R55 the Sport button
2nd Gear
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 137
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I may be in a different camp. I love the throttle response in all types of traffic with the button on, but hate the firm steering in city traffic. I have come very close to stalling the car when forgetting to turn the button on after startup. I wish there was a way to permanently make the throttle sporty and keep the steeriing light. I understand the JCW Stage 1 kit may make this happen by adjusting the throttle response, but not changing the steering.
6th Gear
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,287
Likes: 0
From: Maine
I may be in a different camp. I love the throttle response in all types of traffic with the button on, but hate the firm steering in city traffic. I have come very close to stalling the car when forgetting to turn the button on after startup. I wish there was a way to permanently make the throttle sporty and keep the steeriing light. I understand the JCW Stage 1 kit may make this happen by adjusting the throttle response, but not changing the steering.
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,283
Likes: 37
From: Honolulu Hawaii
I forgot about automatics vs. manuals when I posted. Mine is an automatic, non S, which puts it in last place in the race. So Sport mode keeps the gearing quite a bit lower, and one sees the mpg meter go right down. Steering is tighter. I think it must be more of a change for us automatic folk. Sometimes I'll use the paddle shifter to try to ease it into 6th gear, but back to M5 it goes after a few seconds.
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1st Gear
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: Buffalo, NY
I may be in a different camp. I love the throttle response in all types of traffic with the button on, but hate the firm steering in city traffic. I have come very close to stalling the car when forgetting to turn the button on after startup. I wish there was a way to permanently make the throttle sporty and keep the steeriing light.
It seems that there is a design potential to allow the user to tune the driving experience much as one would adjust an equalizer in a stereo... and perhaps save a number of different settings for certain driving conditions. So if these adjustments were split up and moved into the settings menu, you could buy a mini and tune its drivability to suit your personality just as we do by choosing the colors and bling...
Or maybe it could be a whole row of levers underneath the window and light levers... steering, acceleration, clutch, turbo... my kids would love playing with them while I'm driving down the road...
Thanks for all the good (and funny) posts on the button!
Alan
This is a little OT, but when we test drove the automatic, (hardtop), I kept going the wrong direction when I tried to shift with the paddles or by bumping the lever, so I was a little like a student driver. And so, six-speed it was!
6th Gear
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,287
Likes: 0
From: Maine
I had the same issue in my wife's car... not on the paddle, but with the stick. It was the opposite of my Murano. In the Murano, down was a down shift and up was an upshift... opposite of the 04 CVT.
3rd Gear
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 265
Likes: 0
From: Port Hudson, LA
I'm doing the exact same thing. I've driven standards for years, but neither the paddles nor the shift **** are intuitive for me as far as direction. I also think it has something to do with not being able to feel what gear you're in by where your hand rests on the stick.
2nd Gear
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
From: Wheaton, IL
I don't seem to see anyone commenting much on the suspension side.....how does the "button" impact ride and handling...define it any way you like. Could you all expand a bit. My 06MCS has a pretty harsh ride...I am fine with it...no complaints.....it is so, so, so much better than my 77 Mini 1000 but just curious
Tom in Wheaton, IL
Tom in Wheaton, IL
2nd Gear
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
From: Wheaton, IL
I hope this doesn't post twice..seems like the first one went into Qheaven...
I don't see anyone talking much about the suspension...harsh / soft / how the "button" effects it.......My 06MCS is pretty harsh...I am fine with it, no complaints, just curious..In any case it is much better than my 77 Mini 1000
Tom in Wheaton, IL
I don't see anyone talking much about the suspension...harsh / soft / how the "button" effects it.......My 06MCS is pretty harsh...I am fine with it, no complaints, just curious..In any case it is much better than my 77 Mini 1000
Tom in Wheaton, IL
3rd Gear
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 292
Likes: 0
From: Central Florida
I found I get better gas mileage while driving my auto in manual mode with or without the sport button. That's because i can shift sooner than the auto would and therefore keep the rpms lower and save gas. Mine holds 6th gear with no problem, might be due to the S having more horsepower. Even though in manual mode it normally starts in 2nd gear, you can still downshift to 1st if you needed to, just FYI...
We thought we had just discovered something really fantastic about our new Clubman, and were getting ready to start a thread about it when my hubby ran across your post. 
Our fuel economy has been really bad around town even though we're quite easy on the throttle (18-20mpg 
). We've attributed that to the fact that most all our driving is real "city" which is bunched very close together with lots of "stop and go" for lights, signs, traffic, and brief errands. (The car does great out on the open road; 36-40mpg). This weekend we started experimenting with the "manual" mode and what a difference! By shifting sooner manually, the instantaneous mpg on the tach. goes way up, plus it's even more fun to drive! "M5" seems to be the perfect gear for most around town driving, saving "M6" for above 40mph. (No need to extole the virtues of a stick-shift; our other car is a 5-speed Miata which is a blast to drive. However, we decided in this busy city it's smart to have one automatic between us for certain situations.
) Now that we know we can tweak a bit more out of the auto. around town, we'll add in the "sport button" for an even more fun ride, and hopefully not lose too much in terms of mpg's. Wow, it just keeps getting better and better!
Six weeks of driving here, one long trip, about 1800 miles on the odie... I am having a great time (though my neighbors think I am nuts, out with a microfiber towel blotting raindrops in the rain!).
I'm curious what you think about the sport button? I've had a sport mode before on other cars, but never engaged it. The word from Ray at Towne Mini during my orientation was that fuel economy was noticeably better with sport engaged, so I gave it a try early on. I liked the tighter steering response, and the throttle seemed more alive, also a bit hotter. In normal mode I felt a slight lag in response when pressing the accelerator. So I got used to engaging sport when starting out. The hot throttle is now just nice and sensitive, kind of like in the movies where the burglar sands his fingertips to feel the tumblers on the safe... I can drive it gently and smooth or firm and fast in Sport mode. I like it.
Today I gave the non-sport mode another go (it is a small annoyance to have to remember to push the little button with each start). I found that I hated it more than I remember. It felt as if I had given the car an anti-histamine... the throttle response and steering seemed kind of dull, muffled and vague. The sport mode should be the default and the button should be set to engage "un-fun."
There are a number of threads on this button on the R56, but I wonder what my fellow clubby drivers think? Have you noticed a difference in gas consumption? More efficiency in Sport mode seems like a free lunch... is that possible?
cheers,
Alan
I'm curious what you think about the sport button? I've had a sport mode before on other cars, but never engaged it. The word from Ray at Towne Mini during my orientation was that fuel economy was noticeably better with sport engaged, so I gave it a try early on. I liked the tighter steering response, and the throttle seemed more alive, also a bit hotter. In normal mode I felt a slight lag in response when pressing the accelerator. So I got used to engaging sport when starting out. The hot throttle is now just nice and sensitive, kind of like in the movies where the burglar sands his fingertips to feel the tumblers on the safe... I can drive it gently and smooth or firm and fast in Sport mode. I like it.
Today I gave the non-sport mode another go (it is a small annoyance to have to remember to push the little button with each start). I found that I hated it more than I remember. It felt as if I had given the car an anti-histamine... the throttle response and steering seemed kind of dull, muffled and vague. The sport mode should be the default and the button should be set to engage "un-fun."
There are a number of threads on this button on the R56, but I wonder what my fellow clubby drivers think? Have you noticed a difference in gas consumption? More efficiency in Sport mode seems like a free lunch... is that possible?
cheers,
Alan
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