A poll just out of curiosity. I know most car forums consist of complaints, as "happy campers" don't participate. I'm a "happy camper" that reads this forum regularly as I own and love Mini stories and projects. It seems to me that a lot of issues may or may not be related to driving habits ... specifically red-lining the engine. I'll go first. I don't redline my cars. My 07 MCS vert had zero problems for 8 years and was never red-lined. My 16 MCS has had zero problems and red-lined once to escape an 18 wheeler who didn't think I was fit to live. Usually let it shift itself around 3500 rpm. Weekends and twisties and I use the paddles to around 5,000 rpm. Now it's your turn:

1. PEDAL TO THE METAL
2. THERE IS NOTHING BELOW THE REDLINE
3. ONCE IN A WHILE
4. RARELY
5. NEVER. I'M KEEPING MY MINI

 

A question for the question, you have a stick or an auto?

 

Auto with paddle shifters. Use paddles on weekend twisty hunting. Sorry I didn't mention that. However, in my formative years, I drove nothing but sticks and never red-lined those ... except for xCrossing.

 

1. Pedal to the metal!

What's the fun in having a performance car if I don't use it?

 

I'm not saying don't use it. I have a blast using an arbitrary 5,000 rpm redline. Could care less about straight line performance or zero to 60 times.

 

I need to go do the datalogging and calculations to verify this, on my MCS (no tune yet) my track experience is that I'm better off shifting between 5500-6000 than going all the way to redline at 6500. That would probably change with a tune though.

 

4. RARELY and usually by accident or accident avoidance. More traffic equals less opportunity for all out driving. In fact if it wasn't for having a fun car I wouldn't enjoy driving at all. Most of my drive time is taken up avoiding texters.

 

I sendom redline my car (on purpose). I seldom look at my tach. In the Mini I always short shift 1st. I shift when the car sounds/feels right.

Been doing it this way for 50+ years and see no reason to change now.

 

Am I correct in assuming that you can only go over the redline in a automatic when in paddle shifting mode?

For me relative to redlining, I had two Gen1 Honda S2000s that had a 9,000 RPM redline. Kinda of spoiled me forever so yes I have hit the limiter more than once in my R52 and with a RMW Cam, IMO the car revs up faster. I can tell you that the limiter works quite well. Thinking the only time you can do real damage is over reving on a missed down shirt.

 

If it was not safe for the the engine to operate up to the rpm red line, then the red line would be lower.

 

Right??? The arbitrary 5,000rpm OP refers to will blow up some motors and not even wake others. My 2ZZ doesn't kick into the fun cam until over 6,000rpm. It's crazy how much money people spend for more power when all they have to do is floor it and shift later. But enough of that soap box...

 

Am assuming (guessing) that the rev limiter works in sport mode using the paddle shifters.

 

The paddles are just suggestions. The algorithm for the shift points just takes those into consideration and will ignore them if it is dangerous.

 

The point I am trying to clarify is whether with the automatic one can even exceed the red line limit.

Yes, I know that I ask allot of questions. Old habits die hard as in what I did for a living they saved my butt numerous times.

 

Real cars don't shift by themselves...

 

Rev limiter kicks in and you hear the whine (sorry borrowed that) and you feel embarrassed about that situation, until you realize that was the least of your problems. Don't know at what RPM's this happens because eyes were focused on potential crash victims. lol

 

3. Once in a while I get as close to redline as I can.

My R53 auto shifts at, or slightly before redline automatically, even if in sport/manual mode. I try to shift a little sooner as it's annoying to pull the paddle only to have TCU beat you to it. You also have to watch your downshifts because you can slightly beat the TCU and then end up a gear lower than you were planning. I wish I had a real MINI so I wouldn't have to make these compromises.

Whine, I don't think it's even possible to hit the rev limiter with the auto, unless the TCU or trans has an issue and doesn't shift, or you rev it in P or N.

 

The "sweet spot" is where the hp line crosses the torque line but, if you're tracking the car, you will see redline and, if you have a tune, you may raise the redline a few hundred rpm. As long as your engine is at full operating temperature, you're not going to abuse it by running up to redline in 3rd, 4th or 5th gear. Would love to see redline in 6th but haven't found a track with a long enough straight!

 

Not exactly... The shifting sweet spot is different for every car, and would ideally be calculated from your dyno curves.

Here's Exactly When You Should Upshift for the Fastest Acceleration:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...-acceleration/

 

Ah. I thought this was a tongue-in-cheek thread. Hence my answer.

There's more to engine longevity than avoiding redline. Let it warm up so the oil reaches the viscosity level the engine was designed to pump. Don't bog the engine at low RPMs (or any, really). Run the engine long enough to boil off and eject condensation inside; avoid regular super-short (3–5 minute) minute drives. Change the oil regularly, and check it between changes. Use decent quality gasoline. Drive it hard enough to burn off carbon build-up. Don't drive it so hard you start losing power to heat soak. Let the engine run before turning it off to help the turbo cool down (not a big deal on modern MINIs, which have electric oil pumps which continue to run after you turn off the engine, for exactly this purpose). Use the spark plugs specified by the manufacturer or better; don't cheap out.

Avoiding redline is far from the top of that list. If you're taking good care of your engine, it's not on the list at all.

My opinions are free and worth what you paid for them

 

3. Once in a while, just recently going up to about 5k before shifting and that's because my commute to work is only about 5-7 minutes.

 

This started out as a poll, something that has not been seen too much of late, but has evolved into much more. Some good discussions here.

 

I'll start by saying, I'm new to the mini world (coupla months). An old American car guy taking a chance. Yea, old in years too..!

That said, years back I built, tuned and drove a Pro-Gas (Drag Race class) Anglia (English Ford), (with others help obviously). That class is a 9.80 second class. The Anglia has only a 90" wheel base, so it shorter and narrower than a current Mini Cooper.
I drove the car for a long time "without" a tachometer. As "vetsvette" (above) said, by the seat of my pants. I was accurate to a coupla thousands on any given day (5 to 10 runs). My friends convinced me to install a tach. I bought one of Autometers 5" diameter tacks and mounted it so it was as obvious as it could be in the lower center of the windshield.
I tried shifting by the tach. on two separate outings. I couldn't put three runs together within 3 hundredths ! I removed the tach..!

Now being 6' tall, I can only see the lower half of the tach. in my 05, JCW Mini...so yea, you guessed it...the Mini Cooper tachometer is all but useless to me. I drive the Mini the same way I've driven all of the manual shift cars in my past...by the various senses (feel, sound, etc.) that my parents gave me at the time of conception.

So far, it's a fun little car.

Mike

 

Most will never know just how well the MINI performs. Some twisties and 2nd gear will put an unbelievable grin on your face.

Unless you have a "slightly" modded Gen3 as vetsvette and then you can just drive around all day in 3rd gear . . . . . .