I think if the new Mini's where available with auto, AND LSD, I would possibly be talked into 1.... but why no LSD with auto? It's not like BWM does not have cars with auto and LSD, in fact they have cars with AWD and LSD, and auto (what is it, the 328tx, or something?)....

 

Same thing I'm wondering. I really want the LSD, but need the auto. Very strange and kind of annoying.

 

The LSD is in the trans,maybe there is no room because of the torque converter.

 

BMW currently has no cars that come with auto and LSD. In fact the only cars that come with a traditional LSD are all M cars. The chances of MINI using the engineering money to create the Auto/LSD combo (considering how small the market would be worldwide) are next to nothing.

 

+1 to that

 

the reason is with BMW cars, the diff is in the rear and not connected to the transmission. With the mini, the LSD is in the transimission and im sure the auto just wont allow for a LSD to fit inside the allotted space.

 

It probably also has to do with the general philosophy of LSD being a "performance" option, and the general European perception that those who buy an automatic are not as performance-oriented. They probably didn't consider any additional development time and money to be worth it.

The same line of thinking also explains why the JCW suspension was never made available for the convertibles, etc.

Is it really that surprising that the full "performance" stuff is only available on hardtop, manual transmission MINIs? (OEM, not aftermarket, obviously)

 

i'm more surprised that automatic driving MINI owners would miss an LSD, to be perfectly honest.

overall, i'm pretty impressed with the OEM DSC and can understand why some people might opine that the LSD is not a "must-have" option. it was pretty darn hard for me to find a MINI on a dealer lot with the LSD option, too.

 

It's the philosophy of ROI and the bottom line. If BMW could offer LSD with slush-boxes and make a profit, they would. Yes, it really is that simple.