Has anyone driven the new MCS w/ Tiptronic? This will be a requirement as it will be another family car which all members will need to drive. Any impressions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I have one. Only have 350 miles so far but its a very good automatic.
Shifts responsively and downshifts as you slow down. I have not spent much time in SPORT or full manual trying to respect the break in but I think
it will be fun to learn its nuances. Way better than CVT I just traded.

 

We love ours! Paddles are really fun, especially in sport mode. We have about 2K miles so far and the car has been flawless. Oh, and by the way, it is really quick!

 

Although I don't have an MCS, I do have the automatic in a Cooper. After 1200 miles of motoring since Tuesday 2 July, I have some very positive impressions about the automatic transmissions in the MINIs.

1) In "pure" automatic mode, the Cooper transmission is smooth and she pulls very powerfully up hills, even in cruise. I've yet to feel a lack of power, and that's with freeway traffic in Dallas, St Louis, and Louisville, KY, to merge, manuever.

2) Using the manual mode, and the sport mode button, she is a bat out of he...

3) Just using manual mode without the sport mode, she is simply amazing. All of the fun (IMHO, this is just me) of a 6 speed without clutch fatigue (for the over 50 crowd).

4) Sport paddles are my least used mode. Probably because I've driven stick for so long that it is intuitive to reach for the shifter. They DO work, though.
My teen age son told me these shifters are the future. But years of reaching for a stick leads me to the manual shifting mode.

 

In my opinion it took a lot of fun out of the car. It just makes it feel more like an appliance for getting to and from places and not something that allows you to enjoy the drive. I find driving stick is much more engaging and take my MCS out for a drive when I have nowhere to go, I wouldn't do that if I had an MCSa. Maybe you can convince other members of your family to learn to drive stick, maybe they can take lessons, it's not very difficult anyone should be able to get the basics down in a few days driving an hour a day.

Also since it's an automatic transmission that uses a torque converter unlike the BMW SMG or the VW DSG it does rob engine power.

But this is just my opinion there are plenty of people that love their MCSa as much as I love my MCS.

 

i enjoyed driving stick for about a decade and then when daily traffic got too difficult, i switched to an auto-box.

the auto box in the mcsa is tuned to retain the fun factor - it downshifts and drags when slowing down, paddle shifting in an instant gives manual control, while shift speeds and better than what i can manage.

sure there is power loss but there is ample power in the mcs - doubt you'd even use up all that power all the time even if you're driving stick, unless frequent tracking.

maybe it robs some involvement, but i think its more fun and enjoyable this way for me. perhaps overall involvement and fun factor takes a slight dip, however, there is no chance to get sick and tired of manual shifting and clutching in and out of first gear in traffic ! since i'm in traffic most of the time, the mcs auto suits me fine !

 

I got one as a loaner car it was alright since it wasn't my car I pushed it hard and in sport mode it's a little better, I don't know if I'd get one I'd rather get a VW GTI with DSG for the price but I'm loving my JCW right now.

 

I was thinking of getting an automatic, but after test driving it a few times, and that is KEY, test drive it(and the stick) a bunch of times, I felt it was weird. By that I mean, it drives like a stick, but you are not in control, somebody else is. It sounds like that too, the motor revs, as if a clutch pedal was pushed in, then the gear changes.... all the while your just hangin wondering who is driving.

My advice, teach your kids/family how to drive stick.

 

I bought an almost new 06 mcs cabrio with auto and kept it two months. I realize that this is one of the most sophisticated automatics ever and you can tell it was incredibly well engineered , but I got rid of the car and went to a stick, because I didn't like not being in control of shift-point decisions all the time. I realized that if I wasn't enjoying let it be an automatic and make its own decisions then what was the point?

 

The auto takes a bit of the involvment/control out of the equation. However, if the auto is mandatory (as in my case so my wife can enjoy the car) this auto is very good. DSG would be better, not a fan of SMG cars I have driven.

If you can not see your way clear to a stick shift, this is not a bad compromise at all. The MCSa has lots of giddy up. I find myself driving it very aggressively. Wait till its broken in and I can do more manual shifting. Right now my favorite mode is leaving it in the manual mode but NOT shifting gears. Very smooth and brings the shift points up significantly. It appears to be a bit more aggressive in sport mode (though I do like the steering feel better) but I might be imagining that situation.

 

You had better test drive to determine whether it is satisfacory. I notice that many of the posters on this thread are confusing the old automatic with the new tiptronic. Much different animal. I can comment plenty on the automatic (not much good), but have high hopes for the tiptronic.

