact most car dealer brings in auto and many refuse to bring in manual due to no demand.
According to specs from 0-100 on manual is takes 9.1s and on auto @ 10.4s. there is no specs on stephronic on the auto tranmission. Much appreciate any of u guys with auto transmission ever record the time 0-100kmh on stephronic mode?

[Prowse]

I've never driven the auto, but I'd have thought that the auto would have shifted gear at maximum BHP revs, so manually shifting earlier would only make things slower. The extra 1.5 (ish) seconds will come from power losses in the auto gearbox and extra weight.

[fred3]

Get the manual. Way more fun to drive.

[Blusox]

I drove a CVT cooper in the states a few years back, and now own a manual cooper over here. The CVT is nothing like the manual, in fact I almost didn't buy a Mini cos I thought the CVT was as good as it got!!! Luckily I tested a manual and realised there was a huge difference!!! Go for manual its miles better!!!

[smc]

thanks for the advise, I still prefer manual but will have to wait 4 months delivery. I will visit Mini showroom again this saturday or sunday and try to convince them to arrange the manual cooper in the show room for a test drive as its the only manual.

[DaveStarsky]

Check out some of the comments in the Cooper CVT section. Anyone who has a Cooper CVT loves them (including me). You'll find that if you normally prefer a manual box then you will hate the CVT. Whereas if you like autos you will love this one. I've driven lots of CVT cars and there is a technique to getting the best out of them. At first acquaintance they can seem odd and underpowered.
Also, there is a delay in the take off (due to the mechanicals of the gearbox) with the CVT Cooper which adds the 1.5secs - this is what slows the 0 - 100Km/h times. Personally I love the fact that once you get past that delay, most other cars will fall behind as they are changing gear and you're not. 0 - 100 times tend to be meaningless in the real world. Is a 24 hour test drive a possibility?
So to sum up!!! - buy a CVT if you like autos and vice versa. Either way you will never look back coz Minis rule.

[xtremepsionic]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveStarsky

Also, there is a delay in the take off (due to the mechanicals of the gearbox) with the CVT Cooper which adds the 1.5secs - this is what slows the 0 - 100Km/h times. Personally I love the fact that once you get past that delay, most other cars will fall behind as they are changing gear and you're not.

I agree with what you said completely.

My dealer was very nice (especially my MA Craig!) and he lent me a CVT Cooper for a 5 hour long test drive couple months ago. I've already taken delivery of my own 5spd Cooper for 4 months back then.

The main difference in speed between the CVT and the 5spd (wtih Getrag gearbox) is the first second or 2 at take off. The 5spd can easily chirp the tires on take off without much effort, and doesn't bog down once you get over 2000rpm, but the CVT is a little slow off the line. However, once you get past that point it does pick up speed nicely. The best way to extract the most performance out of the CVT seemed to be keeping the foot down on the throttle, but not past the "kick down" detent point.

The steptronic mode was very nice for twisty roads, you get to maintain whatever RPM you like and the car feels quite peppy, pretty much just like my own 5spd.

Anyway, its still an automatic, and that initial take off lag just doesn't excite me at all. You still won't feel as "connected" to the car as a real manual, but if you do get stuck in traffic or drive in hilly areas lots, I think its a good compromise.

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

HI..
I had a lovely Mercedes Benz before I bought my Cooper in December 2005.
It was a sweet ride but utterly boring because it was automatic and half the time felt like it was drving itself.
If you were unable to drive a manual car that would be a different story - go for the manual!!!!!!
It's a sports car after all and you will never get that same sense of control and connection with an auto box.

A quick note on the Getrag box - my Cooper had 4305 miles on the clock when I took delivery of it (dealer's showroom model), it now has around 8500 miles (European road trip the last month or so).
The Getrag boxes take a little time to bed in - once they do it's a sweet box..
The occasional refusal to go into reverse is sometimes a pain but you will learn quickly how to get around this in a few seconds - reverse gear has no syncro, not a bad thing according to my tech as this makes it more durable.

Cheers, Geoff.

[smc]

Thanks for the advise.