I'm still learning the nature of my 2011 Chilli Red Mini Cooper S that I picked up 2 weeks ago.
The sport button feature is really slick. It changes steering rate, throttle response and exhaust "note".
Specifically, the muffler lets out a small series of back-fires when the throttle is eased up.
Does anyone know if this intentional flatulance is harmful to the engine or exhaust system components over time?

Now, about those Kamikaze Reindeer:

My wife and I were returning home Saturday evening around 11:00 p.m. after celebrating Christmas at a freind's house. I had just turned onto our road, approaching a bridge that crosses a small river near our house. As I drove across the bridge, I noticed something/someone standing alongside the bridge about mid span. As we drove closer it turned out to be two large doe (not reindeer). The deer were startled by our appearance and I slammed on the brakes and sounded my horn to encourage them to move off. Not a good idea on a bridge.
The deer were corralled by the bridge railing and the passenger side of my brand new Mini Cooper.
The bridge surface was covered with ice and snow and the two deer were nothing but flying hooves as they tried to flee. The first one got traction and ran further down along and off the bridge. The other was just a blur of hooves, eyes and white tail spinning towards the side of the now completely stopped car. Wham! a broadside hit! My wife screamed as I attempted to pull away, the deer now on it's side, still flailing next to the car.
I started to drive away to put some distance between the Mini and the deer.
It was only a quarter mile to the house. My wife was bummed. "Why did you beep the horn?" was all she could say. I don't blame her. In retrospect, it was not a good idea. I told her it was only a car, and the non-metallic Chilli Red paint would match up well once the car was repaired.
I parked in the driveway and used the headlights of our other car to survey the damage to our brand new Mini.
I couldn't find any damage. Nothing! Not a dimple or a dent or a scratch or a ding. Not a crack in the plastic or a misplaced mirror. The poor animal must have just bumped us with it side flank, no muzzle or hoof marks. Good thing it was a doe, and not a buck with a rack.
No damage, I couldn't believe it. When morning came, I drove down to a carwash to clean up the car and have a closer look, expecting to find something.
Not a scratch. It must have been a reindeer.

 

Wow very lucky.

 

Excellent choice, excellent choice. I picked up my 2011 Chili Red Mini Cooper S 4 weeks ago. And no, the neat exhaust popping is not harmful IMHO.

Question ??? What kind of car wash you taking your MSC to ??? I normally handwash but its been sorta cold lately and was wondering what kind of Commercial carwash would be safe for the Mini.

Curious, what happened to the deer ????? Venison Stew ???

 

Set it to sport function then put some tape over the button saying "Do Not Remove". What you are enjoying is the 'burble' us folk with older models have enjoyed without having to push a button. It's just there. It is a programmed element that was removed for a season or two then re-installed I would guess because it shouldn't have been removed in the first place but now you have to jump through hoops to get it.

You will get a lot of negative reactions to the car wash. Hand washing is all mine gets. When it is too cold for a bath, I use Griot's spray on car wash which is spray on wipe off or if it is just a little dusty, a California Duster or Griot's Speed Shine. There are several other brands of car care and everybody has their favorite.

As far as the deer are concerned, any time you walk in on a group of women who think they are alone you will get just the same reaction.

 

I agree that hand washing is best, but we have been averaging 20 degrees arond here lately. There is a no-touch laser wash near my home that also has an under body wash feature.
I just select the basic wash setting to keep the road salt off of the car. The drying blower gets the car almost completely dry so there are no big freeze-up concerns once the water/soap/rinse cycles are done. No contact is made with the car.
I spent a good part of my professional life designing painting sytems for automotive assembly plants/paint shops. Modern automotive paint systems are very impressive. It is a combination of pre-treated steel goods, e-coat, primers, waterborne basecoats and 2 component clearcoats. Even with the most modern finishing technology, salt is still public enemy #1.
BTW, about 25-33% of the cost of manufacturing a car is directly related to the finishing process, including energy required for sealer, e-coat, primer and top coat ovens.
It is no wonder that John DeLorean built a stainless steel car. He just need to invest in a sealer deck and oven, no other finishing equipment and energy costs required.

 

Wow, that is luck! I had a similar thing happen once early in the morning on my way to college. I was driving my mom's Nissan Frontier truck however, but two deer in the middle of the road, and one ran into the drivers side door. I didn't see the deer hurt in the rearview mirror, but when I arrived at school I checked to see the damage was only minimal when it sounded pretty bad.... Anyway, glad to hear to your relief that there wasn't any damage to your MCS!

How often do you keep the sport mode on? I agree, the burble pop sound is addicting! Also to hear the diverter valve is pretty neat too don't think it does any damage so enjoy it!