I am perhaps soon to be a MINI owner. My wife's Passat just puked the transmission and I can not come to terms spending $4,000.00 to replace the transmission on a 96 with 90k miles. My solution is to give her my 528i touring with 5 speed and sport suspension and for me to get a MINI. I have found a 05 S that has ASC rather than DSC. Is DSC an "upgrade" with yaw control etc and ASC a basic traction control. Is there any reason to hold out for DSC if everything else is "perfect?"
The car is my preferred Chili Red with black top, zenon, cold weather,
thanks for your input.

 

Yes, DSC is "ASC+T plus more" and the more is effectively yaw control.

Many people find the basic ASC+T functionality to be incredibly annoying for spririted driving... but the DSC is a life-saver under slippery conditions.

Personally I wouldn't buy a MINI without DSC. Heck, I'll never buy another car without DSC or the equivalent (since different manufacturers use different names for it). Just as long as there's the option to turn it off for track driving or more "spirited" driving in dry conditions, I think it's a must-have.

 

I would say no, but i'm sure theres other on here that would disagree.

 

I have DSC and I think it's worthwhile, but I don't know that I'd hold out for it if the car is otherwise 'perfect'.

 

We had a MINI with DSC and our current S without. I wouldn't hold out for it.

 

My previous MCS had ASC and my current has DSC. I wouldn't let it be a deal breaker.

 

I wouldn't hold out for DSC personally. I know some may disagree but I have ASC and LSD w/ my MCS & I really haven't yet been in a situation where I really felt I needed DSC or wished I had it. I'm not sure about DSC, but I really don't much like "electro-nannys". I think it might be more important w/ lots o torque (400 ft/lb+) going to a rear wheel drive car if you can't feed the throttle on rather than 162 ft/lb to the fronts.

 

It isn't about torque. It's about recovering from a slide in slippery conditions. If your MINI never sees rain or snow... or if you are an EXTREMELY careful driver in those conditions, you may think it's unnecessary.

But the first time that you slide a little more than you indended in slick conditions, and it kicks in... you'll be VERY thankful you have it. The alternative is to slide or spin and end up in an accident.

The key thing here is that DSC can do things that NO driver in the world can do (by virtue of the ability to brake ONE wheel if necessary). It's not just a "nanny". It's a life saver. No, it doesn't mean it will get you out of EVERY situation (laws of physics still apply), but it WILL save you from many situations that you would have been completely unable to save yourself from.

There's an off switch, perfect for track or dry conditions... so what's the problem with it?

I think that most naysayers have never experienced what it can really do (and no I don't mean the annoying ASC+T functions when trying to accellerate hard). And until you have, you can't appreciate how good of a system it really is.

 

It's a nanny. If my car didn't have it, I'd drive just like I did all my previous cars that didn't have it - a little slower and more carefully when conditions warranted. As it is now, I turn it off most of the time, and only leave it on when the roads are wet, only because it's there.

Just my .16 bit.

Zip

 

Edge -

Just curious, here, since I've never had DSC or the equivalent, but I might want it on my next MINI. How many times would you say you and your MINI have been in a situation where the DSC has saved you? Not trying to be a jerk, just trying to understand.

 

Don't get me wrong - I'm not knocking DSC in general, I just don't see a major need for it myself (maybe if we had a lot more snow & ice here). I agree that in very slippery conditions it could come in handy. That said, I've driven a 1st gen MR2 with almost bald tires in snow up in DC on the Beltway and came out OK when others in SUVs & 4wd were going off the road because they thought they were invincible and flying along & I was being REALLY careful & slow (like you should be in those conditions) & making sure the back end stayed behind the front end.

 

If you've found what you want I wouldn't let the lack of DSC keep you from buying it. There are folks here, me included who ordered our car without that darn thing. I don't miss it & am very happy not to have it. Good luck with your new MINI.

 

I have DSC on my MC and found it to be useful and the car to be steady in the twisties at the Dragon as well as during 2 HPDEs.

When I bought my MCS this year, I noticed it has the ASC and wondered if the car would hold the road during HPDEs as well as the MC did. I needn't have worried and drove it in 3 HPDEs after the car had gone thru its break-in period. To be sure, it is different, but I really dont see a big difference between it and the DSC on the Cooper. Of course, if I had ever driven an MCS with DSC, perhaps my opinion would be different, but I didn't, so I have to say I am satisfied with the ASC.

