New Member
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Neutral
Joined: May 2007
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New Member
Hi all,
I'm a retired engineer, and have ridden and raced motorcycles for about 50 years. I recently decided to "quit while ahead", and to replace my two-wheel motorcycles with a four-wheel motorcycle; namely the MINI. The idea was to keep some fun in motoring, while having six air-bags and seat belts for protection. So far this idea is working great.
I do have one complaint, having to do with the sport mode, in conjunction with the Steptronic Auto tranny. I had thought that the sport mode would be great while negotiating the fabulous mountain roads here in east Tennessee. The problem is that the shift points in sport mode are way too high, seemingly intended for track days or real racing. (Being older, I am not into running an engine at the rev-limiter all the time.) It would probably have cost about $1.00 to add a two position switch for "Mild Sport or Hyper Sport", so that one could enjoy the sportier power steering and moderately higher shift points, without being in full race mode. As it is, I find sport mode to be rather useless, and find myself using the paddles in standard mode.
Is there any hope that the shift points could be reprogrammed with some aftermarked black box?
Jim Berry
I'm a retired engineer, and have ridden and raced motorcycles for about 50 years. I recently decided to "quit while ahead", and to replace my two-wheel motorcycles with a four-wheel motorcycle; namely the MINI. The idea was to keep some fun in motoring, while having six air-bags and seat belts for protection. So far this idea is working great.
I do have one complaint, having to do with the sport mode, in conjunction with the Steptronic Auto tranny. I had thought that the sport mode would be great while negotiating the fabulous mountain roads here in east Tennessee. The problem is that the shift points in sport mode are way too high, seemingly intended for track days or real racing. (Being older, I am not into running an engine at the rev-limiter all the time.) It would probably have cost about $1.00 to add a two position switch for "Mild Sport or Hyper Sport", so that one could enjoy the sportier power steering and moderately higher shift points, without being in full race mode. As it is, I find sport mode to be rather useless, and find myself using the paddles in standard mode.
Is there any hope that the shift points could be reprogrammed with some aftermarked black box?
Jim Berry
Welcome and congratulations on finding two more wheels! 
First time I've heard this comment about sport mode - interesting - I'm curious to hear what comes out of this...
But for now, just enjoy the paddles. That's what I do on the twisties!
First time I've heard this comment about sport mode - interesting - I'm curious to hear what comes out of this...
But for now, just enjoy the paddles. That's what I do on the twisties!
6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Bryan Texas
Welcome to NAM.
I am sure the folks will start tweaking the box, but I am not sure if they will be tuning it with......your style in mind. I think they will be going for more of the "all out" than refinements.
'Course that is just a humble opinion, hope I am wrong.
I am sure the folks will start tweaking the box, but I am not sure if they will be tuning it with......your style in mind. I think they will be going for more of the "all out" than refinements.
'Course that is just a humble opinion, hope I am wrong.
Welcome to NAM
Thread Starter
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Neutral
Joined: May 2007
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Yeah, the paddles work pretty well. In "normal", non-twisty driving I find that I often want the 6 to 5 downshift to occur sooner. Probably to acheive higher mpg, it holds 6th when in needs to be in 5th. In a more blatant example of CAFE averages, my '94 Z-28 had 6th so tall as to be useless; and one also had to disable the 1-2 overide feature. They even had that in Corvettes.