 

FYI: Tiptronic is Audi's system. Isn't Mini's called sonething else?

 

steptronic is MINI speak for the BMW version. Tiptronic is Porsche.

 

That may be the case... but I've seen links here on NAM to at least one video review that indicated that the MCSa was slightly faster in the 1/4 mile than a MCS with both vehicles being driven by the same driver who had gone through driving schools (in other words, he knew how to correctly drive a manual transmission)

 

Yep, Audi uses the Porche system under license.

 

+1

 

I'm not certain the arrangement is even under license. Both companies are part of the VW group.

 

That would be true for most high performance automatic trannies (has been on the dragstrips for years), however, it would be interesting to see the same comparison on road track lap times for the MCS/MCSa. I'm guessing that the 6 speeds can still outperform the automatics. On the other hand , we are starting to see a lot more automatics in professional road racing.

 

turbo cars tend to well w/ automatics too. This may be old tech but I remember reading somehting about the torque convertors keeping the turbos spooled up w/ less rev drop than manual. if this is true, might be in play here

 

Having driven stick all my adult life,it wastime to change to auto. It is really hard to stay below 4500rpm because it just goes!!. you can drive lazy in full auto, or you can mix it up either with the shifter or the paddles. And as for robbing power, heck no.It really is the best of both worlds. If there is a downside I worry about switching from auto to manual on the move, maybe I should read the book.

 

I have driven 3, 4, 5, and 6 speeds in a lot of different cars, some even a bit exotic. I went with the MINI Steptronic for the fun of the paddle shifters, so far it is the best of both worlds. I do find when I'm pushing it a little bit on a left or right turn the paddle shifter is awkward, but I reach for the shifter on the floor, snik, snik, I'm where I want to be. That is a hard left or right from a stop or near stop. I know, your supposed to ease away from those stop signs and stop lights. Nah! Not going to happen any time soon.

Lost of power in the MCSa R56, the turbo is a delight. I am getting near 900 miles on the car and I still have to say my daily mantra. 4500, 4500, 4500, NO, NO, NO

Go with what you need, you will find the MINI automatic delights. If you think it is slow off the line, press the peddle a little harder. Might cost you a couple of MPG, but the smile factor is what the MINI is all about. I have been getting an avg of 30.5 in my driving. I drive with a smile all the time. It's the brake dust which is driving me crazy.

 

I've had six knee operations, so driving a standard transmission (or riding a sport bike) is out of the question for me. Before I bought my new S last Friday (went over 900 miles today), I test drove a '07 MCSa at Flow Mini in Winston-Salem and loved the Steptronic. With the auto I have the choice of leaving it in "D" for around town driving and cruising down the big slabs, or knocking it over into "DS" and using the paddles for some spirited driving.

And.. to make things really interesting, when I push the "Sport" button, the car comes alive. It's like the throttle position sensors change, the transmission shift points change, and the suspension tightens up.. It's a whole different car. "IT'S ALIVE!!!"

Something I found today that I really like, when I'm cruising along at 55-60 and I want to pass, with the selector in "D", I simply push the paddle down once to kick it into 5th, pull out to begin the pass, then push it down once more into 4th, and BLAM!!, I'm around the car I'm passing in about .02 nanoseconds.

I'm not saying that if my knees were good I wouldn't be driving a 6-speed manual MCS, but after a week and nearly a thousand miles of driving the car with the 6-speed auto, I'm not so sure I'd go back..

If you have a chance to drive one - drive it.. and not just around the block. Take it out for an hour and put 50 miles on it.. Then you'll get a chance to appreciate the transmission. It may not be for you, but you did ask..

 

Thanks everyone for all of the info on this!!
FWIW - I'll probaby end up buying a used MCS, so I'll be looking for an automatic MCS from '05 or later.
Does the supercharged engine lend itself well to the auto tranny? Is it very slow off the line? Not that I'll be dragging, but some auto cars are soooo slow off the line.

Thanks!

 

When we bought our first MCS in 03 with a stick, my Mother in Law (she's 76) was stunned that they still made them. Her comment:

"We worked all our lives to afford a car that didn't have ont of those things." (sic) a clutch. Hmmmmm... different times I guess....

I loved it, but wifey kept stalling the engine cause she continiously tried to start in 3rd gear.

The new one MCSa is on order and due in about two weeks. I hope I'm not dissapointed.

 

the 2007 auto box is a completely different beast than the 2005+. i would repost in the R53 section to get more accurate feedback if thats the car you want.