 

Unexpectedly... 2 or 3 times in the 22 months I've had my MINI. Each of those times, I pushed a little harder than I should have, and I KNOW I would have hit a curb/wall/car if DSC hadn't corrected it. So yes, it corrected my mistakes, I admit that.

Expectedly - EVERY time it snows. While no technology is perfect, the confidence you get from driving a MINI in snow with DSC and snow tires is awe-inspiring. The trick is to not get OVER confident... but I know I am definitely better off with it than without it.

A "nanny" is only really a "nanny" if you can't turn it off. When you have the power to disable it any time you please, then YOU have control over it... something you never get with a nanny!

If DSC is a nanny, then I'm the parent that hired the nanny, not the kid. I retain power to send the nanny home, or fire it, or whatever. But I like to have it watching over my "kid" (read: overzealous driving) when I may not be paying as much attention to the road as I should.

And don't get me started on protecting against the unexpected... sometimes no matter how careful you are, things just happen.

DSC is GOOD technology. Period. I understand complaints against the underlying ASC+T though, because I have them too.

 

I had DSC on my old MC. Now, my current MCS has only ASC. To be honest, I can't tell a difference. On the Dragon, you can go just as fast in a MC as you can in a MCS.

 

Well, you live in Florida, so you probably rarely encounter road conditions that require yaw control... and if you do (very heavy rains would probably qualify), you are probably a careful driver like you should be, so that you never triggered it.

DSC is one of those things that you never really notice, or never really think you need... until all of a sudden you DO need it, right after you say "oh crap".

 

I have ASC+T on my MCS. Last week under black-ice conditions, I was turning a corner in at my office parking lot and to my horror, the car kept going straight towards the wall.

I hit the brakes and the ABS allowed my car to steer away from the wall (just in time). Truth is, I saw the frost on the surface and should have been driving a bit slower. If I had DSC, I'm sure the DSC would have allowed my car to steer away with the adrenalin rush and the need to hit the brakes. That would be one incident in 2 years of owning my MINI that I think DSC would have been useful. Truth is, if you drive safely, you probably don't really need all the electronic nannies. But it's nice to have the safety net. How much are you willing to spend for that insurance? Having bought that safety net, does that mean you can drive like a bonehead? Some people seem to think so. Hopefully, most MINI drivers remain safe drivers.

 

I've got DSC on my '03 S, first car I've owned with it. As I've survived more than a quarter century of driving without the benefit of yaw control on my other vehicles I wouldn't call it a deal breaker. Sure it's nice to have, and for spirited driving in the rain I can help to correct an over/under steering situation, but like all things electro-mechanical it will eventually break and who knows if a replacement will be affordable when it does. As you yourself stated, it's not worth springing $4k for a tranny on a 90k mile VW, don't let DCS be a reason to buy/not buy your next ride.

 

Another point: Keep in mind that the government (NHTSA) has proposed a new rule that all new cars will require Electronic Stability Control (ESC) technology as standard, starting with model year 2012. ESC is the generic term, different manufacturers use their own terms (e.g. StabiliTrak, AdvanceTrak, ESP, VSA, VDC, IVD, VDIM, PSM...). BMW/MINI uses... you guessed it, DSC.

Just as airbags became a "must have" feature for buying and selling cars even before it was a mandate, I believe ESC technology will become that way too. When the public catches on to the benefits of the technology, it could become a feature that makes or brakes the sale of a used car.

It isn't something to sneeze at. Would you buy a car that didn't have seatbelts or airbags?

Sources: NHTSA (pdf), BusinessWeek

 

Of Course I would, and Do. MG is part of my nomdeplume and soul. No MGA came with seatbelts, nor back-up / reverse lights, and airbags hadn't even been invented. Earlier models came with traficators, as turn signals weren't an option circa 1949.

 

LOL point well taken... perhaps I should have put in "unless you're collecting classic cars" before my statement.

 

Classic Cars

 

My Cooper has factory installed LSD. Does that mean the car does not have ASC?

 

What year? IIRC, ASC comes will all 2nd Generation MINIs. It cuts engine power when drive wheels spin under acceleration.

LSD will usually delay the intervention of ASC, but it will be still be there to bog the engine down when you put too much pedal down on that left turn in front of oncoming traffic in the rain.

 

mine is a 2006.