Yup....if you "float gears", aka shift without a clutch on a NON- SYNCHRONIZED TRANNY....

 

Thanks Kyoo.

I'm practicing shifting at around 3k for every gear. Seems to keep it smooth. Although I feel the MINI gets mad at me sometimes because he wants more rpm and feels I'm selling him short. I'm gonna take a peak under the car now, to make certain it's still dry. I shouldn't see any glossiness or sweating under there (fingers crossed).

Regards,
David

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Update: OK, still no oil, sweat or leakage (fingers crossed). I'm guessing if this was going to start leaking it would have by now. Unless if course it's an extremely slooooooow leak.

I'll keep monitoring it weekly and see.

Regards,
David

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Posted online .. pretty good read: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...4223649AARKkEN

In this article, one an tell by simply looking at the image which car was chosen for the picture (smile): http://jalopnik.com/5923247/how-to-d...shift-properly

Regards,
David

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David if you are still having shifting issues find a friend you trust and that can drive a stick shift and ask them to drive your MINI. That way they can tell you if it is responding properly or if it has an issue. Drive your MINI a little harder now so that later on in its life it is not a dog. I used to drive hundreds of cars a year and could always tell which ones were driven very easy while they were being broken in. Those were the ones that could not get out of their own way when you tried to accelerate quickly. As far as your fuel, use what the manufacturer suggests. They did the testing and knows what make the car run the best. Just to give you an idea of this thinking my son races motocross. I have been going directly to VP Race Fuels to buy our race fuel. I bought a 2014 Honda CRF250R race bike and went down to talk to the VP rep. I asked him to set us up with the correct fuel. After telling him that it was a stock bike he told me to run pump gas and what ever Honda suggested as far as octane. He had the chance to sell me fuel at close to $20 a gallon but told me to follow the manufactures recommendations. With that said, don't be afraid to try different fuels like others have said here. A few points in octane is not going to cause a huge problem. If the car starts running poorly start filling your tank with what is recommended as soon as you can. That will dilute the octane down and get it back to what it likes or needs. Just my thoughts.

 

^ good idea

 

Thanks Mib4840,

That's good advice my friend. Our Director here at the office is an avid manual driver. He drives an Audi and I've seen him make that thing fly and shift seamlessly. I'll ask him to give my MINI a run.

As far as the gas. The owner's manual calls for 91 with 89 minimum. Problem is only one gas station where I live actually carries 91 grade. That being Sunoco. However, Sunoco is not listed as a TopTier merchant. :(

Thoughts?

Regards,
David

 

Those "crash boxes" are pretty rare these days. Even more so if you don't count big trucks.

I've driven a "dog box" that was built specifically to allow clutch-less upshifts. It was lots of fun, but you couldn't shift into first at a stop without a loud crunch. And it was a race car, with all of the frequent service and rebuilds that race cars receive. (And it was tons of fun, BTW.)

 

OK, it is done!

Today I took a leap forward and decided to feed my MINI Sunoco Premium 91 Octane gas. This octane is exactly what the owners manual calls. Except the for the "S" models which they recommend you use 93. My MINI is a base hardtop, so 91 went in.

As an added measure (at $14.00 bucks) I added the product listed below to my Sunoco tank-full. I figure $14.00 bucks is not bad every 3K miles for added protection. Of course, if I notice any adversity I'll certainly let you guys know. Besides, I received a Sunoco credit card and it shaves 5 cents off every gallon of gas when I use it. This means instead of $4.01 per gallon, I paid $3.96 and since I have it setup as auto pay (in full) it will be without interest.

I researched this product and it received great reviews by both MINI and BMW owners. . In fact, someone posted the MINI fuel cleaner additive is actually the same product under a different label.

Anyone ever use this product?

Regards,
David

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Most of the major fuel companies put cleaning additives in their fuel that does the same thing (ex shell v power). I don't think its necessary but it certainly wont hurt anything and if it means you can stop worrying about gas and drive your damn car already I say go for it lol

 

lol. Amen to that brother Andy. Amen to that, my friend.

Time to MOTOR!!!

Regards,
David

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