What is the hill holding function and how do you activate it?

 

It comes standard now on the manuals and it is always active, when you release the brake the car stands still for 2 seconds then starts rolling back on any degree of incline.

Edit: Pardon me, I wasn't sure whether it was standard or not, I assumed so however, but others can ring in on that.

 

I don't think you can turn it off. Mine's just on.

The way to see if you have it is to pull up to a hill, stop the car, take it out of gear and hold it with the brake. Put it in first and release the brake. If your car stays absolutely still for 2 full seconds and then gets "let go" to roll backwards, you have hill assist. If it just rolls backward like a normal manual, you don't.

 

Studebakers invented the hill holder. It was available from 1939. It kept the brakes on when the car was on an incline and the clutch pedal was pushed to the floor. You used to be able to buy a kit to retrofit it to any car with hydraulic brakes.

Dave

 

I am loving the manual, haven't had one since my 2004 STI. It is so nice to feel like your driving again!!!

 

Love my manual... no regrets!

 

all of my "recent" cars since 1973 except one have been stick:
73 vw beetle
84 rabbit diesel
86 rx7
94 bmw 3
01 boxster
07 rabbit (my only automatic)
09 JCW

For me, a big part of the fun of driving is shifting. I had a minor brain fart when i ordered the 07 (automatic) rabbit - kept if for 2 years and luckily my wife took it when i got the MINI.

I just had a loaner from my dealer, an automatic MCS, and it was still fun to drive. Just not as fun as my manual...

 

My only regret is that I didn't buy two cars - one with manual, and one with automatic and paddle shifters.

Manual is just *fun*. I want to drive my car, not have it drive me.

 

+1

 

After many years of driving stick shift cars, I test drove a MINI with an automatic transmission, wow, I was sold! I can still shift just like a stick, only faster. And, I can just stick it in drive and forget about shifting when I want to. it's the best of both worlds!

Dave

 

Just want to point out for those still making up their minds that this is incorrect as pertains to MINIs. The manual transmission (in the hands of a driver capable of maximizing its potential) is faster across the entire product line than the auto, even with the paddles. Now, if you aren't particularly skilled at shifting a manual, they might be more evenly matched, but we're talking about a half second advantage to the manual.

Dave, don't mean to call you out on this, but it's misinformed. If you can show a link supporting your statement I'll stand corrected, but everything I've seen on the car shows a distinct advantage to the manual.

Cheers,
Tad

PS- This used to be true in all cases and all cars, but technology advances, and there are now certain exotics with F1 derived transmissions capable of shifting automatically or with paddles faster than their manual counterparts. These MINIs are no such exotic supercars, but they are... super cars!

 

I'm not a professional race car driver. So yes, the automatic transmission shifts faster than I can. And, I suspect, faster than most drivers. If you're just squirreling around back roads, how fast do you need to shift anyway? For me, the MINI's Asin automatic transmission is a clear winner.

Dave

 

I have a six speed in my Volvo S40 turbo and I love it. The automatic was boring to drive. I drove the automatic CM-S that we are buying my wife and I will say that I was impressed. 0.3 seconds of faster 0-60 times mean very little to me. It is more about how it maneuvers in traffic, passes cars and takes corners that make driving more fun to me. Personally, I don't see a bad choice here - manual or auto.
CN

 

I think another issue is that there's a teeny delay in the delivery of torque to the wheels that you get with the automatic (and all automatics) that you don't get with a manual. For simplicity's sake, you can imagine that when the clutch is partially out on a manual, there's some slipping between the engine and the wheels, but when it's all the way out, the two are directly connected. In an automatic, there's a device (torque converter) that allows for some slipping between the two at all times. So at the moment my foot come off the clutch pedal, my engine is 100% engaged with the wheels. You never quite get to 100% in an automatic (though you get damn close). That's a vast oversimplification of the engineering, but it may help non-engineers like me imagine the difference more clearly.

For most people, that teeny delay and slip are probably not a concern. Having driven a stick for years, I noticed the delay right away in the automatic during my first test drive. It's not like it would matter from a safety standpoint, but I could feel it and it was one of the reasons I preferred the manual.

And you can shift darn fast with a manual once you learn the particular car, so I believe you could shave a few more fractions of a second off the automatic's delivery of power at each gear.

The proof is simply in the 0-60 times. The manual beats the automatic in the hands of a driver who really knows how to handle a manual.

