Had my CMS for a couple of weeks now. Two days ago I found myself stopped at a light on a rather steep incline. When trying to pull away, I didn't give quite enough juice and the car stalled on me. I've drive manual shifts for decades and have always been good at hill starts with a little handbrake/throttle coordination. The CMS Hill Assist needs some getting used to.

I couldn't feel the grip point of the clutch as I feathered the clutch pedal up while feathering the gas pedal down, so the stall happened.
Restarted with handbrake on, clutch on, then heavy on the gas while releasing the handbrake...in my hurry to get off the hill, I over rev'd and over held the clutch slipping so got a nasty clutch burn smell for the next 20 minutes.

At that rev level and clutch engagement, I was expecting a sudden surge of a pull away, but once the clutch was fully out, it felt like an automatic...car slowly coming up to speed, no wheel chirp...most curious.

 

I'm going to raise some ire and postulate that the hill holder is not the root of the problem. What did you drive before and what do you expect from the CM? MINI refers to the size of the vehicle, the amount of HP, and the acceleration for our vehicles. You may just need to lower your expectations and be a little patient getting to know your MINI. It's all about the drive.

Good luck and Happy Motoring!

 

I find this clutch to be different than most I have driven. Owned 2 Miata's, a VW GTI, a Mitsubishi Starion (remember those) and even a Saturn Vue - all manual trannies. I've had my CM for close to two months and I even just recently stalled it on a flat surface. If you read any of the online blogs and reviews you will find similar expieriences.

Like anything however, I'm convinced I will get better over time. It'll just take some getting used to.

On another note, this is the only car I've ever owned that has to be in first during a rolling stop. I was trying to teach my wife how to drive a stick and I told her NEVER go
in to first unless at a complete stop... (cars I've owned in the past wouldn't even allow it). Well, the more I drive this car the more I realize that is wrong. 2nd is geared (too high?) when doing a rolling stop. Anyone else notice this?

 

I was driving up Lombard street in SF toward the top of the hill where the famous twisty part comes down. On that stretch there's a stop sign at the top of every block. I was new to the Hill Assist but after screwing up on the first startup it worked great every other time. The Mazda 3 behind me didn't do so well. Apparently intimidated by both the steepness of the hill, stopping on the hill, the closeness of the (foolish) car behind, and the need to stop at the top at each intersection, he spun his wheels on every advance. You could hear the roaring engine and the screeching tires every time he moved. He made it to the top, but without any grace or apparent skill.
I think the CM4 did fine.

 

After posting I gave it some rethought and wanted to edit the title to "Hill Assist Messed ME up" but it was too late to edit.

My previous manual shift drives include: Ford Escort, VW Rabbit GTI, VW VR6 Corrado, VW Beetle TDI, MCS.

I agree that it may take time to re-learn how to pull off a good hill start with Hill assist. The old cues from manual handbrake/clutch/Gas coordination are no longer the same.

 

First of all, I will say that I love this car. The clutch is the only mechanical thing I would like to see changed though. (The dent in the hood from the dealer is the other thing I need changed...)
What I find difficult to get used to is the lack of feel until the hill holder lets go. I have always driven manual cars for over 30 years, and this is the first one that tries to 'assist'. If anything, it makes things worse for me. You come to a stop. The hill holder kicks in. When you are ready to go, it is impossible to feather the clutch while slightly applying more power. The slight feathering of the clutch gives no response until the car decides to let off the brake on it's own. When it lets go, you have not moved, you can't feel whether or not the clutch disc has begun to transfer power to the wheels, because the brake stops them from moving until it says it is time. You end up over reving, or stalling. I haven't stalled yet, but I have over-reved things a couple of times. I'd like to know how to disable this feature, so I can get back to driving a clutch the way I always did.

Mark

 

Thanks Mark...thati s exactly what happened in my recent stall.

I believe you can disable the HA by deactivating the traction control (toggle button down on the center console panel). Apparently HA is applied for 2 sec after the foot brake is released...but not sure if that's precise and I know I'm not going to time 2sec with any accuracy while focussing on gas/clutch coordination.

 

I too have been tripped up by the clutch and throttle. I've decided I just need to give her more gas and let it rip :-)

FYI with my MCS I notice the back end squats down when I engage the parking brake and a smaller version of this squat occurs with the hill assist.

 

Mark Bielick,
Can you not drive the car without the hill assist by stepping off of the brake pedal at least two seconds before you want to take off? To keep the car from moving backwards use the hand brake instead of the foot brake until you are ready to take off.

 

Same story here. Hill Assist messed me up a few times. You'll get used to it.

 

well speaking as the one who stalled it driving off the lot.... i found i just have to learn to give it more throttle than other cars i've driven, and the clutch is extremely forgiving. the hill assist works great for me, the time it holds is just enough to give it plenty of throttle as i pull off the clutch. seems like the steeper the hill the smoother the take off, my biggest issue is the short incline in front of my garage door, if i have to stop to wait for the door i always feel like i'm gonna shoot thru the back of the garage as i feather the clutch

 

It is easy to stall this car. I think the main reason is the gearing. First gear is fairly steep. Reverse is way too steep (fast). It takes a bit of travel on the foot pedal to throttle it up and so you tend to bog it down. As for hill holder, it works great on ours, very predictable. Two seconds and it releases, or as soon as you move forward.