I think heel-toe is great to learn. period. However, there are appropriate times to learn it. Learning in the city during rushour draffic, flying off an off ramp into thick traffic is a BAD time to learn...Lucky for me, I work 3rd shift so when I drive NO one is on the streets so I feel it is more of an appropriate time to learn. Better still, learn in an empty lot or on the track

To MrCooperS,
I've never driven a car with a lightweight flywheel so I can't speak from experience. However, I would think it would be like learning to use a clutch pedal for the first time again. Maybe you chould try parking on some flat (non-inclined) road and while in first with the clutch pedal depressed, slowly release the pedal to reconnect the engine to the drive-train so you can get a better feel for the engage point. You'll probably stall it a few times but once you feel where it engages, you'll know when to start giving it gas.
I'd avoid dumping the clutch for sure as well as allowing it to slip for more than a second so you don't roast your plates. You're just gonna have to play around with it tell you can feel it out.
Hope that helps.

 

Does anyone do the ebrake trick on inclines? If you are on a steep incline, hold the ebrake, give it some gas, and release the clutch a bit. When you feel the clutch start to grab, release the ebrake and you are off without rolling backwards. I was visiting a few friends in ireland and learned it from them.

My girlfirends parking spot is on a super steep hill and I have to park right off of her bumper to fit in the driveway. I work this magic so I don't ram her car. Probably not the greatest for the clutch, but definitely better for the bumper.

 

I used to do that on just about every old car I had. With the second gen MINI you don't need to (assuming it has DSC). The hill assist function will do the same thing, holding your car for about two seconds. Even seems to work on the auto transmission cars which will also roll if the hill is steep enough.

 

after reading some of the post it just reminded me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwG6XF_q138

 

That's not a trick, its a standard hill start. You can't get a licence in Britain without being able to do that.

 

I can heel-toe now but not as quick as he does. Still learning how much throttle to give. Don't wanna raise RPMs too much but deffinately want to raise them enough. It seems like it would be easier in an S being forced induction or would that not make much of a difference?

 

Yes, that is proper technique.

 

+1

I read that someone on the net before I learned how to drive manual and I use that as a standard hill start on anything that is too much of a incline. I think it's a great technique because it WORKS and there's nothing 'noob' about it.

 

All of my cars have been manuals. I learned to hold a hill by using the clutch momentarily, or for longer, the brakes and then the clutch. I had been driving manual transmissions for several years (late 70's) before I heard about using the emergency brake to hold the hill. Although I used it enough to perfect the technique, I tend not to use it much. With the MINI, the hill-hold feature seems a bit of an annoyance...

 

.....but it sure saves on the clutch wear and tear.

 

My Isuzu Trooper went 140,000 before it needed a clutch and I drove it the same way...

 

4wd truck clutch vs our light weight clutch........wonder which one was built tougher?

 

something to consider though is that the truck itself weights more than a light car. So, wouldn't the clutch need to be built tougher to endure the extra weight and torque that a truck has vs. a lighter, smaller car?

 

It's relative. Could also be a function of driving technique.

The MINI is not an econobox. I would expect that from General Motors, but not BMW.

 

I found this interesting site that calculates shift points:
http://www.my330i.com/gears.php#A

I was under the impression that running up to red line in every gear was the best for acceleration since peak HP was at redline.

According to this, there are specific shift points to maximize the peak torque at 4000 RPM

RPM 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
7500 48.07 76.52 101.98 124.43 150.73 183.92
7000 44.87 71.41 95.18 116.13 140.68 171.66
6500 41.66 66.31 88.38 107.84 130.63 159.40
6000 38.46 61.21 81.58 99.54 120.58 147.13
5500 35.25 56.11 74.78 91.25 110.54 134.87
5000 32.05 51.01 67.98 82.95 100.49 122.61
4500 28.84 45.91 61.19 74.66 90.44 110.35
4000 25.64 40.81 54.39 66.36 80.39 98.09
3500 22.43 35.71 47.59 58.07 70.34 85.83
3000 19.23 30.61 40.79 49.77 60.29 73.57
2500 16.02 25.51 33.99 41.48 50.24 61.31
2000 12.82 20.40 27.19 33.18 40.19 49.04
1500 9.61 15.30 20.40 24.89 30.15 36.78
1000 6.41 10.20 13.60 16.59 20.10 24.52

To upshift into your torque peak, you need to shift out of each gear at these RPMs:

SHIFT> 6366 6500 4881 3278 4881your torque peak, you need to shift out

EDit: The data didn't look right at first so I looked into it and it turns out the 6 speed uses two different final gear ratios. 3rd and 4th are the same ratio as 5th and 6th but use a different final gear ratio. Strange. I re-ran the calculator with the other final hear ration and copied the 3rd and 4th data over.

So now the data looks correct, but why is recommending those shift points? The speeds for those shift points would be
40mph 66mph 64mph 55mph 117mph

 

There's something funny about that table... 3rd and 4th have the same data as 5th and 6th!

 

Apparently, there are are two different final gear ratios. 1, 2, 5, and 6 use one while 3, 4, and R use the other. I fixed the data.

 

Ok, it makes a little more sense now after reading this http://www.allpar.com/eek/hp-vs-torque.html. That calcuator is just showing at what RPM you upshift from a gear to the peak torque spot on the next gear. The peak torque spot is where you will get the most acceleration in that gear.

 

so its shift into second at like 40!? for max torque? that seems nuts lol