I pick up my new 2009 MINI Cooper S tomorrow! Its chili red with black roof, premium pkg., cold weather pkg., crown spoke wheels, black leather seats, rooster red highlights, piano black dash, hi-fi upgrade, bluetooth/ipod, manual, and limited slip differential. I think that about covers it. Oh, and I'm new here.

 

Welcome to NAM.

 

Nice set up. Post some pics when you can. Share the joy!!
Happy motoring.

Pat

 

Welcome! You're gonna enjoy it!

What region are you in?

 

Thanks everyone! I'm in Philadelphia, PA. I plan to take MANY pictures tomorrow. After all, she may never be that clean again.

 

Well I picked up the car today and its beautiful. Put about eighty miles on it just driving around by myself and had a blast! But I think my wife isn't crazy about it, I took her for a ride and now she's feeling car sick Maybe its just my driving, I'm new to a manual.

 

Being new to a manual can definitely trigger car sickness in those who are susceptible to it since there tends to be a lot of jerking/stuttering . Once you smooth out your shifting (and maybe tone down the acceleration when your wife is in the car), I bet things will be ok.

My Mom's the same way, so when she's riding in my car (which isn't a Mini yet) I just accelerate more slowly, change lanes less often, etc.

[Edit] Oh, and congrats!

 

Hey!! Congratulations fromanother person near Philly!!
I actually- while first driving my Clubbie- felt car sick!! And I was driving!! And it is an automatic... hah
I finally figured it was the new car smell coupled with the extra visibility. I came from a SUV with no viz and all of the movement through the Clubbies huge windows were an adjustment, but I was used to it in a few days.

PLus, drive easy with her inthe car as cameroon said and hopefully she will adjust and fall in love with it like the rest of us!!

 

Congrats on the new Mini and Welcome from North Carolina.

 

Congratulations! The shifting gets smoother as you motor more.

 

sounds awesome, welcome!

 

Congrats! Sounds like a great build!
Go Chili Power!

 

Haha getting used to manual can be a bit shaky.. Im new too! Welcome from RI and great ride you got there! An pictures yet?

 

Thanks all! Its really difficult not to accelerate and corner hard. But my main issue is starting out from a standstill. There is either a sharp jerk forward, or a stall, and very rarely a smooth start. 1st gear to 2nd and all the rest are pretty smooth now. Its actually pretty stressful b/c I'm in Philly with a lot of stop and go. I'm also worried about damaging the clutch. I have noticed that you can go in reverse with no or very little gas, why couldn't 1st gear be so easy?

Pictures are coming this weekend, I don't get home from work until dark and my garage is too small to get a good angle for a photograph.

 

Reverse has a higher gear ratio, if im wrong correct me, I believe thats why is has more "go" than other gears. If first gear where like reverse the gear would end before you got going anyway, alot like reverse. When I first learned to drive manual I would go on to some grass somewhere (Preferably not your own front yard) and I would try letting off the clutch without spinning any mud on my car and I would almost never stall because of the soft surface, I did this for a hour or so before taking to te road and it helped alot.

 

You aren't likely to damage the clutch starting at these low RPMs, just your pride If you can, I'd suggest finding an empty parking lot and just practicing your starts. When I picked up my first manual (the car I'm driving actually), my friend went with me to a school parking lot and we just practiced until I was comfortable enough. Then I drove him home and drove home myself and didn't look back.

And I can feel your anxiety - I live in the DC area so lots of stop and go here too. In fact, 3 days after just learning how to drive stick I had to go pick up my sister through downtown DC (she'd wreaked her bicycle).

 

Welcome to NAM from MIddle Georgia Minis! Driving a stick just takes a little practice. As suggested, go to a parking area and run it thru the gears and soon it will be second nature. When I learned to drive automatics were few and far between. Congrats on your new ride and I'm sure your wife will learn to enjoy the MINI as you do.

 

Ok I took some photos yesterday. Sorry about the quality.

On another note, the wife and I drove about 60 miles in the MINI yesterday, and no car sickness! In fact she slept most of the time. I only stalled it once on a start, luckily she was sleeping at the time so my embarrassment was limited. My technique to avoid lurching on the start is very little gas and slowly ease out the clutch. Makes for a very slow start and the engine is lugging a little. I have a feeling this is hard on both the engine and the clutch, but I'm getting better.

 

to NAM and Congrats on your new toy! It's beautiful.

Donna

 

Looking Good!!!

 

Welcome; looks great!!!

 

When I test drove, the accelerator lag was very apparent to me. Have you tried shifting in S mode? The extra response of the go pedal might help. I also recommend this website. www.standardshift.com

 

I just saw pictures. Ohh, purdy. Do you have the base leatherette?

 

Nice looking Mini! Glad to hear you're getting more confident/comfortable with your car, and that your wife's not feeling carsick! I'm sure your first gear woes will be worked out soon enough, it took me a while to stop feeling a little anxious about starts in stop and go. Hell, I still don't launch as smoothly as I would like some times (too eager on the throttle for my poor car, heh).

I was thinking about what you were saying about starting in reverse, and how that was easier. You know, I wonder if that's less to do with the gear ratio (it's not that much different than 1st) and more to do with the fact that (presumably) you're looking backwards and not looking at the tach at all. Having started teaching my brother how to drive a manual, it's one of the things I noticed him sort of fixating on. If you can't see the tach and can only go with the feel through the wheel and pedals, then it might actually be easier.

In any case, as Pinky Demon mentioned, if you haven't you might want to try it with the Sport button on. It makes the throttle more sensitive and tightens the feel of the steering I think. Sadly the Sport button has to be turned on at every start (unless you pick up an aftermarket "auto sport on" mod).

 

Thanks for the compliments! Was out driving again today and I've got the starts down pretty well now.

Cameroon - I thought my problem was that I never look at the tach. I've been riding motorcycles since age 10 so I'm accustomed to using hearing and feel to judge when to shift. The problem for me was that you have much better feel controlling the clutch on a motorcycle opposed to the feel of the clutch on a car where you get very little feedback.