Now again, in real world use, I bet you that the automatic with the pedal to the floor would beat a significant proportion of manual drivers.

Drive what makes ya happy!

 

When I had a loaner auto Clubbie S, I enjoyed just stomping on the gas and smoking people off the line without having to worry about clutch wear it was pretty quick, chirped the tires a bit.

 

I am learning how to drive a stick right now so I can get the 6-speed CMS. I'm on the fence right now because, well, I'm a slow learner, and right now, feels like this will never become second nature like everyone says it will. You guys with the "auto/paddle shifters are great" are not helping.

 

all my cars to this point have been manual, but i bought an MCS auto. i was impressed with the paddle shifters in "manual" mode. i also have a 50 mi round trip commute with a good amount of traffic... i was tired of depressing the clutch.

i am interested in trying an auto and a manual in autoX this season. i imagine the manual is a little easier and quicker for the semi-experienced driver.

 

You'll be shifting the whole time you're driving the car. You'll get good at it by sheer practice if nothing else.

 

You'll never swing people from one camp to the other on this issue, but most people that try a manual will rapidly develop the skills and it does become second nature.

The hill hold eliminates what used to be the scariest part for a new stick driver - preventing roll back on a hill as you let the clutch out. I have driven manuals for over 30 years and the MINI manual is easy and forgiving to drive.

One thing that I like about a manual is it is smooth. Some automatics seem to bring out a bit of drivetrain vibration - particularly on 4 cylinder engine transmission combos. Many don't notice it but for some reason I do.

Drive both but don't be intimidated by the initial unsuredness regarding if you'll ever master a manual. To me the biggest reason for me to switch to an automatic would be long stop and go traffic scenarios on a daily basis. I have a mix of traffic and no traffic and the fun of the manual easily wins out. if I had to spend two hours a day in heavy stop and go I'd reconsider. Good luck!

 

Thanks. I live where there's no hills, and traffic is nothing compared to major cities, and I can easily avoid most of whatever there is.

Incidentally, I was in Shanghai recently, and all the cab drivers drove VW Santana's - all manual - in heavy traffic all day long. Shanghai has 20 million people, and swells to 30 million during the work week.

 

I drove automatic first when looking at the CM All4, and it was - OK - but lacked the responsiveness I hoped for in my first MINI. I have driven Steptronic before, and the hesitations and second guessing of my requests are far from satisfying. The on-the-wheel "paddle shifters" strike me as especially poorly thought out - "real" paddle shifters are fixed behind the wheel.

Finally I was able to drive the manual, and the experience for me was completely different. I took delivery of my manual last week, and it is all that I hoped it would be - definitely the right choice for me. It makes every day a fun driving experience.

 

Manual is the norm in the rest of the world. I don't understand why, but if you ever think You will be living abroad or renting a car abroad, you need to learn how to drive stick.

I've never understood this. I have driven manuals for nearly 20 years, in some heavy traffic cities (Atlanta, Los Angeles). I have never been sore or even annoyed by having to hold in the clutch or use the clutch so much. I prefer it - it gives me something to do when I'm stuck in traffic. To each their own, I suppose.

Rolliing back on a hill *is* the one negative to a manual, although I play a game to see how quickly I can shift to start. I love the MINI's hill assist - I don't even think about hills anymore (and I live in a very hilly city).

 

One other reason (albeit superficial) to drive manual. If you're a single woman, it attracts the guys. Seriously! I've had a lot of dates where the guy is uber impressed that I drive stick.

 

I had a 2010 MCS Auto loaner while a minor problem with mini was being fixed. Sorry Dave but I can Shift MUCH faster with the manual than the Mini Auto. For me and I suspect most folks who are buying Minis, the Manual is the clear winner.

 

I believe the purpose of the on-the-wheel paddle shifters and the design (both do the same thing vs left -, right +) is for lower speed, sharper turning driving (autoX or city streets).

When on a track, a +/- steering column mounted system is idea as the wheel never turns very far one way or the other (in most cases). If it does, those paddles are generally taller.

In AutoX, speeds are lower and tight cornering is emphasized. My hypothesis is that it will be easier to drive a car with mirrored paddle shifters mounted on the wheel in AutoX than those mounted on the column. The basis: the wheel will be turning quite a bit with hands staying pretty firm, my right had might grab the left shifter during a turn and it might be nice if I could shift up or down in that situation. This is just a thought, I plan to test this out in June.