Hello,

It's nice to find you!

I've been testing and planning to buy a Mini for a long time. This weekend, everything aligned and I went to my local dealer.

I got the "S" Convertible 6 speed w/ just about everything except the JCW catalog.

Now, I have a question:
I ordered the optional dynamic traction control AND the limited slip differential.

I was concerned --not being much of a gearhead-- about a possible interaction between the two things. The Salesman was a nice kid, but he was over his head on this.

As near as I can figure, the LSD will help reduce felt torque steer under heavy throttle. Then the Traction Control is probably more like an anti-skid system...

But it already has something like that standard.

So, I'm just confused.

They won't build it for a while, so I could change if this combination will be bad.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.

 

You'll be fine with both. They are completely independent systems. The DTC allows you to adjust the level your car interferes with loss of grip, while the LSD will let you apply torque evenly across both front wheels to reduce "Torque Steer".

You really only need the DTC if you want to be able to get rid of Traction Control for some situations. The 2009 model comes standard with Dynamic Stability Control (a fancy multi-function traction control).

 

Congrats on the new Mini and Welcome from North Carolina.

 

Thanks!

Another question is, I specified the summer tires (Runflats) as I plan to buy winter tires on wheels.

But a friend told me I should change that to all seasons as the summer tires are bad in the rain.

Do you think there's any truth to that?

 

I have some lit from MINI about this subject.

DTC falls in between DSC ON and DSC OFF as fas as saving yoru butt in a turn is concerned. DSC stops you in your tracks at the slightest bit of tomfoolery. DTC on the other hand will let you get into a slide and allow you to spin the wheels before it intervenes. This allows for sportier driving but will still save you if things get ugly in a turn. It also gets you moving in snowy or muddy conditions.
EDLC-Uses the front brakes to limit wheel spin while accelerating. In the past if you took a sharp turn in first gear with DSC OFF and you nailed the gas, the MCS without LSD you would burn a tire. With ELDC you can nail it and there will be almost NO wheelspin, allowing you to power out of turns quicker and get much faster exit speeds. ELDC is activated by holding down DTC for about 3 seconds. This will turn both DSC AND DTC off completely and increase the LSD managed torque spit from 30% to a more even 50%.