OK
so when I went on my test drive I was new to the configuration of the gears, specifically the location of reverse. On my current car, a 5 spd manual, reverse is located after 5th gear - so all the way to right and down if that makes sense.
so on my test drive I was kind of afraid to shift into reverse while waiting at a stop light and asked my MA if I was in first he said not to worry about it, that it will let you know if you go into reverse.
OK heres my question:
is there a buzzer or a ding or a dong or a sound that goes off when shifting into revers or is there a reverse lockout system like the one I have seen on my friends wrx sti?
Thanks

 

No alarms or buzzers, but it does take quite a bit of force to pop the lever to the left so that you can push it up into reverse. I have not heard of anybody accidently getting it into reverse on a MINI. The real thrill is when I'm occasionally driving my 5 speed truck and try to shift it into 6th gear at 70 mph.

 

lol yeah I had similar hesitations when I test drove... also used to have a five speed manual, reverse lower right. on my mini test drive though when trying to back out I couldn't figure out why the car wouldn't move. turns out I was in 6th thankfully noone was watching except my brother who came along for the drive

 

I too was afraid of doing the same thing. In the 2 years I've had the car I have never accidentally popped into reverse.

 

I had the "6th instead of reverse" thing happen on a test drive also... coming from a 5-speed manual its just kind of habit...

I think you'll get used to it... I used to have a Mk4 Jetta, and VWs also have reverse in a funny place.. have to push down, and waayyyy over to the left... I went from that back to the "normal" 5-spd pattern on my LGT without wrecking any transmissions...

The real question is -- will I remember to use 6th?

 

yeah, that's the only thing I'm concerned about. Throwing it in Reverse instead of First or vice versa. At least when it's on the other side (eg. 5 spd, far right and down), if you accidently put it into 4th instead of R, your car would just stall. 1st and R being the near the same location is potential hazardous, but like other members mentioned, hopefully you get used to it.

 

Not sure how you could ever get it into reverse with out really intending to do so. It requires a fair amount of force.

 

While on a test drive before ordering mine I was able to successfully put it into reverse instead of first by accident. Looks like I need a lighter touch. That could be trouble.

 

I worried about the positioning of reverse during all of the 3 months I waited for my MINI to be made (I even had little hissy fits in my mind over the stupidity of MINIS reverse positioning ). Once I started driving my MINI, from day one, I never ever thought about it again. Reverse being up & left immediately became 2nd nature to me. It takes effort to get it into reverse. Don't worry about it, you will be fine

 

No worries, the reverse location is perfect!! You'll love it!

 

My wife was very worried about hitting reverse instead of first. To tell the truth so was I.

Our solution is when sitting at a light we pull the lever back to 2nd first. If you are in the reverse gate you can't pull back to 2nd. At 27,000 miles we've yet to hit reverse by mistake. As has been said it takes a good push to get into the reverse gate.